Page 16 of Filthy Secret
“I’m not fucking going anywhere. In fact, you two are coming with me.”
I rear back slightly, and my brows snap together. It hurts, but I bite back the whimper at the sensation. Sucking in a deep breath, I hold it as I try to figure out exactly what I’m going to say. I can’t have Adam around Atomic for very long. He will discover just who Adam is, and I don’t think I could handle that backlash.
I waited too long.
I fucked up so much in the past six years.
But this is beyond that. It’s unforgivable, and I hate myself for it. I’ve been holding my breath, praying that this moment would never come because I knew just how bad it all was. But it’s here now, and I’m going to have to live with the consequences of my actions… or rather, inactions.
“He will just keep coming,” I whisper. “He won’t stop.”
Atomic doesn’t seem too worried about that. When his lips curve up into a smirk, I know he’s actually looking forward to that. He wants Golden Joker to find me. Atomic wants him to find him. He’s not only willing, but he’s fucking ready.
“Good,” he clips. “I hope he does. Because if he doesn’t, then I’m going to look for him. I’m going to find him, and I’m going to make him pay for me having to go out of my way to look for him.”
“Atomic,” I say, my breath hitching with the word.
His thumb gently slides over my collarbone, his gaze watching the move before he shifts his attention back to meet my own. “And if I ever see your sister again, she’s going to meet the same fucking fate.”
I don’t argue with him because my sister caused all of this. She couldn’t keep her shit to herself. Which isn’t anything new. She never could. I just didn’t allow myself to truly see it earlier in my life.
Maybe it’s because I have my own child now. Maybe it’s because I grew up and she never did. I don’t know the case, but what I do know is that my sister is toxic as hell, and I am done with her in every way whatsoever.
Still, I’m not sure if I want her to die.
ATOMIC
There is an internal struggle happening inside of this woman, but I don’t understand it all. It appears to be more than just her sister being a piece of shit.
Ryan knows that Ellen is fucking garbage. She always has been. But that’s what makes Ryan a good person and a fucking enabler at the same time. She wants to see the best in her sister, even if it means she’s shit on.
I open my mouth to ask her what is bothering her, but I’m cut off when the door swings open. Turning my head, I look over my shoulder as a nurse appears. They must have switched shifts because it’s not the bitch from earlier.
“Hey,” she calls out before introducing herself.
What she doesn’t do is give me a sideways glance or tell me that I shouldn’t be here. I already like her a hell of a lot more than the nurse from the night shift. Standing from the bed, I walk over to the window and look down at the parking lot. I scan the area now that the sun is up and look for that asshole.
He’s not there.
Being the pussy he is, he probably won’t show up here again. Plus, now that I know what kind of man I’m dealing with, what he did to an innocent woman, and what he plans on doing to her, I will not hesitate even a millisecond before ending him.
“Everything is looking really good,” the nurse says, interrupting my thoughts.
Turning my head, I look back at the two of them. She’s smiling down at Ryan as she moves around her bed. Just as it seems she’s about to leave the room, the doctor waltzes in, likely for his morning rounds.
Wordlessly, I lean against the wall next to the window and watch the exchanges between the three of them. It surprises me when the doctor announces that Ryan’s catheter comes out today and that she’ll be going home tomorrow as long as she continues improving the way she has.
Just yesterday, they were sedating her because she was too worked up, and now, they’re going to send her home?
I don’t like the way that sounds. It seems dangerous. The doctor turns to leave, but I don’t let him get too far. Hurrying after him, I curl my fingers around his shoulder before I turn him around to face me.
He tips his head backward, his wide eyes finding mine as he looks up at me. “Sir?”
“She ain’t ready to go home. You seen her face?” I demand.
The doctor’s wide expression of shock relaxes slightly, but I can tell he’s on edge still. Probably because I’m dressed in leather and boots while he’s in a white lab coat. He gulps, and I watch his neck move as he does.
“Yes,” he begins. “I have seen her face, but I believe that the permanent damage is nonexistent, or rather very little. I cannot know for sure until her swelling goes down, but I’ve gone over her X-rays and her ultrasounds. She is internally unharmed from what I can see.”