Colters' Gift (Colters' Legacy #5)(81)

“Told him he should have just gotten rid of you a long time ago,” Ron muttered.

At first she thought she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Told him you were a silly bitch. Too easy and too dumb. And now you’re just a pain in the ass. He has a business to run and shouldn’t be wasting time chasing you all over the damn place.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know you think so,” she said through her teeth.

“You’ll keep your mouth shut or I’ll come at you,” he said coldly. “Joel likes to watch when I f**k a woman. He says it inspires him. Because I don’t give a shit if I break them. I’ll shove my dick up that tight ass of yours and I’ll enjoy making you scream. If you think Joel will protect you, then you’re wrong. He’ll get off watching me work you over and then he’ll f**k you while you lay there and cry.”

He strode through the open door while she lay rigid in his arms, his words echoing over and over in her horrified mind. It was a threat, yes, but he sounded so certain. There was knowledge in his tone, as if he’d done just as he’d described to other women Joel had been with.

They were both twisted, f**ked-up psychopaths whose hatred for women ran soul deep.

He entered the living room and dumped her onto the couch, earning him a frown from Joel, but Joel didn’t reprimand him.

When Lauren straightened herself, she saw another man about Joel’s age standing beside Joel, arms crossed over his chest.

This must be the physician Joel had summoned to meet them.

“See to her,” Joel said. “She was in an accident. She may have broken her ribs.”

“I can’t be sure without X-rays,” the doctor began.

“I only want to know if she’s okay to f**k,” Joel said coldly.

Lauren was utterly appalled, humiliation sucking her into its dark embrace. The doctor hesitated but then made his way over to Lauren.

He went to one knee on the couch in front of her.

“Lie down, please,” he said in a stiff voice that told her he was uncomfortable with the situation.

Slowly she lowered herself until her head met the cushions. She went tense when his hands lifted the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up over her br**sts.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll do my best to be gentle.”

He splayed his hands over her rib cage and then began to press in a series of areas with his fingertips.

“Tell me if at any point you feel more pain when I apply pressure,” he said.

When he reached the lower part, she winced and let out a gasp. He paused there and then worked his fingers into the area around the tender spot.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she let out another cry.

He probed another few moments and then lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Can you tell me what happened? Did anything hit you in this area? Have you had any difficulty breathing?”

She recounted the events of the accident in a halting voice.

“But I don’t remember hitting anything,” she said. “It was all a blur. We rolled several times and it was just so fast. And afterward, it didn’t hurt because . . .”

She broke off, refusing to say she hadn’t felt pain because of the adrenaline of running for her life away from the men pursuing her. Joel’s men. It would only piss him off more.

But Joel had stepped to the side and was having a rather animated conversation with Ron. She used that moment of distraction to whisper her plea to the doctor.

“Please, help me,” she begged. “He did this to me. And you heard what he wants to do. He wants to rape me. I’m not here willingly. Can you at least call the police when you leave?”

His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were heavy with regret and he could no longer hold her gaze. He dropped his eyes and continued his examination.

Finally he rose and turned in Joel’s direction.

“She most assuredly has broken ribs. It’s important you take care with her. I can bind them until you can take her to the hospital. They’ll need to do X-rays, give her proper pain medication and supervise her medical treatment.”

“That’s what I pay you to do,” Joel snapped. “I thought you said there was no way to tell if her ribs were broken without an X-ray. And now you’re so sure they are?”

“There is bruising in the lower rib cage. Tenderness to touch and at least one feels displaced. If there are breaks higher, she risks puncturing a lung if she isn’t careful.”

Joel scowled. “You write her the script for painkillers. I’ll see how things are in the morning before I worry over X-rays.”

The doctor sighed and turned, casting an apologetic look in Lauren’s direction. He’d tried and she knew he was afraid to do more. She didn’t know what hold Joel had on him, but it was obvious the doctor was captive to Joel’s demands.

The doctor spent a few seconds scribbling out a prescription from his pad, and then he pulled the top page off and held it out to Joel, who shoved it at Ron.

“Go have this filled.”

Then he focused his attention on the doctor and told him to get out. The doctor was only too eager to disappear. He nearly stumbled in his haste to get to the front door.

When both Ron and the doctor were gone, Joel walked to the couch where Lauren still lay, and he stared down at her, a malicious gleam in his eyes.