Page 49 of Hurry Up And Wait

Goddamnit, I wanted to be at home right now so I could check on her. I hated the idea of her being all alone. Thankfully, despite IKE’s less-than-thrilling demeanor, I knew he was good at what he did. He would keep her safe.

“Is everything alright?” Olivia asked.

I glanced up, surprised to find her not more than three feet from me. “Uh…I hope so. A friend of mine was in an accident.”

“A bomb?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It just sounded really intense.”

“It’s fine,” I said, brushing it off. I stalked over to the table where my drink sat and tossed it back. I wasn’t normally a whiskey man, but hell, at this point, I’d take anything.

I hated being so far away from the action. I just wanted to see her and make sure everything was okay, but if she was in the hospital, calling her wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. I would have to wait for an update, and until that came in, I was left cooling my heels.

I pulled up IKE’s number and shot off a text, demanding that he give me updates regularly. It didn’t matter that Red already took care of it. I wanted him to know I was fucking serious. I waited for his reply, but got nothing. Maybe he was in the hospital with her right now. If that was the case, I was only distracting him from his job.

“Another?” Olivia asked.

“No, I think I’ll get some more work done. Goodnight.”

I walked away without another glance at the woman who, as of tomorrow, would be my fiancée. I should probably get to know her better, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it tonight when Isla was on my mind.

11

ISLA

I couldn’t stop watchingthe man outside my room. Right now, he was talking with someone who I assumed was from OPS. They had the same look about them, the same serious expression and set to their shoulders. Since I was brought to the hospital, this man hadn’t left my side, yet I still hadn’t remembered to ask his name. I should probably know that, but I was too frazzled to think of small things like a person’s name.

The incident at my house kept replaying over and over in my head. Sometimes, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to purge the memories from my mind, but all I ended up doing was making it easier for the replay to run on repeat. My hands were still shaking and I hid them under the blanket, willing them to stop. The ache in my head was growing more uncomfortable by the minute, and my back felt like I’d been hit multiple times with a sledgehammer.

Focusing on that man was the only thing keeping me sane. It was the only thing preventing me from jumping out of this bed and making a break for an exit to find my sister. Fox already informed me she was fine, that she was out on a run at the time of the explosion. That settled the fear in my mind slightly, but I had yet to lay eyes on her, and until I did, nothing would truly satisfy me.

So, to stop thinking about things I couldn’t control, I watched and waited. I flashed back to that night in the alley—the way he so swiftly disposed of my husband and then turned to me with an intensity I’d never felt before. I could still feel his burning gaze deep in my soul.

I shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable. My back ached from hitting the table and then flying over it. It seemed every time I moved, I found a new ache that my body hadn’t yet discovered. My left arm was already in a sling from my shoulder being separated, and I knew I had some massive bruising on the backs of my legs and my chest where the door slammed into me.

The door opened and the man walked in, eyeing me as he stalked over to a chair and took a seat. He didn’t say a word as he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair. I waited for him to speak or chastise me. Hell, anything but sit there. But instead, he just watched me.

He wasn’t like the other men at OPS. Where I’d always seen them in what they called tactical gear, this man wore a suit that looked very expensive and a black overcoat that draped over his back and hung down to the middle of his legs. Right now, that overcoat hung over the side of the chair. It was odd, really. He didn’t seem to fit in with anyone else, yet they all were perfectly fine with him watching out for me.

“Why are you wearing a suit?” I asked.

If he was surprised by my question, he didn’t show any outward signs. “Because I like it.”

“Are you in security?”

“No.”

“But you know everyone at OPS.”

He was silent, only giving a slight nod.

My lips twitched as I itched to ask more questions. There was so much I wanted to know, but it was mostly because I didn’t want to think about my house, who bombed me, or what my current medical status was. I just wanted to forget the whole day.

His name. I could ask him his name. Simple enough question.

“IKE,” he said before I could ask.