Chayton (20 page)

All Chayton could do was hope and pray that she made it.

Beeps, clicks and the quiet hum of machines ushered Kate into awareness. For the first few minutes she left her eyes closed while she fought through a web of confusion over her whereabouts, and what had happened. She couldn't recall the hotel room having this much noise first thing in the morning.

The further she clawed her way up from sleep, the more she experienced a sense of urgency. An urgency for what? To
do
what? She wasn't sure. An extreme jolt of melancholy followed, and then she remembered.

Chayton was dead.

They hadn't had any kind of chance to explore what might have happened between them. Bits of memory surfaced of their explosive first meeting, the kindness of his eyes in more tender moments, and the feel of his body over hers.

She would live with regret for the rest of her life.

The beeps and clicks intruded, reminding Kate that all was not as it should be. These sounds were not a normal part of her routine. She fluttered her lashes open, squinting at first against a gentle glare. The clinical smell was new, as was the strange tiles in the ceiling. Tension shifted through her body, tightening muscles that were aching and sore.

It was then, as her memories started coming back with increasing awareness, that she remembered the car chase.

Anton had found her.

Although she wanted to sit up and get out of bed, lethargy held her sway. Her body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. She discovered that small tubes and wires protruded from her arms, linked to the beeping, clicking machines.

She was in a hospital.

Visions of dust and the earth flipping over and over and the echo of crunching metal accompanied the next memory: she had crashed the Camaro.

“Kate? Kate, are you awake?”

The voice, familiar and male, sent a shockwave through Kate. She focused in on the face that loomed above the bed, over her head, coming directly into her line of sight.

Chayton's face. His hair was loose, a few black shanks half obscuring his profile.

Kate considered then that she might be dead. Thoughts of heaven and hospitals and another niggling fear, something else she needed to remember, faded when he stroked her cheek with his fingertips.

“What are you doing here?” she asked first.

“Sitting with you. You had a nasty accident last evening.” He stroked her cheek again, blue eyes sharp with concern. “Do you remember any of it?”

“I...I think so. Yes. I crashed my car.”

“Yes, you did.”

“And...Anton and his henchmen were...were following me.” More imagery flickered through her mind. As the details slowly emerged, her memory expanded and grew.

“They crashed, too,” Chayton said.

“They did?” Her brows beetled into a frown. “How?”

“Their car hit a light pole after spinning out of control. Anton's dead, Kate.”

“Am I dead, too?” It sounded like such a silly question after it was out of her mouth.

Chayton chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed after lowering the guard rail. “No, Kate. You're not dead. Neither am I. Espinosa mentioned you thought I was. But as you can see, I'm very much alive.” He paused, as if to let her absorb that, then said, “You're in a hospital in Illinois and they're taking very good care of you.”

She wasn't dead. That was a relief. And
he
wasn't dead, either, which was more of a relief than anything so far. Anton was, according to Chayton, though she didn't experience any joy over the fact.

“I heard him making 'plans' for your body. On an airplane.” That memory came unbidden at the last second. “And I heard a shot in Hawaii. He made it seem as if he'd killed you.”

“He tried to. There was an assassin waiting at the beach house we shared when I got back. I'm guessing Anton wanted you to think I was dead either way so you'd marry him.”

“I ran. He took me home, to New York, and I told Jones—he's the butler—to call the police while I escaped from my bedroom balcony. I knew Anton would have killed me, too, just like he did my mother after he got what he wanted. So I didn't stick around.” The niggling feeling that she was forgetting something increased. All of a sudden, it struck:
the baby.
She was pregnant. Opening her mouth, she almost blurted out the question of whether or not the baby had survived. At the last second, she backed off, instead asking, “Will you get the doctor for me?”

“It's good you thought to get away as soon as possible. There is other news about—are you okay?” He frowned.

Kate knew how sharp Chayton could be, knew he likely picked up on her hesitation and last minute switch. She had no idea where they stood as a couple, or what would happen from here. Before she dropped the news that she was carrying their baby, she wanted to see if there still
was
a baby, and then she would go from there. For all she knew, Chayton had coerced her whereabouts from Espinosa and was on his way to her with divorce papers. Or maybe he was here
now
with them, just waiting for her to recover.

The thought chilled Kate to the bone.

She and Chayton had their issues and their problems, but she wanted time to figure out what they meant to each other. Hawaii had changed things in her mind, from the pre-party tension to the protective way he'd stood up for her, to the hours afterward in bed.

“Yes, I'm okay. I have a few questions,” Kate said, and it was the truth. Just not all of the truth.

Still frowning, Chayton eased off the bed and raised the guard rail. “I'll get her.”

Kate hated the vague distance she sensed growing in Chayton and reached out to skim her fingertips over the back of his hand. He smiled a little for it, then turned on a heel and departed the room.

Exhaling, she watched him go, anxious for the doctor to come in and tell her good news.

. . .

Chayton found Doctor Witten and made Kate's wish known. After, he strolled the halls of the hospital, taking a roundabout route to the waiting area. Hands in the pockets of his pants, he ignored a few direct looks aimed his way—probably for his unbound hair—and considered the situation.

Kate, it appeared, would be all right. Her injuries were amazingly minor in relation to the car crash; a few serious cuts, scrapes, bruises and a sprained wrist was the worst of it. The doctors repeated several times how lucky she was, and that it was a good thing she'd been restrained. She would probably feel like a train ran her over for the next week thanks to sore muscles, but overall, she would be just fine. Anton was dead, leaving Kate to pick up the shattered pieces of her life to start over.

And where
would
she start over? He didn't know if she wanted to try with him, or if she wanted freedom. Now that there was no reason to keep up the ruse of a marriage, would she ask for an annulment?

The questions swirled around his mind until he arrived at the waiting area. Filled with seating lining three walls, the waiting area was bland but functional. White linoleum reflected overhead lights and magazines sat scattered over plain coffee tables. Leander and Mattias both had their phones to their ears, either checking in at home or seeing to business they'd put on hold to be here for him. Ending the calls when they saw him, Leander and Mattias stood from their chairs and met him at the edge of the room.

“She still doing okay?” Leander asked first.

“Yes. She's awake now and asking for the doctor. It took her a few minutes to remember everything that happened,” Chayton said.

“Good, I'm glad to hear she's awake. Did you get to talk much before she asked for the doctor?” Mattias asked.

“Not too much. She's still a little groggy from the sedatives. She'll be good to go home in a few days, I think.”

“Excellent news.” Leander clapped Chayton on the shoulder.

“What about you and her?” Mattias asked.

Expecting the penetrating looks from Mattias and Leander, knowing the men he considered brothers had great compassion and understanding of his emotions and inner turmoil, he said, “I really don't know. She didn't say, and I didn't ask. It wasn't the right time. I suppose I'll have to bring it up at some point before she's released though.”

Chayton couldn't tell if he was relieved or apprehensive about that upcoming conversation.

“At least the threat is gone now,” Mattias added. “That should give you two time to figure it out.”

“Yeah, and I just have a feeling that things will work in your favor,” Leander said with a final squeeze of Chayton's shoulder.

“Leander. Always the optimist—except when he's not being a pessimist,” Chayton said.

“That's me.” Leander laughed and pocketed his phone.

“I know you two need to get back to your lives. Thanks for coming out again,” Chayton said. The two men had dropped everything once more to fly in and help.

“There are a few things to see to, yes. Sander is getting impatient to leave for the back country and attend business there,” Mattias said. “But he asked me to extend his well wishes.”

“I have a fiance waiting to pounce me with wedding details.” Leander shuddered playfully. “And I just know as well as I'm standing here, that the 'small gathering' I asked for has somehow gotten blown up into a big old ceremony.”

A chuckle rippled through all three men.

“You'll survive. Don't get married without me now,” Chayton said.

“How can I? You're one of the groomsmen.” Leander winked.

“That's news to me.”

“He didn't ask me, either,” Mattias said with a quirk of his mouth. “And you're welcome. Anytime.”

“Take it easy brother. Let us know what happens.” Leander nudged Chayton on the way by.

“I will. Safe travels.” Chayton watched the men depart. A few minutes later, Chayton headed back to Kate's room via another roundabout route. He wanted the extra time to think.

. . .

“All right, it looks like your pregnancy is still intact, Kate.” Doctor Witten pulled gloves off her hands while a nurse situated the blanket back over Kate's legs. “Your cervix is shut tight and the sonogram you had before the physical showed a clear sac. It's too early yet to see the fetus, but he or she is in there, growing.” The doctor smiled, then tossed the spent gloves into the trash.

After suffering through nerves with blood tests, the sonogram and the physical exam, Kate could finally breathe easier. “That's great news, Doctor Witten.”

“I want to keep you one or two more nights as a precautionary measure, but I think, overall, you're a very lucky young lady. Get some rest.”

“I will. Thank you.” Kate settled into the bed, relief a stronger drug than what the nurses were pumping into her system via an IV drip. Thank God. The baby was safe.

“Mister Black has been waiting outside in the hall. Should I send him in?” the nurse asked, cleaning up the last bits of trash from the exam.

“Yes, please do.” Kate wasn't sure whether to tell Chayton now or wait until she discovered what came next between them. She didn't want him to stay with her just because of the baby. Kate wanted him to stay with her because he
wanted
to be there.

The nurse departed, leaving the door cracked in her wake.

A few minutes later, Chayton knocked, and pushed the door in. “Up for company?”

Kate smiled, pulling the covers tighter against her body. “Of course, yes. I'm more awake now.”

Chayton, dressed in black, hair still long and loose down his back, arrived at her bedside and leaned over to press a warm kiss against her temple. “Everything okay?”

Kate thought the kiss was a good sign. “Yes. The doctor just did a few tests and said she wants to keep me a couple more nights. But then I think I get to go home.”

Chayton lowered the guard rail as he'd done the last time and perched on the edge of the bed. Kate appreciated his lean strength and casual posture as he got comfortable. She thought he looked a little wild and unpredictable with his hair unbound.

“That's good news indeed. I didn't get a chance to tell you about home earlier.”

Kate frowned at the disturbance she detected beneath his calm exterior. “Your home in Montana, or mine in New York?”

“Kate...Anton killed Espinosa and the staff at your house. Most of your staff. A few who had days off survived.” Chayton delivered the news in a quiet, solemn voice.

Feeling as if she'd just been knocked down by a wrecking ball, Kate gasped. “He did
what?
But, but...”

“It's true. I'm sorry. Espinosa was tightening the noose, I guess, and Anton got wind of it. He went on a rampage and apparently tortured your whereabouts out of Espinosa at the end.”

“Oh no. Oh
no.”
Kate caught an unexpected sob against her palm, unable to quell the rush of emotion and sorrow over the loss of so many people. Some of the employees, such as Jones, had been with her family for a long time. They
were
family. She could not comprehend the violence, the brutality. The thought of kind Mister Espinosa being tortured for her whereabouts made her sick.

Chayton rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “I know it's hard. I wanted to be the one to tell you, though. The police have been all over it.”

“Too little, too late,” Kate said through her tears. Chayton scooted closer, offering his body for her to lean into.

And she did. She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek into his chest. He was warm and solid and smelled vaguely of an expensive, masculine cologne. Guilt ate at Kate's insides, made it hard to breathe. She felt indirectly responsible for the employees losing their lives, and immediately responsible for Espinosa. She should have been more insistent how dangerous she thought Anton could be.

Realistically, however, Anton's attack shocked even her. Could she have foreseen something like this? Her suspicion of Anton's involvement in her mother's death hadn't triggered thoughts that he would turn mass murderer if he didn't get what he wanted. Yes, she'd feared for her life.
Her
life. Not those of her staff and her attorney.