Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) (19 page)

King knelt down beside them now, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “Gabi? Honey?”

She looked at him.

“You want some water?”

She nodded and King handed Aidan the bottle. “Easy, now. Not too much all at once, OK?”

Aidan held the bottle to her cracked, dusty lips and she drank greedily. A trickle ran down her face, cutting through the dirt, exposing some bruising on her chin. He felt anger rising again and he pushed down on it, hard. There’d be plenty of time to lose his shit later… his priority right now was getting Gabriela to the hospital and then back to his place. He was never letting this woman out of his sight ever again.

He leaned back a bit, trying to get her to look at him. She was clearly in shock and he gently turned her to face him.

“Baby?”

She didn’t react at all this time and now her shaking got worse.

“Gabriela? You hear me?”

Still nothing and he looked up at King. “Where’s the ambulance?”

“Two minutes out. Just keep talking to her, man.”

So Aidan sat and whispered in her ear, telling her that she was safe and it was all over. She didn’t say one word the whole time, didn’t even seem to see him anymore and he wondered if she even knew she was out of the box. She was sunk so deep in her own mind now, trapped in her own private nightmare and Aidan had no idea how to pull her out of the darkness. He couldn’t do a single fucking thing except what he was doing… and he felt anger and powerlessness when he realized that it wasn’t anything like enough. She needed more.

Anything, angel. Anything at all. You tell me and I’ll do it. Just open your mouth and ask, baby. Come on. Ask.

**

Gabi’s near-catatonic state persisted until the ambulance guys arrived. But when one of them gently tried to insert an IV needle in to her arm, she snapped to awareness and made her first sound since being pulled out of the ground: she started to scream. She screamed and screamed, forcing the men to hold her down as she fought wildly to get away from the needle. It got so bad that they had to give her a shot to knock her out before they could start to treat her.

Aidan held her arms, feeling like an asshole the whole time. She was so clearly terrified… why the hell was he making it worse by holding her down? He knew she was hysterical and beyond reason, but he still didn’t want this to be happening.

“Gabi,” King said in a low voice. “We’re not going to hurt you, honey. I promise.”

“No more darkness!” she screamed, thrashing her head from side to side until Tank held it gently. “No – no more!”

At last, the EMT managed to get the shot in her leg and she slowly, reluctantly, started to relax. The men let her go and she looked up at them blearily.

“Aidan.” Her voice was so broken, he ached to hear it. “Please… I don’t want to go back in the dark.”

“Oh, God, baby.” His throat was so damn tight. “I’m going to be right there the whole time, holding your hand. You’re not going to be alone in the dark. Not this time.”

“You promise me?” she whispered.

“I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her lips, a sweet, lingering kiss. “I’m right here.”

She gripped his hand hard. “Don’t let go.”

“No way.” He held her hand to his chest, rested it just above his heart. “Never.”

The drug was taking effect and her eyes were closing. She whimpered, a sound of pure terror, forced her eyes open again. “The dark…”

“I’m here.” He stroked her hair. “Right here.”

Gabi’s eyes closed now, stayed closed. Aidan shifted to one side so the EMTs could work on setting up the IV and the oxygen, but he didn’t let go of her hand. She was unconscious, so she’d never know that he’d let go – but he’d made the woman that he loved a promise and damned if he was going to break it. Not even for a few minutes.

Chapter Eighteen

When they reached the hospital, the doctors wanted to take Gabi and Aidan protested – strongly. Security was called and it took King, Jax
and
Mac to wrestle Aidan away from Gabi’s gurney.

“Aidan,” Mac hissed, holding him by the shoulders. “They’re not dicking around here, man. They
will
throw you out if you don’t calm down.”

“I told her I’d stay with her!” Aidan shouted. “She’s afraid to be alone!”

“She’s out cold,” King said, trying to reason with him. “She has no idea what’s happening right now. Let them take her, just for a few minutes. They need to check her over, make sure she’s OK.”

“She’s
not
OK…”

“Aidan.” Jax spoke softly and that got and held Aidan’s attention. “I know how you feel, alright? I really,
really
do. Nine months ago it was me standing here, desperate to be holding Sarah’s hand and by her side and I couldn’t. I had to give her over to people qualified to help her in a way that I just wasn’t able to. Then – when they were done helping her – I could get back to doing what I could do for her. You have to do the same thing now, man. Give Gabi over. Just for now.”

Aidan stared at Jax. “I – I don’t know if I can.”

“You can because you know it’s the right thing to do for her.” Jax motioned at a chair. “Sit.”

Aidan did and Mac and King exchanged relieved glances. Mac nodded at the security guards and they walked away.

Aidan drew a shuddering breath. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, that is for damn sure.” Jax sat down next to him. “What do you need?”

Aidan looked dazed now. “I don’t know.”

Mac examined him closely, looked at the thick gauze on his neck. “I know one thing you need.”

“What?” Aidan said.

“You need me to sew you up again, man. You’ve ripped your stitches open.”

King turned Aidan’s head, saw the first splotches of blood seeping through the bandage. “Goddammit, Carter. Go on.”

“You guys’ll stay?” Aidan asked King and Jax. “You’ll come and get me if they say I can be with her?”

“In a heartbeat,” Jax assured him. “Now let Mac stop the bleeding, man. No way you want her to see you like that.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s true.”

Jax and King watched Mac take Aidan off to find an empty examination room and they both sighed.

“OK,” Jax said feeling like he needed to sleep for a week. “What now?”

“Now I call Dillon and fill him in.” King took out his cell. “Let him know that we have Gabi and that if Maria’s up to it, she should come to Denver.”

“You think she will be? After killing that asshole?”

“Dunno.” King sighed again. “What a fucking night for the Torres women, huh?”

“You can say that again.” Jax tried and failed to imagine what Gabi and Maria were going through right now. “Hell on earth.”

**

That afternoon, the four men were sitting in the waiting room. Aidan was still shaking with rage after the most recent confrontation with that asshole doctor about the ‘family only’ policy and King, Jax and Mac were now eyeing him closely. He looked like a man on the verge of strangling someone and privately, they thought that one Doctor Lewis Walker deserved it… but they
did
want to keep Aidan out of jail, so strangulation was most definitely out of the question. At least for the moment.

“Come on, man,” Aidan pleaded with Mac. “They
know
you here. Use your fucking influence, yeah? Get me in to see her?”

“I tried.” Mac was gentle with him, careful. God, the man had been through it these past few hours and he was barely holding on. “Walker’s known for being a stickler for this rule, Aidan, no exceptions and no flexibility.”

“Can we get a new doctor assigned to Gabriela?”

Mac shook his head. “You don’t want that. Walker’s a prick with non-family members and no denying it – but he’s an excellent doctor. Gabi’s in great hands with him and that’s what really matters, right?”

“Partly.” Aidan sucked in a breath. “She begged me to stay with her, Mac. You weren’t there, you didn’t hear her… she
needs
me, man. I
need
to be there. Instead, she’s all alone because her fucking doctor won’t bend and let a traumatized woman’s boyfriend in to see her. It’s bullshit!”

“Look,” Mac said, trying to calm him down. “I already lodged a formal request with the supervisor, OK? He’s at lunch right now but he promised to consider it as soon as he gets back. I know Frank and I know he’ll agree with you… Gabi can’t be alone and we all know that. Frank will override Lewis Walker, I promise you. Just hold on another hour, OK?”

Aidan clenched his hands, sure that he could take out the security guards when they came for him after he barricaded himself in Gabi’s room.

“Aidan? OK?”

“OK.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll wait an hour and then I’m going in to her, no matter what.”

“Deal.”

“Aidan?” King’s voice was casual.

“Yeah?”

“Come on with me for a minute.”

Aidan looked puzzled. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you out in the hallway.” King stood up. “Come on now.”

Aidan got to his feet, shot Mac and Jax a look of consternation, followed King down the hall to a small kitchen. It was empty, so King stepped in and shut the door behind them.

“OK,” Aidan said. “What?”

“How you doing?”

Aidan huffed. “Like shit, man. How do you think?”

“No. I mean… do you need to talk to someone?” He paused. “Someone like Naomi.”

“What do you – oh.” Aidan heaved a huge sigh. “You think I might crack under the strain and want to drink again.”

“I don’t know.” King’s eyes were steady. “I’m just asking if you need some back-up of the kind that I can’t provide.”

Aidan shook his head. “I’m OK that way.”

“Yeah?”

“I promise you. It hasn’t even crossed my mind once to do an escapist shot of whisky. I’m totally focused on Gabriela and I want to be here for her… present and aware. I’m not hiding from any of this, man, and I’m not going to.”

King nodded. “OK, then.”

“Thanks for checking in.” Aidan found that he was oddly touched. “And thank Naomi too.”

King cocked his head. “How’d you know that she called me and told me to ask?”

Aidan managed a weak grin. “Because it’s what I would do if she were in my shoes.”

“You would?”

“I would. I’d have her back if anything ever happened to you, I swear it. I wouldn’t leave her alone with her fear, Matt.”

King paused, amazed at how relieved it made him to know that. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Yeah.”

“How the hell did you know about Ace and Spider?”

Aidan grinned now and King almost fell over at the surge of relief at seeing that smart-ass grin again.

“Once a cop and agent,
always
a cop and agent, man.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that more than once over the years that I was a law man, I found it very useful to know things about bad people even when I didn’t need the knowledge at the moment. It was good to have incriminating information to hand, you know, and stored away someplace secret. Ready and waiting and just in case.”

King frowned. “So – what? You investigated the Fallen Angels? Gathered up some dirt and held on to it?”

“Yep. And the Road Devils and a few of our customers at the bar.” Aidan shrugged. “Spider and Ace met in the back rooms of Curves for their… uh… trysts a few times. Also? One time Spider left his phone behind with some explicit and damning pictures on it and I just scrolled on through after cracking the password. I’ve known almost from the beginning of Ace’s VP-ship that he’s gay but I saw no need to say anything. Not until yesterday.”

“Fuck, man.” King was staring at him. “You want to come work for me?”

Aidan laughed. “I’ve got a job, thanks.”

King shook his head. “OK, well. Let’s get back.”

Just as they sat down in the waiting room again, Jax’s phone beeped with a text. He opened it up and looked at the others, a bit tense.

“Dillon and Maria are two minutes away,” he said.

“Oh, man.” Mac sighed. “How’s she doing?”

“Dillon says she’s surprisingly OK,” Jax said, still amazed at that piece of information. “Shaky, but determined to be here for Gabi.”

“Not the best circumstances to meet Dillon’s girl, huh?” Aidan remarked. “Drinks at Curves would have been way better.”

“Agreed.” King ran his hands over the dark stubble on his face. “Drinks after a long, hot shower.”

Down the hall, the elevator pinged and they saw Dillon step off. He was holding a woman’s hand and he looked fierce and furious. He spotted the guys and gave them his usual curt nod. He spoke to the woman and she looked down at them.

They got to their feet and watched Maria Torres’ approach. She was much shorter than Gabi and definitely much curvier. She had long, dark hair and a sexy little mouth and eyes that were like dark chocolate. She looked gentle and kind, and to a man, they actually felt themselves melting in the sweet warmth of her presence. She looked a bit lost, a bit afraid, and they couldn’t forget for even one second that she’d blown Captain’s face off the night before, protecting herself and Dillon. But she was still walking the earth and she looked whole and they were immeasurably grateful for those two things.

“Maria.” Aidan spoke first and the others were relieved to see his charming grin was back on his face. “How you doing, darlin’? I’m Aidan.”

She shook his hand, staring up at him.
God
, Gabi hadn’t mentioned that the man was as bright and dazzling as a mountain sunrise, had she? And that accent? This guy was pure sex-on-legs and she longed to talk to Gabi about him and damn soon. Her eyes went to the bandage on the side of his neck and she paused, as if to ask about it, decided not to.

“Hi.” Her voice was soft and a bit shy. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“This here is Jax,” Aidan said. “He scowls a lot but he’s OK, I promise you.”

She fought back a grin as Jax scowled right on cue. As they shook hands, she considered that the man may have looked as scary as hell, but his touch was gentle and his green eyes were kind.

“Maria,” he said in a low growl. “Dillon’s told me lots about you… all good stuff, I assure you.”

She glanced at his numerous tattoos then looked up at him again. “Dillon’s said some good stuff about you too.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. Something about a big raise soon? For being such a model employee?”

Jax stared at her, then laughed. “Yeah, right.”

King stepped forward now and took her hand carefully. “How you doing, hon? After last night?”

Pain flashed in her eyes. “I – I’m not sure.” She paused, holding King’s massive hand like she’d forgotten it was even there. “I’m still not sorry.”

“Good,” Jax grunted. “None of us are happy you had to do that, but we
are
happy to have you two standing here.”

“That’s how I feel, I think,” Maria said. “I wish like hell that it hadn’t happened – but we’re alive. I’ll accept whatever comes my way, since it means we’re still breathing.”

The men nodded, their tension and worry relaxing a fraction. If that was how Maria really felt about it, they were more confident that she’d be fine in the end.

“How’s Gabi?” Maria said. “Is she doing OK?”

The men exchanged glances.

“How much did Dillon tell you, darlin’?” Aidan asked. “About what happened?”

“Just that she was taken from your place and that they had her for a few hours.” She watched them all look at each other and she paled a bit more. “What did they do to her?”

Suddenly, none of them knew quite how to break this news to Maria. God knows, she needed to know what had happened to her sister, but she was a woman who’d already been through hell. She was handling killing Captain fairly well and she was definitely tougher than she appeared at first glance – but
this
might break her. None of them wanted to be the one to make this woman shatter at last.

“OK, you know what?” Her voice was hoarse now, like she was holding her emotions tightly in check. “Don’t tell me yet.”

“Why not?” Dillon said, speaking for the first time. His friends saw his whole body leaning towards Maria protectively.

“Because I want to go and see her and I’m suddenly getting the sense that I won’t be able to keep it together for her if I know the whole story. Just tell me – is she badly beaten?”

“No,” Jax said. “No, they didn’t do too much of that. You should also know, Maria, that they didn’t rape her.”

“Thank God.” She pushed her hair back and Dillon frowned when he saw how badly she was shaking. “So – which room is she in?”

“Five-oh-two, but they’re making it hard for us to see her,” Jax said. “This one doctor is a real prick and he keeps saying family only.”

“OK, well. No problem.”

Just then, Doctor Walker showed up in the waiting room and Aidan, King and Jax glared at him. Dillon saw their hostility and he looked puzzled.

Aidan was determined to keep things civil with this little prick, even if it killed him. He was Gabriela’s doctor and he was still in charge – at least until Mac’s friend gave Aidan the green light to trample over Walker and get in there to the woman he loved.

“How were the results of the x-ray?” Aidan said now. He was pretty sure that nothing was broken, but he had to make polite conversation with the man. “Anything broken?”

Lewis Walker glared at the large blond man who needed a haircut. “You know I won’t be discussing any of that with
you
.”

Dillon shot Jax a look, astounded that the man was actually denying Aidan information. Fuck, if that were Maria in there and this doctor were standing between them? Dillon would be ripping the goddamn place up. He admired Aidan’s calm while not understanding it in the slightest.

To all of their shock, it was little Maria who spoke up, who took the knees out from under the pompous asshole.

“Why not?” she said, glaring at Dr. Walker like she was plotting his demise.

“Why not what?” he replied.

“Why not tell Aidan what’s happening with his girlfriend?”