Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(68)

“In his head?”

Tilly snorted.

Louise let out a sigh and turned to Cole again. “I don’t hate Corbin. Anymore. I haven’t hated him for a long time. It’s just easier to…stay in a habit, I guess. He said they caught the * who did this to Mase?”

“He’s in custody, yes.”

“Good. If there was ever anything to unite the two of us, it was Mason. I promise to try to keep the snark to a minimum.”

“Aw,” Tilly said. “I was having fun.”

“You’re sleep-deprived,” Cole reminded her.

“I’m not dead.”

After a few minutes, they returned to the waiting room. This surgical ICU was a more intensive unit, and they limited how much time and how many people could be at a patient’s bedside at any given time. Cole had been told that once they stepped Mason down to the regular ICU, he’d be allowed to spend more time at Mason’s bedside, and even sleep there, if space allowed.

Corbin wore an evil grin. “So how’d the cunt take the Master and slave news?”

Tilly collapsed, laughing, against Landry’s shoulder.





Chapter Twenty-Six


The trooper and deputy from the night before arrived around one to talk to them and update them about what was going on. They also returned Mason’s phone to Cole, who slipped it into his pocket. He’d have to contact Mason’s employer and notify them what happened.

The guy would be arraigned the next morning and likely wouldn’t make bail. His family in Nebraska was apparently disowning him, now that they’d learned what he’d done, and he was pretty much broke. Because he was a flight risk, the state attorney was going to push for no bond, or at the very least a high bond.

Friends filtered in and out, bringing them lunch and coffee and offering support. Cole felt like Tilly had answered the same medical questions about Mason’s condition a thousand times, and wondered if he should just get a voice recording of her saying it to play.

Cole felt drained, and guilty for feeling that way when Mason lay unconscious and fighting for his life in a hospital bed.

Other than being able to take turns going back and visiting with Mason, there wasn’t a whole lot any of them could do. Cole didn’t want to leave him there alone all night, but the doctors and nurses assured Cole and Kim that Mason would be kept under sedation for at least several more days. There was no chance of him waking up right then. They didn’t want him to, to speed his healing.

This wasn’t how their relationship was supposed to go. They’d just started to take things to the next level.

They were supposed to be able to enjoy their lives.

Why couldn’t that little f*cker find someone else?

Why’d he have to try to kill Mason?

He didn’t realize Kim had asked him a question until she laid her hand on his arm and gently shook it.

“I’m sorry. What?”

She tipped her head toward Tilly, who’d dozed off on Landry’s shoulder.

More guilt, that now their friends’ lives were also upended.

“If you guys want to go,” Cole told him, “it’s okay.”

Landry looked exhausted, too. “Thank you. I think I shall pull husband rank.”

“Huh?” Tilly said, lifting her head.

“Come along, my vicious little Redbird. Time for you to take a nap.”

Tilly frowned. “What happened?”

Landry stood and held out a hand to her. “Life is happening, love. We cannot do anything else this evening. We need to get home and rest.”

Cole knew how exhausted Tilly must have been when she didn’t even try to argue. She hugged Cole and Kim, and Mason’s parents, and let Landry lead her out of the waiting room.

Louise and Hank were getting a hotel room. After exchanging cell phone numbers with Corbin, Louise, and Hank, Cole led Kim out to his car. He didn’t know where to go, at first, until he found himself driving toward Mason’s condo.

No plants to water, no pets to take care of, but for that moment he couldn’t stand to be anywhere else.

Kim didn’t seem inclined to argue, either.

It wasn’t until they were inside he realized she’d been wearing her collar all day. “Sorry, sweetheart. I should have taken that off of you at the hospital.”

She vigorously shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.

They cuddled on the couch, the music on. The last thing on Cole’s mind was romance. Exhaustion had set in, and he knew they needed to go home. Or, at least, he had to get Kim home. Her car was there, and tomorrow would be crazy enough.

“Can we go see him in the morning?” she asked. “Please? Before work?”

He glanced at the time. “Let’s go to your place to spend the night. We’ll stop by my house on the way so I can get what I need.”

“But…this is closer.”

He didn’t have the energy to fight her tonight. “Honey, your car is at your place.”

“I want to sleep in his bed.” Her tiny voice broke Cole’s heart.

It was hard to argue with her. He wanted to sleep in Mason’s bed, too.

Unfortunately, life called. “We’ll take his pillows with us. We will stay at your place tonight. I’ll stay with you. If there’s any change in his condition in the morning, I’ll call you immediately. You need to go to work.”