Page 48 of Queen of Diamonds
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Kinsey sighedafter the nurse left. She hated not being able to talk. No one was telling her what was going on. Where was Rand? She knew he’d been in the emergency room because she’d heard him talking. Had he left? Had anyone called her brothers? This was going to be all the ammunition they needed to justify meddling in her life.
And what about Sebastian? Where was he? Hopefully in jail, but since no one was telling her anything, as far as she knew he could be sitting at home by now, planning his next attack. She shuddered. Until tonight she’d just thought he was a creep, but one she could handle. What if he was roaming the hallways right now, looking for her? Her heart skipped a beat.
The room suddenly seemed too quiet. She slid down on the bed and pulled the cover up to her chin. Her mother had always said she had a vivid imagination, and right now it was working overtime. She could visualize the door creaking open, could see Sebastian sneaking in to finish what he’d started. She glanced around, looking for something she could use as a weapon.
“There’s nothing,” she rasped, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to talk. Her throat burned in protest, and she reached for the glass of water on the table. As she sipped, she realized she could throw the glass at his face, so she held on to it after she was done drinking. And the TV remote. She could throw that, too. Or even better, shove it into his throat, see how he liked not being able to talk. Now she had two weapons, and if—
The door eased open, sending her heart into jackhammer mode. She tightened her grips on the glass and remote, ready to use them. When Nate appeared, she was so relieved that she almost dropped the glass of water.
“Hey,” he said, walking in. Court, Alex, Taylor, and Madison followed him into the room.
Tears burned her eyes that they were all here for her. She waved her fingers at them. They crowded around her bed, and she wished she could speak so she could tell them how much it meant to her that they’d come. Nate made a growling sound, and she looked up to see his eyes focused on her throat. She’d gone to the bathroom when they’d brought her to the room and had seen the fingerprints on her skin.
“Oh, sweetie,” Madison said. “Look what he did to you.”
Her brothers exchanged glances, and she guessed they were plotting Sebastian’s demise.
Taylor brushed Kinsey’s hair back. “Is there anything you need or want us to get you?”
She picked up the pen and notepad the nurse had left her and wrote one word.
Sebastian?
“Handcuffed to a bed on a different floor with one of my agents standing guard,” Nate said.
Alex leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. “Isn’t a kiss supposed to make a boo-boo better?” He grinned when she nodded.
“Just so you know, the next time some man is bothering you, we won’t be standing aside,” Court said.
Goodshe wrote.
Taylor sat on the edge of the mattress. “Lauren stayed home with the kids, but she sends her love.”
She wrote some more.Thank you. It means so much to me that you all are here, but you don’t have to stay. I’m okay. Really.
Not really, but it was late and she wouldn’t ask them to stay.
Nate put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “Here’s the plan. Court has some things to do tonight, so he’s heading home. Taylor and I are meeting with the police to arrange the arrest of Mr. Summer. Alex and Madison are going to stay with you tonight.”
Damn tears.
“Rand wants to see you, but that’s up to you.”
He’s here?
Alex snorted. “Pacing outside your door like a caged lion. But like Nate said, if you don’t want to see him, we’ll send him away.”
Want to thank him.
She didn’t even want to think what would have happened if he hadn’t stopped Sebastian.
“Do you want us to stay when he comes in?” Court asked.
After thinking about it a moment, she shook her head. She needed to know if Rand had meant the things he’d said to her, and if so, who was the woman with him? It was a conversation she didn’t want her brothers butting their noses into.
Court squeezed her hand. “I’m heading out. Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
