Page 78 of Dangerous Silence
“With the building?” I pictured it, peering over the other structures like a monster with its head in the clouds. Had they actually taken it all down? “It’s gone?” I asked.
“Most of it is a pile of rubble.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Wil went home to Ellie. Derek went back to make sure Gerard, Margot, and Clara are all safe.”
“Who’s Margot?”
Axe cringed. “Muro’s wife.”
I gave him a look, but by the expression on his face, I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it.
“But everyone’s okay?” I asked.
“For the most part,” he said. His eyes were heavy, full of sorrow and longing, an expression I had never seen before.
Then I realized he was talking about me.
“Axe,” I said. I sat up slowly, trying not to let the searing pain affect my facial expression. I put a hand on his arm. “I’m fine.”
“It’s my fault you were hurt,” he said.
“How?” I rasped.
“If I hadn’t promised to marry you, Shep would never have trusted you with me.”
“It’s not your fault that my dad trustedyouto take care of me,” I said. I squeezed his arm. “And trust me, if it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else.” I shook my head. “Who knows howthatwould have ended up.”
He bared his teeth. “One of my men was supposed to be watching you.” He looked out of the crisscrossed window. “I should have been doing it myself.”
I wanted to know why he hadn’t been doing it himself, but I knew why. He didn’t want to be near me, because he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stay away. Because he needed to keep me safe, and the only way he could do that was by keeping himself away.
“What happened to that man?” I asked. “The one who was supposed to be watching me.”
He closed his fist and lowered his voice, “I killed him.”
Axe was never one for softening the blow. I felt guilty, but I knew now nothing I could say would bring him back.
A nurse entered the room in a flutter of energy. Axe backed away, letting her get close to me, and I kept my eyes on him, too distracted to answer the nurse’s questions coherently. Axe inched toward the door, and I mouthed,Stay.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” the nurse asked.
“I’m telling him to stay,” I said, motioning to Axe.
“That’s right,” she said, turning toward him too. “You don’t have to leave for this. Not if the patient wants you here.” She smiled. “Come on. It’ll be good for her healing. The body is mental just as much as it is physical.”
He slunk back in but stayed against the edge of the wall as if he needed to be as far away as possible. I turned back to the nurse and started answering her questions. She told me that although I had a few broken ribs, I was lucky that none of my organs had been damaged. I had been beaten to hell and back, but somehow, I had managed to survive. I could even heal at home.
Once she left, Axe turned toward the door again.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’ll watch you from afar,” he said. “But you need your own life.”
“Stop it,” I said. My tone must have been harsher than I intended it, because he flinched, then turned, scrutinizing me under that glare.
“Could you please come here?” I asked. “I would love to chase you right now, but I can’t,” I said, lifting my hand pincushioned with an IV.
