King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC #6)(14)

“I’ll fucking make time for that.” I would move heaven and earth for that. The fact Romano still breathed infuriated me. The kind of anger that made a man willing to go places he’d never considered before lived inside me over Romano. The only other time in my life I’d felt rage like this was when Margreet had been killed. A bloodbath had been my response to that. I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same this time if that was needed to ensure the safety of my family and my club. And of Lily and her family.



“You haven’t visited her yet?” Skylar asked, surprised when she realised I didn’t know where the intensive care unit was. We’d arrived at the hospital five minutes ago and the need to see Lily compelled me to park the ute and go inside with Skye. I’d known it would. It was why I’d told Hyde to begin without me when he met Bones.

“I’ve been busy, Skye,” I muttered.

We found our way to the lifts and headed up to where Lily’s sister was. Skylar sent a text to Lily letting her know she was here. When we arrived outside the unit, Lily was nowhere to be seen and I wondered how long I’d have to wait for her.

I didn’t have a lot of time to spare.

And yet, the tension punching through me told me I’d wait.

I needed to see her for myself. Had to see she was okay.

Skylar took a seat in the tiny waiting room. I didn’t. Instead, I paced the area, my thoughts completely on Lily.

“God, King, sit down,” Skylar grumbled.

I checked the clock on the wall. Fuck, the silence in here was deafening. We were the only ones waiting, and the corridor was quiet, too. I disliked noise, but I would have done anything for something to take my mind off shit.

“Send her another text.”

“No. I told her I wouldn’t get in her way today.”

Fuck.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said, exiting the room to make a call. As I stepped out into the corridor, Lily pushed through the door from the intensive care unit, her eyes coming straight to mine.

Stopping dead in her tracks, she said, “King.”

I’d caught her off guard, which wasn’t my intention, but it seemed to slow down any inclination she may have had to tell me to leave the minute she saw me. Either that or she’d decided to stop fighting me. The way she looked at me was a hell of a lot different to the way she’d looked at me last night. She appeared to have thawed a little.

I ran my eyes over her. It wasn’t because I wanted to fuck her, although that desire was stronger than ever. This was based on my need to know she was okay. It was a habit I’d picked up somewhere along the way in life. When I spent time away from those I cared about, I found it necessary to check for any harm that may have come to them while I was absent. It was a habit I couldn’t shake.

Lily was okay. Physically, at least.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as I checked her over.

Meeting her gaze again, I said, “I dropped Skylar off.”

Her brain appeared to catch up to my presence when the thawing of her ice shifted back to freezing temperatures again. “Thank you for dropping her off. You can go now.”

Her words were automated. Cold. Emotionless. Like she was talking from a fucking script. It was as if she didn’t even fucking know me; like I’d never been inside her. That shit pissed me off. Where the hell had her fire gone? I could handle her hate and her disappointment and her regret. Whatever she wanted to throw at me, I could fucking take. But I could never handle being frozen out like this because I knew it came from the kind of devastation that crushed a soul. And I never fucking wanted to crush her soul.

I closed the distance between us, slid my hand around her waist and backed her up against the wall. Ignoring the widening of her eyes and the way her hands pressed against my chest, I growled, “We need to get one thing straight, and one thing only. I’m not walking away from this.”

Her throat worked hard as she found her words. With her hands still pushing against me, she blurted out, “I don’t know what you think this is, but as far as I’m concerned, there isn’t anything for you to walk away from.”

I moved my free hand to her neck, gripping her there and circling my thumb over her throat. Bending my face to hers, I said, “That’s bullshit and you know it. Stay mad at me. Stay fucked off. Yell at me, scream at me, fucking hit me, but don’t you fucking shut down on me.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. And then she found her fighting spirit. “This isn’t something you can fix, King. You can’t just swoop in and demand I forget what you did. I needed you and you just left.” She pushed hard against my chest, forcing me backwards. “You hurt me, and I won’t allow you to do that again.”

There she was.

Fucking beautiful.

“Good,” I said, my entire body blazing with heat. I could work with what she’d given me.

“Good? What the hell does that mean?”

Fuck, if only she knew how much her fight turned me on. “You’re not done either, Lily. I don’t expect you to forget what I did, but you’ll move past it. This pull between us is too fucking strong for you not to.”

“My God, you’re arrogant.”

“No, I’m honest.”

“You’re fucking presumptuous is what you are.”