Page 105 of Tempt Me

He was lying on the bed, his back turned to me. I leaned over and saw a handcuff linked around my bed.

I wasn’t a prisoner…but he was.

“Please. Someone tell me what the fuck happened?”

Goliath looked away, scrubbing his face with the back of his hand before kissing the top of the nurse’s head and walking out the door.

“I don’t understand what is going on,” I said, watching the giant leave.

Was he crying?

“Ezello, right? Please. I need to know what happened. Why is Pharaoh handcuffed? You can’t seriously blame him for my ex’s actions? If he killed him, it was self-defense. It had to be.”

The pretty nurse took a minute before answering, choosing her words carefully.

“There were multiple…casualties that night.”

I tried to wrap my head around her cagey words.

“Someone else got hurt? Goliath? He looks beat up, but don’t brothers fight like that? Who cares?”

“Goliath had minor injuries.” Ezello was measuring her words before speaking. “As well as Randall, who was with them.”

Brother.

When I said ‘brother,’ Goliath looked near tears.

“What kind of injuries does Judas have? Is he okay?”

Ezello tried to control the emotion on her face, but she wasn’t as skilled as Taliah. I could see the pain in her eyes.

“No. He is not.”

I waited for her to continue…to explain. She didn’t. It was as if the words were too painful for her.

“I killed my brother.” My eyes shot over to Pharaoh.

His words were a broken whisper. His eyes were still staring at nothing but the horrors inside his mind.

“You…what?”

Ezello rubbed Pharaoh’s arms, and those tears she tried to hide fell down her cheeks.

“Roe. You should sleep. Do you want more of your medication?”

The way Ezello was speaking to Pharaoh was odd. It was like she was scared of him. Why would he kill Judas? It had to have been an accident. He would never hurt someone he loved.

Ezello cleared her throat. “Fallon, why don’t you try walking around? It will help blood flow. You have been in this bed for some time. You are at risk of clotting.”

I shook my head, not willing to leave Pharaoh behind. I needed to figure out what happened. What people weren’t telling me?

“Ms. Summers. Please,” Ezello continued. “A walk would be good for you.”

I got the feeling she was trying to talk to me in private. Maybe she would tell me what the fuck was going on.

“Okay. But not a long one.”

Ezello nodded and helped me get out of bed. I was definitely worse off than I felt. My body was stiff, and moving one foot in front of the other was hard.

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