“Any drugs, alcohol?”
“No.”
Together, they pulled him from the truck. He didn’t wake up. Her chest squeezed. As they wheeled him inside, one of the nurses looked back at her. “Are you coming?”
Diamond blinked. Her boots were still rooted to the pavement. Then she nodded and ran after them. When the swinging doors shut behind the gurney, cutting her off from Sayer, she turned and bolted for the bathroom.
She barely got the door open before her stomach twisted. Dropping to her knees, she held her hair back and threw up,gagging as everything inside her hit the toilet in one violent wave.
She stayed there for a beat, chest heaving, fingers braced on the cold porcelain. Finally, she pushed up on shaky legs and made her way to the sink. Her reflection was pale, eyes wide and bloodshot. She turned on the faucet and rinsed her mouth, then snapped off a few paper towels and pressed them to her face, trying to cool the heat rising beneath her skin.
She stared at herself in the mirror, unflinching, quiet. Then she tossed the paper towels in the bin and walked out.
The urge to leave hit her the second she stepped into the sterile hallway. She wanted out. Out of the hospital. Out of this city. Away from everything that had just happened. But she wouldn’t leave Sayer. She couldn’t.
At the front desk, two cops were talking to the receptionist. Diamond caught the woman pointing in her direction.
Of course.
She sighed and met the officers halfway, pulling out her ID before they even asked. They wasted no time, rattling off questions—name, where she’d been, what happened, who did what, what was destroyed. She kept her answers clean and clipped. Basic facts. Just enough.
She told them about the attack. About Todd and his brother. About the call she made to local law enforcement to pick them up. No more, no less.
It was what she’d prepared for. Why she told Nova to wipe everything.
She knew this could happen. That itwouldhappen.
When they finally stopped, one of the officers tucked away his notebook. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
Diamond exhaled, this time slower. Heavier. Of course they would.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Diamond pulledthe burner from her pocket and stepped into the corner of the waiting room, away from the hum of vending machines and the low murmur of the nurses’ station.
She dialed Teller.
He answered on the first ring. “Talk.”
“It’s bad,” she said. “He’s in the ER. Unconscious. They’re doing a cat scan.”
A pause. Then, “Where?”
She gave him the name of the hospital.
“We’re on our way.”
That was it. No cursing. No questions. No blame. But she felt it anyway. Diamond stared at the phone for a second before stuffing it back into her jacket. She leaned against the wall, dragging a hand down her face.Great. Just great.
Soon, the emergency room would be crawling with Royal Bastards. Pissed-off bikers with patch pride and blood loyalty.All of them would be looking ather. Wondering why she let one of their own get hurt. Why she brought Sayer into something this dirty. This dangerous.
She never should’ve let him come.
But it was too late for regrets.
Now she just had to hold the line until they got there—and pray like hell that Sayer woke up before they did.
Diamond sank into one of the stiff plastic chairs in the waiting room, elbows on her knees, hands clasped so tightly her knuckles went white.
