Page 50 of Surrender
The second was because Darcy needed me first, above everything else.
“And everyone keeps vigilant with the law,” Bishop ordered, eying the room carefully. “Make sure you have your shit together so there’s nothing that can be pinned on you. You get pulled over and arrested, you “yes sir, no sir,” like a fucking soldier until you can get Dane down there to talk you through it.”
That was the problem with dealing with a lawyer—they knew the law inside and out, and he was probably well-acquainted with all of our details. Which meant it was only fair game if we got to know his too.
“Match,” I said loudly, and he instantly got up out of his chair. “Find out everything about our friend Carrington and his family. I want itall.”
He snapped me a salute and turned, heading straight out.
Match was the computer whiz you never wanted to have looking for you. He knew both sides of the web intimately. If you farted in fifth grade, he’d find the time, the date, the place, and who fucking smelled it.
“All right, that’s all for now,” Bishop announced, shooing everyone out of the room before waving for me to follow him. “Shay’s still upstairs keeping your girl company.”
I thumped hard up the stairs and down the hall to my room, Bishop right beside me. The door was open a crack, and I eased it wider, cringing as it creaked.
Shay sat beside the bed, her and Darcy chatting quietly, smiles on both their faces, which instantly allowed my heart rate to slow a little. Darcy had been pretty groggy when I’d left an hour or so ago to get the boys together and also beat the shit out of the punching bag downstairs.
She still looked a little pale and groggy.
But alive.
“Hey,” was all I managed to say, and Shay got to her feet as I stepped into the room.
“Hey,” Darcy echoed, a slight croak in her voice. “I’m fine.”
“You’renotfine,” I argued, though it was weak. Instead, I looked to Shay. “How is she?”
Shay laughed softly, glancing between the two of us. “My best guess is that he probably slipped something like Zolpidem into her coffee. She’s metabolized most of it now. Her pulse is steady, breathing is good. She’s past the worst and on the other side.”
My jaw clenched. “And what is a Zolpidem?”
“The short answer is a sleeping pill,” she said, pursing her lips for a second. “The long answer is a sedative that can cause hallucinations, slow down the body, make you disoriented, and black out. It’s not quite as potent as a roofie, but can be used the same way.”
I waited for a beat, my eyebrow raised, and Shay let out a heavy sigh.
“She’s lucky,” she said simply, looking to Darcy with a warm smile. “But she’s already getting back to her normal self, so everything’s okay. She’s fine.”
“Thanks, Shay,” Darcy murmured, a yawn following close behind.
“I’ll check in tomorrow,” Shay said as she joined Bishop at the door. He wound his arm around her waist, and she leaned into him. “Get lots of rest.”
They pulled the door closed behind them, and I walked over and locked it before making my way back to the bed, sitting right on the edge. “So, what’s the other guy look like?” I mused, taking her hand and running my thumb over her fingers.
“Don’t start,” Darcy warned, trying to frown at the smart remark, but in the end, a subtle smile won out.
She’d used the saying on me more times than I could count on both hands, forcing me to sit in her tiny bathroom while she helped me clean, disinfect, and ice my wounds after going a couple of rounds with my dad.
The injuries got progressively worse over the years because I stopped shutting up and walking away when he ran his mouth. While he was getting older and drunker, I was getting bigger and stronger, and then when James passed and I got arrested, my dad finally had to find someone else to take his bullshit out on.
My mom.
She didn’t survive, and he was currently doing twenty-five years.
It made me think long and hard about fate and whether it truly has a hand in our lives. Whether sometimes, we should just surrender and let what will be, be.
Because that could have been me.
If James hadn’t died.
