Chapter 36

"Samuel,." I lightly slap my palm against his face, trying to stir him. Feeling along his neck, I struggle to find a pulse. When I finally do, it's so light and thready that I nearly miss it.

The sound of Abigail pressing buttons on her phone draws my attention. "Don't."

"We need to call for help," she stares down at his lifeless body and the pool of blood I'm kneeling in.

"There'll be too many fucking questions if they come here. Michales is going to have a fucking field day."

Pulling at his arms, I drag his listless body to a seated position. "Help me get him up and to the car, kitten."

We both pull an arm over our shoulders and practically drag him to the front door. Stepping over the threshold, thunder cracks across the sky, and a light rain begins to fall.

The fucking luck.

As I hold the brunt of his weight, Abigail opens the passenger door to my Maserati parked out front, and we slide him into the car.

"You are so buying new seats, kid," I grumble as I lean over him to secure the seatbelt. As I stand, Abigail is opening the rear door. "I need you to stay here, kitten."

"Sir?"

"I need you to clean up his car and the foyer." I cup her face. "Remove any trace of this happening here. Call one of the guys to come help you and send another to his place in case there's a mess there."

She nods her head in agreement.

Always so willing to follow my commands.

"I wasn't here. I left this morning, and you don't know what's happened. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir," she replies as I place a quick kiss on her lips—hopefully not my last—before climbing into the car. The engine purrs as I turn on the ignition, leaving Abigail standing alone in my taillights as I peel down the driveway.

Rain pours from the sky, making it difficult to see as I race toward the hospital before Samuel bleeds out in my car. His chin lolls against his chest, as I continue to take turns at unsafe speeds—especially in this weather.

Pulling into the hospital's emergency bay, I flash my lights and honk my horn to get the attention of the staff inside. Climbing from the car, I frantically yell for help.

This shit needs to be believable.

"My friend…we were attacked…help him."

Samuel is drenched in blood as they pull him from my car and lay him on the stretcher. Rain falls over his body, leaving a bloody river swirling against the asphalt beneath the gurney as they rush him inside.

"Sir?" A nurse taps my shoulder and gestures to the blood covering my shirt. "Are you okay?"

"It…It's not mine." I look down and feign surprise. "I'm fine. Just help him."

"He's in good hands," she reassures me. "Let's get you inside and make sure you're okay."

She ushers me down the hall to a private exam room before asking, "Is there anyone you need us to call? Let them know you're here?"

"Abigail. I was supposed to be home soon."

"Of course. Give me her number, and I'll get someone to call her to let her know where you are. And for your friend?"

"His girlfriend, Cora, is out of town, and I don't have her number." I pause for a moment. "Can you please ask Abigail to get in touch with her?"

A doctor joins us in the room and goes through the full gambit of examination to ensure that I wasn't harmed in the attack that left Samuel near death.

"And my friend?" I call to the doctor before he leaves the room.

"They've rushed him up to surgery." He turns back to face me with a solemn look on his face. "He has two quite serious stab wounds, and quite frankly, it's a miracle he made it to the hospital. If you're a god-fearing man, I would say that now is the time to pray."

I merely nod my understanding.

I know the lengths I would go to if someone were to take Abigail.

If he came to me for help, instead of the hospital, as blood gushed from his body, she must be really fucking important to him.

"I'm going to leave you some scrubs." The nurse pats the folded gray clothes on the bed beside me. "I don't want you to have to sit in your bloody and wet clothes as you wait for your friend."

"Thank you." I stand and peel off my soaked shirt.

"And we've called your wife. She's on her way," the nurse informs me before leaving me in privacy to change.

My wife…