Page 79 of No Apologies
Chapter Fifteen
Skylar was starting to get worried. Maybe she was being ridiculous. Maybe she was being overprotective. But she hadn’t heard from Colt in hours and a sick feeling had taken root in the pit of her stomach.
He was a grown man. It was Saturday night. If his shop was open he’d be working until at least midnight, probably later. It was barely ten o’clock now but he’d stopped responding to her playful, teasing text messages over an hour ago and she couldn’t seem to shake the bad feeling that was taking her over.
As the clock ticked on and on, she tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about. She was being paranoid. Just because he’d stopped responding to her messages didn’t mean something bad had happened. It just meant that he was busy or more likely that he was sick of her teasing texts and finishing up whatever he was doing before he came to punish her for being such a brat.
She chewed on her lips and darted another glance at the phone she’d purposefully put out of reach on the coffee table. The damn thing was weirdly silent tonight and it was messing with her head. Jemma and Cash were on the road. Billie was at work. She wasn’t so sure Rachel would want to hear from her since their last conversation had mostly consisted of her warning the girl away from Remy Bomar. If any of them were around to talk to she wouldn’t even be thinking about how long it had been since Colt called her, probably.
Skylar had decided to distract herself by painting her toenails. She’d removed the old pink polish. Then she’d done a wrap. She was taking her time, trying to drag it out and was halfway through the second coat when Katy Perry started belting out the chorus of Hot N Cold. She jumped in surprise and the new ruby red color streaked across the bridge of her foot.
“Shit.” She muttered as she quickly tried to recap the bottle and reach for the phone all at the same time.
Katy was just getting to the line about being up and then down when Skylar managed to grab it without getting the polish on the couch. It was a fitting ringtone. She’d programed it in for Colt the same day he’d given her his number. Mr. Mercurial was hot, hot, hot now though so maybe she should change it.
She grinned as she raised the phone to her ear, “Guess what I’m not wearing.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone and the silence was deafening. Her breath caught in her chest. The worry that she’d been feeling sprouted into ice cold dread and her heart jumped up into her throat as all of her worst fears were confirmed in the span of that long second of silence.
“Uh, Skylar… It’s Remy.”
She shuddered out a breath, “Oh, God. What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Colt was attacked.”
Her entire world shifted off its axis. Colt attacked. Remy calling her from his phone. She had to fight the bile that rose in her throat.
“Is he…?”
“In and out of consciousness. I’m trying to keep him awake. We’re on our way to his place. Can you meet me there?”
“What?” She heard the shriek in her voice but didn’t pause, “Why aren’t you going to the hospital? He needs to see a doctor!”
“Skylar, we can’t do that.”
“Bullshit. If it’s about the money, I’ll…”
“You know it’s not about the money. Doctors ask questions. Questions we can’t answer. We’ll get him help but I’m bringing him home. I called to prepare you. It’s bad, Sky.”
“Remy?” She bit her lip to stifle a cry, “Can I… Can I talk to him?”
“You’re on speaker.” Remy answered and then, in a softer voice than she’d ever have imagined he could use, he sighed, “Hey, little brother? Tell Skylar you’re gonna be ok. You’re scaring your girl.”
Tears pricked at her eyelids and she tried desperately to blink them back, “Colt?”
“Hey angel.” His voice was low, quiet and agonized, but she could practically see him trying to put a fake smile on his face for her, “You ok?”
“I’m fine. You’re the one that…”
“Good. I’m glad. Stay inside ‘til we get there.”
She bit her lip again, “Bossy ass.”
“You…” There was a gasp of clear anguish and then a round of labored, panting breathing, “Like me bossy.”
Her bottom lip was trembling so she nodded before she realized he couldn’t see her, “Yeah. I do.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone again and she fought the urge to scream. She wanted to ask a hundred questions. She needed to know what was going on but she knew now wasn’t the time. She fought the urge to demand answers and asked the only thing she could.
