The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(48)

I received a text from Kate late in the afternoon, and texted her back that I’d be home by dinnertime. I hoped to spend a quiet evening with her on the couch, trying to recover from my fistfight and drunken stupor of the previous night.



I arrived at the apartment to find Kate had dinner ready and we sat together at the dining room table and ate, talking about her day at the studio and my day at the hospital.

After we washed up, we made our way to the living room and stretched out together, warm in each other’s arms, a selection of old music on the sound system. She ran a hand over my stomach, touching the bandage from my first injection.

"Will they give you another needle in your gut tomorrow?"

I nodded. "I'll be a real pin cushion when they're finished. But what I'm going through is nothing compared to what Liam's experiencing."

"What's happening to him?"

I sighed thinking of the whole procedure and how dangerous and at the same time life saving it was. "They have to give him drugs to destroy his bone marrow. Chemotherapy and radiation."

"For how long?"

"Four to seven days, depending. By the time my donation is ready, he'll be ready to take it."


"When will you know if the transplant takes?"

"A couple of weeks. Maureen said she'd keep me updated and I have my own contacts in the hospital, so I should know by the end of the month if his body is tolerating the new stem cells and the transplant has been successful." I hesitated, wanting to gauge her feelings about delaying our trip. "Do you mind waiting? I know you withdrew from the graduate program, thinking that we'd be in Africa by now."

"I don't mind waiting at all,” she replied, her voice earnest. “I want to be with you, wherever that is."

"Thank you," I said and kissed the top of her head. It was a lot to ask of someone who barely knew me. Considering my secret life as a Dominant in the BDSM lifestyle, I was surprised she was so willing to give it all up for me.

"Life's too short to worry about a few months when something as important as this comes up," she said, staring into my eyes, her expression serious. "Columbia will still be here when I get back. My scholarship's safe as long as I start up again at the end of my leave. Besides, I'm so happy to be painting again."

I pulled her even closer. "I don't want you regretting being with me. When we come back, I’ll make sure not to distract you from finishing your Masters. Or focusing on your art. Whatever makes you happy."

"I won't regret this," she said, her voice firm. "I'm so looking forward to Africa and that surprises me, considering my history. I want to go to Kenya, go on safari, see the positive things you've described. I want to wash away the bad memories from Mangaize."

"I want you to see it," I said and stroked her cheek. "I want the ghosts of the camps to be chased away by good things."

She snuggled more closely in my arms.

"I think I'll sneak in before Liam gets the transplant. Maybe when he's sleeping, so I can check on him. As his biological father, I think I have the right."

Kate didn’t say anything in reply as if she didn’t approve. Then she took in a deep breath.

"Drake, there's something I have to tell you."

I frowned. “What?”

“Maureen called. She told me that she was informing the staff at the hospital not to allow you to visit Liam and if you did, they were instructed to call the police.”

A shock went through me and I sat up, pulling her up with me.

"Fucking Christ," I said, adrenaline making my heart pound. "She actually said staff would call the police if I went to the ward again?"

I raked my fingers through my hair, unable to believe how much Maureen must hate me. I held my head in my hands, trying to calm down.

"I'm sorry," she said and stroked my back. "She said you punched Chris."

I glanced at her and shook my head. "Yeah I punched the sonofabitch after he punched me. He said he didn’t want a pervert anywhere near his son as long as Liam was a minor. As if I'd be some bad influence on Liam. Christ," I said and got up, going to look out the window. "All I wanted was to see him and speak with him, give him the photograph of his grandfather. I don’t care what they told Liam—say it's some distant uncle on someone's side. Let him know he had a relative who was heroic and maybe one day tell him the truth about me. But no. So, yeah, when he punched me, I popped the bastard a good one in return."

Kate stood and said nothing and I knew she was shocked to see me so angry. I had always kept my emotions in check when around her. It was my thing—control. I didn’t want to change that perception in her mind so I took in a deep breath and pulled her into my arms.

“I’m fine,” I said and exhaled heavily. “I got the message. I won’t go in again to see Liam.”

She squeezed me hard at that, her expression so serious, so much empathy for me in her eyes.

We went to bed soon after that, and I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, thoughts of Liam and Chris and Maureen dogging me.



We both kept busy over the next few days.

Kate went to her studio each morning while I went to the hospital for my shots and I kept busy so she could stay at the studio as long as her heart desired.