Mending the Rift (14 page)

The man laid a finger upon his lips, and Luca kept quiet. “Hey, Luca, I’m Kyle, Marcus’s brother. I’m so sorry about what happened to you.”

“Kyle? What… what are you doing here?” Luca’s mind spun. What the hell was Kyle doing here? Given, he’d worked together with Smith, but that was about it.

“That’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later. Come on, I think I found a way out of the hospital. I don’t care how, but I’ll get you out here and back to Marcus. Can you walk?”

Luca gritted his teeth as he sat up. His head swam, but this was his chance, and he’d use it. Kyle held out his hand to Luca, and for a second, Luca feared he’d burst into tears. The gesture reminded him of Marcus, and the urge to throw himself in the other man’s arms hurt. Could he even trust Kyle? He’d never met the man before and only knew about him through Marcus. He’d also told Marcus that Smith would be a good choice for him to marry. Now hadn’t that backfired in a spectacular manner?

“I brought you pants and a shirt. Unfortunately I couldn’t snitch shoes.” Kyle helped him dress. After a month without clothes, the fabric scratched his skin, and he itched to get rid of them again. Whereas Luca’s clothes were clean, Kyle’s were in need of washing or, better, even replacing. Either he didn’t take good care of himself, or someone else didn’t.

Kyle took his elbow and guided him toward the door. Luca clutched his arm, trembling from the coldness seeping into his bare soles. Kyle peered outside, waited maybe a minute, and then hurried into the hallway, tugging Luca behind him. They reached the door to what Luca assumed was a staircase when that door flew open, revealing a smiling Mia.

“Mr. Gray, what a surprise to see you here,” she said. “I’m assuming you somehow got lost? Oh, and you found Luca. I didn’t think you’d be so stupid, Luca.”

Luca’s fingers tightened on Kyle’s arm. What the hell was going on? Kyle darted panicked glances from Mia to the hallway, then Mia’s right hand shot out, gripping Kyle’s throat. She lifted him off his feet, her fingers digging deep into his flesh, seemingly intent on crushing his windpipe. Kyle’s eyes bulged as he kicked his legs and clawed at Mia’s fingers.

Luca stared at Mia until he forced his vocal cords into working order. “Mia! Please, don’t.”

Mia’s eyes glinted with pure insanity when more doors flew open. Doctors, nurses, and armed security personnel ran toward them. One of them was Liam Smith, who raised a gun at Mia, shouting, “Put him down. Now!”

Mia opened her hand, and Kyle crumpled to the floor, wheezing. Two nurses approached him, warily glancing at Mia, who looked pleased with herself. “Smith,” she said, “I was inclined to think about letting Kyle go since you adhered to your end of our little bargain, but now… he’s obviously still not learned his lesson. I’ll conduct some more experiments on him. If he’s lucky—as he has been so far—he’ll survive them.”

What the hell was Smith doing here? In the past weeks, he’d thought he’d heard Smith’s voice a few times but always put that notion aside as nonsense. Before Luca could dwell more on what he knew, Smith lifted his gun and pulled the trigger, hitting Mia point blank. Screams and shouts echoed through the hallway, almost deafening in its volume. On pure instinct, Luca had sought shelter in an open doorway, huddling on the floor. He cast a glance at the mess that had been Mia and quickly averted his gaze. His whole body quaked while his belly contracted in painful spasms. He pressed his hands on the swell, wheezing through the contractions when Kyle crouched next to him.

“Are you okay?”

Luca gulped for air. “Are you crazy? No! Of course I’m not okay.”

“That can’t be helped now.” Smith walked up to them, his gun loosely held in his hand. Several men followed, forming a protective circle. He cast Luca a glance before he beckoned one of his men forward, murmuring something into his ear. The man nodded and hurried to the cluster of nurses and doctors in another corner of the hallway.

“What the hell is going on? First you try to marry me, and then you go berserk in Whithers’s office. Later you somehow escape only to kidnap me, and now you’re doing… doing what?” Luca grunted when another painful contraction hit him. “Oh my God! Am I going into labor? I’m only at week seventeen. The baby’s not going to make it. Please….”

Luca closed his eyes and leaned his head against the doorframe at his back. Kyle rubbed his shin when boots clomped closer to him. Luca opened his eyes again to find Smith holstering his gun and kneeling next to him. “You’re not going into labor, so stop panicking.”

“Do you think that’s going to work? You tell me to stop panicking, and I’ll do just that? This is my baby we’re talking about, and weren’t you the one telling me the doctors would cut out the embryo and dissect it?”

“You did
what
?” Kyle hissed.

Smith sighed before he addressed Kyle. “I can explain that.”

“I honestly doubt that. If the last months have proved anything, it’s that you can’t explain anything at all.”

Smith’s lips curved into a lopsided grin, giving him a startlingly handsome appearance. “That’s not correct. I could explain pretty much everything. You just didn’t like what I was saying.”

“You’ve kidnapped the vice president’s son, who happens to be pregnant with my brother’s baby. Tell me how you’re going to explain this shit to me?” Kyle’s gray eyes blazed at Smith.

Luca frowned at them, a half-assed thought crossing his mind. “You’re a couple.”

“No,” Kyle said. “We’re not, and we never will be.”

Smith’s lips thinned into a small line as he rose stiffly to his feet. The man he’d sent away came back, carrying different pairs of shoes. Smith gestured for Luca to take them. “Choose a pair that’s most likely to fit. We’re going on a little run.”

Luca’s heart hammered against his rib cage as he looked from Smith to Kyle and the rest of the men surrounding them. A siren blared, causing him to jump.

“Hurry,” Smith ordered.

He grabbed Kyle’s upper arm, while Luca fumbled with the shoelaces. His fingers trembled and made it impossible for him to tie them. He squeaked in surprise when the scarred man who had helped to abduct him about a month ago slapped his hands aside and fixed the laces.

Afterward, he hoisted Luca to his feet, sending him a grin. “Long time no see, eh?”

“This is insane. Liam, stop!” Kyle struggled against Smith’s hold on him.

Smith’s free hand shot out, and he yanked Kyle’s head back by his hair, exposing Kyle’s already bruising throat. “We’ve tried your way. Now we’re doing it my way.”

Kyle’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in rapid succession. “They’ll kill all of us,” he whispered.

Smith shook his head. “No, they won’t. We have him”—he pointed at Luca—“with us. He’s our safety net. They won’t open fire as long as he’s with us; plus they want you too.”

“Why do they want Kyle?” Luca couldn’t help but ask.

The scarred guy barked a laugh. “Still don’t know when to shut up, boy?”

Hot fury blazed through Luca, and for a moment he forgot everything around him. He swung his fist, and it connected with the scarred man’s face with a reverberating smack. The man clutched his nose, but no sound escaped his mouth. Luca’s insides turned to ice, and he scurried a few steps backward, away from the scarred guy. How could he have been so stupid?

He rubbed a soothing circle on his belly, shivering, when Smith said, “What is it with you Walker men and breaking other people’s noses?”

“He didn’t break it,” the scarred man said, gently prodding his nose. He gave Luca an approving glance. “Good hook, though, boy. You’re not as weak as I thought you were.” He held out his hand to Luca. “Name’s Ty.”

“You’re not expecting me to shake your hand, are you? I’m not that dumb.” Luca took another step away, but Ty crossed the distance in a blink, hooking his arm around Luca’s trembling shoulders.

“Let’s go, boy. The hospital will be flooded with Southern Union’s best warriors soon. We might be well trained, but those Union killing machines are best avoided.” Ty gave Luca’s shoulders a squeeze before he slid his hand lower, engulfing Luca’s hand in his own. Ty’s skin was like sandpaper, and when Luca looked down, Ty’s hand showed the same deep scars and dents the left side of his face had. Their gazes met, and Ty shrugged his massive shoulders. “Accident.”

The men formed up with Smith, Kyle and Luca in the middle of them. Kyle had fallen silent, though he radiated anger in palpable waves. Luca ran with the men, unsure whether he should’ve tried to stay at the hospital or not. What the hell was he getting himself into?

THEY DASHED
through long hallways, while sirens blared and orders to stop roared through loudspeakers. Luca quickly tired of all the running. Inwardly, he cursed that he’d basically been bedridden for a month. The last two weeks they’d forced him to run on the treadmill, or ride a stationary bike, to see how the exercise would affect the baby, but all the procedures still left him feeling weak and exhausted.

He stumbled, bumping into Kyle, when Ty’s hand closed around his biceps. “Tests took their toll on you, huh?”

“No, I like to trip over my own feet.” Ty’s grip tightened, almost cutting off his circulation. “You cutting off the blood flow in my arm won’t help me feel better, just thought I’d point that out.”

The pressure lessened, although Ty muttered, “This is no game, boy.”

“This hasn’t been a game since you kidnapped me a month ago,” Luca hissed. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’ll have you know that I’ll be my father’s best cheerleader when he goes after all of you.”

“Ah, still believing Daddy will come to your rescue,” Ty replied as he pushed Luca forward. “Maybe he’s glad to be rid of you. After all, he’s got a whole army at his disposal, and you’re still not rescued.”

Luca swallowed down the lump in his throat. Why did Ty have to be such an utter ass? If his father and Marcus hadn’t come yet, there had to be valid reasons. They’d do everything in their power to rescue him, wouldn’t they?

“You’re such an asshole,” Kyle said, pointing at Ty. “No wonder no one puts up with you for more than a couple of hours.”

Ty reached out for Kyle, his face contorted in rage, when Smith barked, “Stop it, both of you!”

“I’m not putting up with shit from this pussy,” Ty growled.

Kyle’s eyes flashed, and only Smith’s yank on his arm stopped him from slapping Ty. “You can bitch at each other later. Now I’d prefer if you two would concentrate on surviving.”

Ty leveled a finger at Kyle. “This time you won’t get away easily.”

“I’m
so
scared,” Kyle replied in a falsetto voice, accompanied by a mock-attempt at coyly batting his eyelashes.

“We might get killed, and you’re fighting to see who’s got the biggest balls?” Luca asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity.

“I’ve got the biggest, that’s not in question,” Ty said.

Kyle opened his mouth, but Smith clapped his hand over it, trapping whatever Kyle intended to say inside. Luca revoked his thought of the extreme similarity between Kyle and Marcus. Where Marcus was broad and well muscled, he also radiated an inherent strength, peace, and warmth, something that had immediately attracted Luca. Although Kyle had his brother’s eyes, he wore his dark brown hair in a shaggy cut. He appeared slighter in build than Marcus, and though his face sported a variety of bruises, he was softer, prettier than Marcus. Luca swallowed when Marcus’s face popped up in his mind. He’d do pretty much anything if he could only find his way back to Marcus. And what the hell was Kyle doing with Smith? What was their connection? There had to be one, right?

Shots rang out around them, and the group of men turned to the right in a fluid movement, bringing them into what seemed to be a laboratory. Only the harsh pants of the men and the clomp of their boots resounded around them. No one worked at the lab tables, and only an eerie green light illuminated their surroundings. A stench of foul eggs—or spoiled flesh—hung heavily in the air. Luca put a hand over his nose as he tried to breathe through his mouth.

They came to a halt, and the men whispered commands at each other. Luca glanced around and his gaze stuck on a large translucent tube filled with a yellow fluid. He stepped closer, something drawing him inexplicably, and wiped away a fine sheet of dust. It took his eyes a moment to comprehend the sight in front of him. When he did, his stomach heaved, and he doubled over.

“For heaven’s sake,
don’t
look,” Ty hissed in his ear.

He pulled Luca away from the table and blocked his view. Luca’s eyes streamed as he gasped for air. His stomach still churned, and icy tendrils slithered down his spine. “That’s a baby in there.”

“It’s dead.”

“It must’ve been terrified before its death,” Luca whispered. “What kind of people hurt defenseless and innocent human beings like this?”

“Humankind has always had a cruel streak. Why do you think there was a Third World War that almost wiped humans out?” Ty replied. “You’ve been coddled your whole life, boy, but that’s what’s going on in the real world.”

“No, it’s not,” Kyle interjected. “Stop tormenting him. The real world doesn’t only consist of cruelty and the shark mentality you’re so fond of. There are still decent humans and—”

“Stop, no one wants to hear your lecture,” Smith interrupted. Kyle sent him a withering look but grew quiet.

Luca expected a smug expression on Ty’s face, but his right side was in the dark, and the scarred left side didn’t allow for much expression. Luca forced himself to breathe evenly until the urge to puke receded, all the while rubbing his belly. How did the baby deal with all that stress?

An explosion burst from the door they’d entered through, and glass splinters rained down on them. Someone tugged Luca underneath a steel table, where he curled up into a small ball. Shots were exchanged between Smith’s men and whoever had followed them. Some bullets ricocheted off the tables and equipment, hitting a couple of Smith’s guys. A pained cry from his left drew Luca’s attention. Kyle clasped his right forearm, where blood gushed from a wound.