Ember (9 page)

Lacey

“Well, look who it is,” Joe sneers as he crouches down beside me. “My girl’s little best friend.”

“She’s not your girl,” I grind out as I hold my head. My hand feels warm, sticky, and I pray that there’s not too much blood.

Joe smirks down at me. “You sound a little jealous, Lacey. I knew I was right. I’ve seen you looking at me.”

I manage to sit up, but I have to do it slowly as the room starts to spin. “Fuck you.”

Joe laughs. “I love you already, just like Roxie. Did she tell you I like my women with attitude?”

“No, she told me to tell you to fuck off!” I kick out at him and he shakes his head.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Lacey.” He leans in close. “I know that you want me. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Cole. This can be our secret.”

Wow! This guy is a fucking nut job! No wonder he made Roxie sink like she did.

“What do you want, Joe?” I demand. I’m tired of his shit already.

“Nothing.” He tries to calm me by stroking my hair. Then he has the nerve to look shocked when he sees the blood on his hand.

I try my best to stand, but it’s no luck. My legs feel like jelly. Unfortunately, Joe helps me and he groans as he squeezes me close.

“Get off!” I push him away.

Joe laughs and steps away, leaving me leaning against the wall. “Ok, you got me! You’re smart Lacey.” He smiles at me and I feel sick. “All I want is for you let me see Roxie.”

I laugh right back. “Over my dead body!”

Joe’s smile drops. “That can be arranged.”

And I believe him. I realize with dread that I have to tread carefully where Joe is concerned.

“How about a phone number?” he asks.

“I don’t remember it and I don’t have my phone on me,” I lie. It’s true that I don’t have my phone with me but I do know it by heart.

“That’s a pity.” He scowls and begins to walk closer to me.

“Don’t come near me!” I shout at him.

“Don’t be scared, baby. I can take as much care of you as Cole can.” He wraps his arm around my waist and takes a deep inhale at my neck.

I suddenly notice, for the first time, that the deep bass of the music has stopped, and, as I do, the toilets door slams open with such a loud bag it makes me jump. Joe, however, stays exactly where he is, staring into my eyes and giving me the creeps.

“Get your fucking hands off my woman!” roars a voice I am
so
glad to hear.

“Your woman?” Joe laughs as he lets his hand glide from my thigh to my waist.

I hear a deafening roar, and then Joe is gone, ripped away by Cole and shoved to the ground. Mason shoves him up against the wall and pounds punch after punch into Joe.

“You ok, baby?” Cole holds onto my face and checks me over. “That fucker hurt you?”

I wince as his hands touch sensitive sections on my head where Joe kicked me and where my head banged against the hard floor and wall. Cole quickly removes his hands and his eyes go so wide I’m scared they will pop out when he sees the blood on his hands.

“Tate!” he shouts. “Watch Lacey!”

Tate runs over to me and wraps his arms around me which I am thankful for. “Christ babe, you ok?”

I nod but I quickly stop. My head feels heavy and shaky but I’m not worried about me. No, that’s because I’m watching a
very
pissed off Cole storm over to Joe. Mason, who stopped hitting Joe when he heard Cole shout Tate to see to me, stands still, also watching what Cole is about to do.

Cole grabs Joe around his throat and shoves him up against the wall. “You fucking hurt my friend, and now you have not only
touched
my woman, but you’ve fucking hurt her, too!”

As he shouts the last part, Cole knees him between the knees and Joe falls to the floor right away, screaming in agony. Cole grabs Joe’s head and knees his face so hard, everyone in the room flinches. Cole tells Booker to hold him up and Mason helps him. When both Mason and Booker hold Joe up, Cole sends punch after punch all over Joe’s body and face.

When Joe’s face is red all over, I hear another loud bang that makes my head ring with an echo. I groan and feel Tate move me, but, for some reason, I can’t make out his face. All I can see is a blurry mess of colors, and the ringing in my ears gets worse as more shouting starts.

I recognize the voices of the bodyguards, and then I hear Ria and Paige, but I still can’t see anything!

“Lacey?” Tate asks me.

“What’s up with her?” I hear Paige. “Lace?”

“Cole!” I hear Tate shout again, and the loud noise makes me wince. “It’s Lacey.”

Hearing Tate’s worried tone of voice has Cole shouting at the newcomers, and he rushes to me. I feel his hands on my head. “Lacey?”

I try to focus and look for him, but I can’t find him in the sea of colors. “Cole?” I ask, my voice sounding frightened.
I am terrified!

“Baby, what’s happening?” Cole asks, sounding more scared than I am.

“I don’t know,” I gasp, and my legs go out on me.

“Shhhh, baby, I’ve got you,” Cole whispers in my ear. “Lacey?”

I can’t answer him. My body won’t respond, and I feel myself growing tired.

“Lace?” Cole asks again, slightly shaking me.

“Don’t shake her!” Tate shouts. “It’s her head!”

“Shit, that’s a lot of blood,” Booker adds and I’m scared by how worried he sounds.

“Lacey!” Cole shouts. “Someone get a fucking ambulance!”

I don’t hear anything after that because everything goes numb, and the colors turn to black.

Lacey

When my eyes open, the brightness of the room stings me. My head feels too heavy as I try to stretch out the stiffness in my body. I spot Roxie sitting to my right, but she’s too busy looking down at her phone to see that I’ve opened my eyes. I turn the other way slowly and see a sleeping Cole sitting in what looks like a very uncomfortable chair.

“Hey, honey,” I hear Roxie whisper. I struggle to turn back to her and wince. “Try not to move your head.”

I relax into the pillow and ignore the high-pitched beeps from the machine next to me. Roxie leans over the bed and gently wakes Cole.

As soon as he’s awake he leans closer to me and searches my face with worry. “Hey, baby, how’re you feeling?”

“Rough,” I laugh, but it’s weak.

“Well, that’s not surprising,” Roxie soothes.

“God I’ve been so worried.” Cole softly kisses my cheek, and I close my eyes from the emotion. “You’ve been out of it most of the night.”

“What happened?” I ask Cole. I wince at the brightness of the lighting again, and Roxie quickly turns it off.
Much better.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Cole frowns. “I should have fucking been there.”

“Cole, it’s ok,” I try to calm him.

“No it’s not,” he growls quietly. “I should have been watching you, but I just had to hurt him, Lace. When I saw what he did to you, I couldn’t just leave Mason to deal with him. I had to do it, and I wanted to fucking kill him!”

“Sshh!” Roxie quietens him.

“After what he did to you, we brought you here after you fainted and you’ve been out of it since.”

I’m shocked to hear that I have been knocked out for the whole night, however the soreness from my head confirms what Cole tells me.

“What are the doctors saying?” I ask them.

“Not much,” Roxie answers. “All we know is that you fainted due to your head injuries. God, Lace, I am so sorry!” Tears shine in her eyes. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

My heart drops for her as I watch her cry into her hands. “This wasn’t your fault, Rox. Don’t blame yourself for what he has done. He really is crazy.”

“I know,” she frowns. “What did he say to you?”

I swallow down hard.
Do I tell her?
“He thinks you’re still his woman, Rox. Then when I told him to leave you alone, he said I reminded him of you, and he got weird.”

“How weird?” Cole growls. “If that bastard touched you..!”

“Cole,” I warn and shake my head. I notice how tired and worried he looks. If the roles were reversed I would be the same, if not worse.

“Where’s Joe now?” I dare to ask.

“We don’t know,” Cole doesn’t sound happy.

“How can you not know?” I ask him, shocked.

“After you fainted, all our focus was on you. He managed to slip away, but we will find him babe,” he promises me.

“Nobody saw him walk out?” I ask incredulously. “The guards? The girls? Anyone?”

“They all say no, babe,” Cole speaks clearly. “We were all focused on you. We were all scared shitless.”

“Sorry,” I whisper.

“Let me make something very clear, baby.” Cole moves closer to me, his breath tickling my skin. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Don’t say sorry again.”

Embarrassed with the intense look he’s giving me, I look over to Roxie. “You didn’t have to come down, Rox.” A frown appears on her face, and I feel like shit. “Not that I’m not happy to see you.”

I’m guessing we’re about an hour, maybe a little more, from Cole’s San Diego home.

She gives me a stupid look. “Of course I would be here, you stupid woman. Where else would I be? As soon as Mason called, Crystal and I took one of Cole’s cars straight away. I had to be here.”

“Thank you,” I smile. I really am happy she’s here for me.

“Let’s just be happy there’re no marks,” Cole smirks.

I notice that Roxie seems a little on edge and that’s probably got something to do with Joe. I hate him even more for that.

“You ready to see the doctor?” Cole asks me.

“Suppose we better get it over with.” I dramatically sigh.

“I’ll go,” Roxie offers.

When Roxie leaves the room, I ask Cole when he’s leaving, and he gives me a confused look.

“What are you talking about?” he asks.

“Your tour,” I point out.

“Babe, I ain’t stepping on another stage until I know you’re ok.” I don’t bother arguing because, based on Cole’s tone of voice, I know this is not up for discussion.

“You come first, Lace, so don’t worry about a thing,” he assures me, and I welcome him when he climbs onto the hospital bed and cuddles me.

Roxie returns with the doctor. She looks pretty and young, all smiles and calmness. The total opposite to me.

“Nice to see you awake, Lacey,” she greets me and smiles down at me. “How are you feeling?”

“My head’s sore, but that’s about it,” I reply.

“No headache?” she asks, and I say no. “Ok, we will run some tests today and check you out a little further. A nurse will be in shortly to take your orders for the day.”

She turns to leave but I stop her, “Wait! I’m not going home today?”

“No, I’m sorry. If everything is positive and straightforward, then you could be going home tomorrow. Better to be safe.” When she leaves I give her retreating back the middle finger, and both Cole and Roxie laugh.

“She’s right,” Cole says. “So stop misbehaving and get better.”

Throughout the day, different doctors drop by to wheel me off for tests and check-ups. I’ve had blood taken, light in my eyes, wires stuck to my head and a scan on my brain which was really scary. And my least favourite: stitches on the head. What makes it worse is they had to shave away some hair to do that! I have fucking bald patches!

After I’ve had dinner, it’s just me and Cole in the room when the doctor returns.

“How’re you feeling, Lacey?” she asks.

“Tired,” I reply honestly.

“That’s to be expected. Not only do you have a head injury, you’ve been prodded by doctors all day. I would be surprised if you weren’t tired,” she laughs but I don’t. I’m too tired and annoyed with the whole day. I just want to get out of here.

“So, all your tests have come back better than we thought they would,” she continues.

“Does that mean I can go home?” I ask eagerly.

“I’m sorry no. Due to the fact that you were unconscious for so long, you still have a mild head injury, and you lost a lot of blood as well. You’ll be staying another night.” She looks sympathetic as she tells me this and I hate her for it. It’s ok for her, she can go home when she wants. I can’t!

“Did you experience any dizziness or blurred vision?” she asks me.

“Before I fainted, yes,” I answer honestly.

“Then I think it’s best we keep you in for another twenty-four hours and then take it from there.” She says her goodbyes and then leaves Cole and me to it.

“What are we going to do?” I ask him. “We need to get back on the road.”

God, I am holding everyone back!

“Lace, until we find Joe, neither you nor any of the other girls is going on the road again.” He looks dead serious, and I know it’s for the best, but I love going on tour with Cole.