Burn (Breathless #3)(102)

He stroked her hair, his eyes soft with love. “You won’t lose me. Never that. I’m always going to be here.”

“’Kay.”

“Rest now, baby. You’re about to go under. Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She fought only as long as it took to whisper the words. Words she’d never given him before.

“Love you.”

This time there were tears in his eyes. Turning the green to aqua pools. His breath caught and stuttered over his lips as he stared down at her.

“I love you too, darling. Now get some rest. I’ll be here watching over you while you sleep.”

She gave in, closing her eyes, surrendering to the pull of the medication. But she was still aware of the warm hand cupped over her brow. And of the lips against her temple.

Chapter thirty-four

“How is she?” Mia asked anxiously when Ash walked into the ICU waiting room. “Has she woken up yet?”

Ash gathered Mia in a hug and then put an arm around Bethany, who wore the same worried, grim expression. He hated that this touched them. That they’d been threatened and now had to live with that knowledge.

More than that he hated that Mia’s past had been dragged into the present. Shame burned bright in her eyes. She carried guilt she had no business carrying. It wasn’t her goddamn fault that Charles Willis was a f**king coward who preyed on women to get his point across. He was pissed beyond belief that Charles had put that fear in Mia and Bethany’s eyes. More than that, he was enraged that Josie bore the bruises and broken bones from Charles’s attack.

The man would pay. It was only a matter of time.

Gabe and Jace also looked expectantly at Ash as they waited for an update on Josie’s condition. None of the men had slept since this all began. They were too worried that Mia or Bethany could be next and so they’d taken steps to ensure neither woman would ever be at risk.

Mia and Bethany weren’t thrilled, but neither did they object.

“She woke up for a few minutes,” Ash said.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Bethany breathed. “How was she doing?”

“She’s in a lot of pain. They gave her pain medication and she slipped back under. She managed to say a few things. She’s confused. She was very worried about Mia and Bethany. She didn’t remember that she’d already warned us so she was frantic to tell Gabe and Jace that he’d threatened Mia and Bethany.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jace muttered. “What has the doctor said?”

“When will we be able to see her?” Mia asked anxiously.

“Maybe the next time she wakes up,” Ash said. “And the doctor said she’s making remarkable progress. They were able to take the chest tube out and she’s breathing on her own with the aid of oxygen. They’ll likely move her to a step-down unit tomorrow if she continues to do well and shows no sign of infection.”

“That’s wonderful,” Bethany said.

“I’m so pissed this happened to her,” Mia said tearfully.

Gabe immediately went to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his side.

“It’s my fault,” she continued, tears slipping down her cheeks. “It should have been me not her.”

Ash scowled and Gabe didn’t look any better. Guilt weighed heavily in Gabe’s eyes. He looked haggard and gray, suddenly older than his thirty-nine years.

“That’s bullshit,” Jace growled. “It’s not your fault, Mia. I won’t have you saying it.”

“We all know it’s my fault,” Gabe said grimly. “If I’d taken care of the ass**le the first time, we wouldn’t be standing here and Josie wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed.”

Ash wasn’t going to refute that. If it had been him and the situation with Mia had happened to Josie, Ash would have taken care of the issue then and there. But assigning blame did none of them any good. Gabe was kicking himself enough without Ash and Jace piling more on.

Jace sent Gabe a dark look that said he still hadn’t forgiven the other man for what had gone down in Paris and then afterward when Charles had tried to blackmail Mia. But Jace remained silent, his lips pressed together in a tight line.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s been taken care of,” Ash said. “There are other more important things right now.”

Jace shot a worried look in Ash’s direction but Ash ignored it. He wasn’t about to get into specifics in front of Mia and Bethany. They had enough to deal with as it was.

“I have a lot of making up to do with Josie,” Ash continued. “Apart from the fact that she’s lying in a hospital bed in horrific pain, there’s also the issue of the paintings I bought. I hurt her by doing that and keeping it from her. I need your help.”

“You know we’ll do anything,” Bethany said.

Ash squeezed her to him, his arm still wrapped around her. “Thanks, sweetheart. That means a lot.”

“What do you need us to do?” Gabe asked.

“I want to arrange an art show for her and I want to go all out. I need you to call in every favor owed you to make this huge. We can use the ballroom at the Bentley for the showing. Make sure everyone who is anyone is invited and that the show is hyped as the must-attend event of the year. Politicians, celebrities, the whole nine yards. I want Josie to have a venue where her art will shine and prove to her that she has incredible talent. She just needs the right exposure.”