Page 50 of Come Alive
Kazi’s hand found my back, stroking it in comforting circles. James squeezed my hand in reassurance but didn’t join us.
“Stephen?” I choked out around the snot.
“Dead,” James confirmed as he released my hand, his head falling into his palms.
“Eve?” I asked next, her terrified eyes creeping into my mind.
“Alive,” Mateo murmured into my ear. Tenderly, he untangled from me.
Immediately, I missed his warmth, but the separation allowed me to pull myself together, to get my emotions under control, to dry my eyes.
“Is she okay, though?” My concern for her moved to the forefront. She was so young, so broken. I didn’t blame Eve for her part in taking me to Stephen. She was just another one of his endless victims.
“She will be,” Kazi advised. I didn’t even want to ask about Izzy. I was afraid to know the answer. The door to the room burst open before I could devolve too deeply into my thoughts.
Mateo and Kazi jumped into action at the foot of my bed, shoulder-to-shoulder, creating a blockade I couldn’t see past.
“Yara!” My concern swapped to relief and giddiness at Izzy’s voice coming from the direction of the door.
“Mateo,” a man’s voice I didn’t recognize spoke, but it was evident heknewMateo. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“Yara is my top assignment, all others will be completed as directed.” Mateo didn’t back down, if anything, his shoulders hardened.
“Yara is my best friend,” Izzy argued, and from this angle, I could see as she took on Mateo.
That’s my best friend.
“Let her see me you fucking oaf.” I suppressed a groan of pain. “We talked about this. In fact, everyone out except for Izzy!” It was time for us to finally hash all of this out. And what better time than when I was in the hospital. She couldn’t be angry with me while I lay in this bed all hooked up to tubes.
Right?
Kazi and Mateo broke apart, allowing me an unobstructed view of Izzy. Of a man I recognized asJohnson Hall.
Emilio.
Theboss.
Except, in this moment, he didn’t seem like cartel when he offered Izzy a peck and squeezed her hand. Then he spoke again and a chill settled down my spine. “It seems we have some matters to discuss now that she’s awake.”
Kazi and Mateo both gave him an annoyed nod before offering me one last reassuring look.
Now it was just Izzy, myself, and James in the room.
Can someone say fucking awkward?
James lifted his lips in the ghost of a smile before getting to his feet.
“You can stay if you’d like James,” I offered, watching him carefully. He deserved to be here too. This washis fucking daughter.
“No, you two need to talk. But Isobella, after, will you find me please?” He turned to me, leaning over to brush the hair out of my face. His fingertips leaving a trail of fire. His eyes coated in emotion.
I inclined my head, and he released me, leaving us.
As soon as the door shut, Izzy spoke, “So, this is why you didn’t want me to call you mamacita?” She ended in an awkward chuckle sitting in the chair her dad had just been in.
I reached over and punched her with all my might. “Shut up! You know you’re a bitch!?”
“Hey, at least this bitch didn’t fuck your dad.”
