Chapter Forty

SHAY

Bishop leaned against the wall beside my hospital bed, shooting a death stare across the room at Detective Moore, who had spent the past twenty minutes grilling me about every detail of my abduction.

She wanted to know how Jason had snatched me from the side of the road and about Jason giving me to Vince, who had put a bullet in his head as thanks and proceeded to force me to go to a hotel with him, intent on selling me.

She'd been reasonably considerate of the fact I had a concussion and almost died of an overdose, making sure to take the questions slowly and not push for answers I couldn't remember. Still, if I hadn't already expelled everything in my stomach, reliving the past few hours would have done the trick.

"And you have no idea where Vince went after he ran out of the room?" Detective Moore asked, scribbling into her notepad.

Bishop grunted, and she shot him a narrowed glare before returning her attention to me. "Honestly, I was just trying to survive. I imagine he would have gotten as far away as possible. He was scared I was dead, and this person he was meant to meet was going to hurt him for not having the girl he'd promised them."

Detective Moore took a moment to write a few more notes before she finally flipped the pad closed and tucked it into her back pocket. "Thank you, Shay, you've been very helpful. We will keep in touch if we need more details from you."

I forced a smile. "Sure."

Then, just when I thought the detective would head out, she turned to Bishop.

"Bishop."

"Moore."

"I don't suppose you or the club have any idea where Vince Martelli might have disappeared to?" she questioned with her eyes narrowed.

He shrugged casually. "Not a clue."

We hadn't had time to talk about what happened, Detective Moore and her cop friends busting into the room not long after I'd become conscious. What I did know, though, was that this was a time to let him step in and take control of the situation. I trusted Bishop with my life, and he knew what to do and say to keep the club and me safe.

"He killed three people and was attempting to traffic women to God knows where," Detective Moore said, scrunching her nose in disgust. "He deserves everything that's coming to him and then some, but it could save me a lot of manpower right now if I knew for sure he was no longer a threat to anyone."

Bishop pushed off the wall, stepping closer to my bed. "You want my advice, detective?"

Her eyebrow raised, and her head fell to the side. "I'm not sure your advice is what I'm looking for exactly, but sure, enlighten me."

He folded his arms across his chest, pushing his shoulders back. "Let karma deal with this one," Bishop suggested, meeting her challenging stare across the room. "Vince Martelli already has one foot in hell. Just let the flames consume him."

She pressed her lips together in a hard line, inhaling through her nose. "Bishop, if you know—"

"I told you, I don't."

She let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head and pointing her notepad at me. "We'll be in touch."

"Sure," I answered, trying not to grin.

Bishop was a man of few words, which only made it that much more impressive when he won arguments.

Hawk, on the other hand, couldn't hide his smug grin as he got up from his chair in the corner, following her and the other uniformed cops with her to the door, making sure he pushed it shut tight behind her. "That woman is a hard-ass."

"She is," I agreed, watching Bishop as he walked around my bed, taking the seat beside me. I laid my hand out, palm up, and he took it, grabbing it tightly and lifting it to his lips.

"She's a bitch," Bishop agreed, leaning back in his chair but continuing to grip my hand like at any moment I might be ripped away. "But at least we all know she'll definitely pull her men back and let Vince's mistakes destroy him. It saves her a lot of time."

"You think?" Hawk questioned, looking curiously toward the door like maybe he'd missed something

"I know," Bishop answered, not even a question in his voice.

Hawk nodded. "We still need to move quickly, though," he insisted, reaching for the door.

"I won't be long," Bishop said, looking to me.

"I'll give you two a few minutes and meet Missy and Kadey out in front. I'll take them to see Whip before they come and pester you."

My shoulders lifted as I pulled in a deep breath. "Whip's okay?"

Hawk nodded. "Bullets didn't hit anything vital. Had a short surgery earlier, but they said he's all fixed up."

I sank back into the pillows with a smile, squeezing Bishop's hand. "Thank God for that."

Hawk smiled and ducked out the door, leaving us in silence for the first time since I'd woken up.

"If you need to go…"

He shook his head, reaching for my face with his free hand and cradling my cheek. "I'm exactly where I need to be," he rasped, holding my teary gaze. "It's gonna take time, but you're gonna get past this. It's not a setback."

Tears trickled down my cheeks. "I'm so angry," I whispered, trying to breathe through the sudden wave of emotions as I thought of those damn little pills and how they'd come back to haunt me. "I worked so hard, and now..."

"You did not have a choice," he said sternly.

"What if—"

"No," he snapped, grabbing my chin and getting to his feet, leaning in. "No. Don't go there, Shay. This? It changes nothing. You're not going to turn around tomorrow and start popping pills again. You're stronger than that."

He pressed his forehead to mine, and I reached up, taking his face in my hands and inhaling a deep breath.

His presence calmed me.

It made me feel safe.

And the way he believed in me gave me confidence that maybe I was that strong. Perhaps he could see something in me that I couldn't, and having him there to remind me of what I could, made me believe it was true.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat.

"I'm stronger than that," I murmured, and he let out a huff of laughter.

"Fuck yes, you are."

It wasn't going to be easy to get through what had happened, but I wasn't on my own in some hospital room this time, fighting withdrawal symptoms. I didn't have to fight this by myself anymore.

Bishop pressed his lips to mine in a gentle kiss, sweeping away all the feelings of unease and relaxing me.

I was here. I was alive. And that's all that mattered.

"Okay, I can admit this is kind of sweet."

Bishop pulled back at the sound of Calli's voice, and I melted back into my pillows, keeping my eyes closed for a few seconds before finally opening them and meeting my best friend's gaze.

She stood at the end of my bed, her hands in her jeans pockets.

Her eyes were red and puffy like she'd been crying for hours, but she had a warm smile as she watched Bishop and me, our hands linked tightly.

"Calli…" I started, but she quickly shook her head, cutting me off.

"I was a raging bitch, and I am so fucking sorry," she apologized, emotion cracking her voice and an embarrassed flush tinting her cheeks. It was unusual because Calli was never ashamed of the fierce bitchiness she had inside. And honestly, it was something I loved about her.

Her protectiveness and inability to keep quiet when she had something to say were two things I knew had rubbed off on me in the best way possible.

"I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did," I said, knowing now that Vince was likely responsible for those photos she'd seen. He or one of his lackeys must have been following us for a long time, and no doubt Frank had filled him in about how Calli wasn't aware of our relationship.

It was just another ploy he had to try and destroy us.

He obviously had no idea who the hell he was fucking with because, while he was his family's weak link, our family chain was unbreakable.

"Dad, Hawk said he got a phone call and that it was urgent," Calli said, walking around the opposite side of the bed. "Scootch over, bitch, we have a lot to catch up on."

I chuckled softly, shuffling across the bed so Calli could lie beside me.

Bishop shook his head and pressed a kiss to my temple before stepping back and pointing a sharp finger at his daughter. "You make sure you let her rest, Calliope."

Calli rolled her eyes as he shot her a warning glare before hurrying out of the room.

I wondered for a second if I should have cared where he was going, knowing in my gut that the club would not let Vince get away with what he did to me. I wasn't oblivious to the fact that Bishop had a part of him that was a little darker. It was a part I didn't see but knew was there, and it was going to make Vince pay in ways I could never even imagine.

Maybe that should have bothered me. Maybe that side of him should have scared me. But it didn't.

I knew the man Bishop was.

He raised the strongest woman I knew, with a heart the size of Texas and a set of brass balls to match. He never let his darkness seep into the people he loved, of that I was sure.

And that was not even mentioning how I knew for a fact the world was a better and safer place without that bastard Vince in it, and what happened to him from then on was not even going to be a second thought in my mind. He deserved no space there.

Calli tugged at my arm, and we rolled onto our sides, facing each other. We'd been doing this for years. Any time one of us found someone we really liked, we'd spend the next morning in bed and talk for hours about how they could be the one.

"Okay," Calli started with a smile. "Beside the bumps, bruises, and near-death experience, you look happy."

Pressing my lips together, I nodded as I fought another wave of tears. "I… I should have told you," I whispered, blinking them away. "We both struggled with it. Neither of us wanted to hurt you. I just… I don't…"

I stumbled over my words, not really knowing how to explain, but Calli simply reached out, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. "I get it. Honestly, I wouldn't have told me either. As we saw yesterday, I tend to run my mouth first, listen later." She scrunched up her nose. "I was confused, scared, and a little nauseated."

"And angry," I offered with a smile.

"And angry," she agreed with wide eyes and a slow nod. "But only because I thought you guys had some stupid fling, and it was going to ruin the perfect image I had of what my family looked like. Turns out, if I'd just taken a second to think about it, this is exactly what I've wanted for a long time. For Dad to find someone who fits so perfectly, it seems like they've just always been there. Someone who makes him happy."

My head was still pounding. I felt like I might be sick at any moment, and I was still unsure of how I was going to cope with everything that had happened.

But none of that mattered right now. I already knew everything was going to be okay.

Things with Bishop.

Things with Calli.

And things with myself.

I was going to be okay because I had people around me who would make sure of it.

"He makes me happy, too," I said, trying not to smile like a giddy teenager.

Calli rolled her eyes. "And I want to hear about it, but how about you give me the PG version?"

"That I can do."