Rock Hard

Chapter 13

Sed accepted the set of keycards from the clerk at the Bellagio Hotel’s check-in desk. He took Jessica’s hand, his heart already drumming with anticipation, and headed for the elevator. Whatever little game she was playing with him, he was more than happy to participate. That h-word did a number on his heart every time she said it, even if he didn’t believe she really meant it, but he had no doubt he’d win her back. She was slipping already.

His cell phone rang, startling him. So few people had his private number. Who would be calling him at one o’clock in the morning? He retrieved his phone from his pocket and checked the number on the incoming-call screen. Eric?

“Yeah?” Sed answered.

“Hate to bother you,” Eric said. “I didn’t know who else to call.”

“What’s wrong?” Sed covered his free ear with his hand and started walking toward the exit for better reception.

“They just checked Trey into Intensive Care and I can’t get ahold of Brian. Trey keeps asking for him, but I guess Brian turned off his phone.”

“What? Why is Trey in the hospital?”

“He had a seizure right after you left, so I called an ambulance. They did an MRI and he has a subdural hema-something-or-other. They have to drill through his skull to, oh I don’t know, fix it. Can you find Brian? Dare is freaking out and scaring the hell out of Trey. Trey could really use Brian’s levelheadedness right about now.”

“I’ll find Brian. I mean how hard can it be? I have no idea where he is and there are only a million hotel rooms in this city.”

Jessica grabbed his arm. “He and Myrna are at the Venetian. A suite with a Jacuzzi tub.”

“Jessica says he’s at the Venetian. Is Trey going to be okay?”

“The doctor said he has a fair chance of recovery if they can decrease the pressure on his brain in the next few hours.”

“If?” Sed ran a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ. This is all my fault.”

“Sed, that’s bullshit. It’s all that bouncer’s fault. You shouldn’t bash people in the back of the head with an aluminum bat.”

Sed glanced down at Jessica who was trotting beside him and staring up at him anxiously.

“If I hadn’t reacted the way I did when I saw…” He avoided looking at Jessica and opened the door to the nearest cab. “Can you take me to the Venetian?” he asked the cab driver.

“Sure thing, mate.”

Jessica climbed into the cab and Sed slid in next to her.

“I’m off to find Brian at his hotel. You try calling the front desk. I’ll call you back soon.”

Eric sighed in relief. “Thanks, Sed.”

Sed ended the call.

“What’s going on?” Jessica took his hand firmly in hers.

He shook off her grasp. He should have been there for Trey, not fucking Jessica along the Vegas strip. If he’d never seen her in the first place, they’d have never been in a bar fight and Trey wouldn’t be in this life-threatening position. “Trey’s in the hospital. I’ve got to find Brian.”

“What’s wrong with Trey?”

“He had a seizure. Something about brain swelling. I don’t know. Eric didn’t explain it very well.” He leaned forward to talk to the driver. “We don’t want to sightsee, dude. Hurry up, okay? It’s an emergency.” He reached for his wallet and tossed several hundred-dollar bills into the front seat.

The cab driver hit the gas, whipping around stalled traffic without hesitation. Soon, they pulled up to the Venetian hotel’s entrance and drew to a stop.

Sed handed another hundred to the driver. “Can you stay here and hold the cab for me?”

“My pleasure, mate.” He turned on the “off duty” sign and put the cab in park.

“What can I do to help?” Jessica asked.

“Stay here. You’ll just slow me down.”

She looked hurt, but nodded in agreement. Sed hopped out of the cab and raced into the opulent lobby. He hurried to the check-in counter to find the night clerk immersed in a heated debate with someone on the phone.

“I can’t ring someone’s room at this hour, sir. I understand that it’s an emergency, but the guest in question has a do not disturb under any circumstances ord—” The clerk flushed beneath his olive complexion. “No sir, my head is not permanently inserted in my ass.”

Sed jerked the phone receiver out of the clerk’s hand. “Eric?”

“Who is this?” someone said on the other end of the line.

“It’s Sed.”

“This is Dare. Will you punch that stupid fuck of a desk clerk in the face for me?”

“If he doesn’t call Brian, then yes, I’ll punch him in the face for you. And again for me. And three times for Trey.”

“Sir, you need to calm down,” the desk clerk said, while repeatedly pushing a button to call for security.

Jessica appeared at Sed’s elbow. She took the phone out of his hand and handed it to the desk clerk. “Jean Carlo,” she greeted the attractive Roman-looking guy.

How the hell did she know him? Had she gone out with this stupid jackass? Watched the fountain with him? Let him put his hands on her? Screwed him? Had she liked it? Begged for more? Sed clenched both fists so he wouldn’t reach across the desk and strangle the fucker.

The desk clerk’s eyes widened with recognition and he smiled fondly at Jessica. “Feather. Lovely to see you.”

Feather?

“I’m sorry my friend is a little out of hand,” she said.

“A little? Did you see what he did? He just yanked the phone—”

“I’m sure he’s sorry.” Jessica looked up at Sed pointedly.

It was obvious that he’d get nowhere with his current tactics, besides tossed out of the hotel on his ass.

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Sed said. “A guest in this hotel has a friend who’s in the hospital. He might die. Do you understand? I need to speak to Brian Sinclair. Trust me, he wants to know about this.”

“You are the one who doesn’t understand. Mister Sinclair is a celebrity, and—”

“I know he’s a celebrity. He’s in my fucking band. Jesus—”

Jessica covered Sed’s mouth with her hand.

Security had arrived. “Is this guy causing a problem, Jean Carlo?”

Jessica stared deeply into Jean Carlo’s eyes and shook her head pointedly. He mimicked her motion. “Just a misunderstanding,” Jean Carlo said to the security guards.

The four large men stepped to the side of the desk, keeping a close eye on Sed, who happened to be wearing leather pants, a duster, and no shirt. He supposed he did look even more suspicious than usual.

Jessica crooked a finger at Jean Carlo and leaned close to him. Sed’s body tensed. As if he hadn’t wanted to punch this dumb fuck in the face enough already.

The way-too-handsome clerk smiled while Jessica whispered into his ear. He scrawled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

She kissed his cheek and leaned away.

“I’ll see you at the club tomorrow night, Feather,” Jean Carlo said. “It’s payday.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sed’s knuckles cracked under the strain of his clenching fists.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie,” Jessica said. “I got fired. I thought you knew.”

Jean Carlo scowled, his slim dark brows drawing together. “Fired? Well, where are you working now?”

“Nowhere at the moment, but I’ll let you know if I start dancing again.”

Jessica grabbed Sed’s sleeve and led him away from the desk.

“Wait, he still didn’t call Brian.”

“Shh,” Jessica demanded. She pulled him behind a pillar and handed him the slip of paper the clerk had given her. “This is Brian’s room number. Jean Carlo can’t call their room, but we can go up and knock on the door. And if we get into trouble, he did not help us. Got it?”

“Don’t you need a guest key to get on the elevator?”

She handed him a plastic card. “Any more questions?”

“Did he really call you Feather?”

Her nose wrinkled, making him want to kiss its adorable tip. “My stripper stage name. Any other questions?”

“Did you fuck that guy?” He jerked a thumb in the direction of the front desk.

“None of your business.”

Maybe. But he still wanted to kill him. “Let’s go get Brian now.”

Within minutes, they were standing outside Brian’s hotel suite. Sed knocked loudly. No answer.

“You don’t think they’ve gone out, do you?” Jessica asked.

“Highly unlikely,” Sed said. “He’s with Myrna on his honeymoon. If anything, he’s passed out from exhaustion.” He knocked again, more loudly this time. “Brian,” he shouted. “Open the door.”

There was a loud thunk on the other side of the door. A moment later, Brian yanked it open. He had a sheet bunched around his naked hips. His entire body was drenched in sweat and his shoulder-length black hair stuck to his damp face and neck.

“This better be important.”

“Is that Sed?” Myrna appeared behind Brian, cinching a bathrobe around her waist.

“And Jessica,” Brian grumbled.

While Brian scowled at this discovery, Myrna grinned. “You two should consider getting your own room. We’re using every square inch of ours.”

Sed didn’t know how to break the news other than just blurting it. “It’s Trey. He had a seizure and he’s in the ICU at the hospital. He keeps asking for you, Brian, so Eric sent me to find you.”

“Trey?” Brian said, dumbstruck.

Myrna’s knowing grin faded. “It’s his head injury, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, he has a subdur- hema…um…”

“A subdural hematoma?” Myrna winced. “Are they draining it?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sed said. “I don’t really know.”

“I’ll find Brian some clothes and we’ll be right out,” Myrna promised.

Myrna tugged Brian inside and closed the door.

Sed leaned against the wall heavily. “Thanks, Jessica. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

She smiled and nodded. “I feel kind of responsible for the entire thing.”

“Why? It’s my fault.”

She shook her head. “You should call Eric and let them know we found Brian.”

He dialed Eric, who answered on the first ring.

“Did you find him?”

“Yeah, we’ll be on our way in a few minutes. Which hospital?”

Eric relayed the hospital’s location. The hotel suite door opened and Brian emerged, still pulling his shirt over his head. Myrna closed the door behind them, stumbling against the wall as she tried to walk and put on her shoes at the same time.

“Lead the way,” Myrna said.

When they were all on the elevator, Myrna leaned against Brian and brushed the hair from his face. “He’ll be fine, sweetheart.”

“What’s a subdural whatever-you-call-it?” Sed asked Myrna, who seemed to understand what was going on.

“It’s when a person bleeds under the membrane that covers their brain. The blood has nowhere to go, so it just keeps building up and pressing on the brain. That’s what causes injury, so they’ve got to drain the blood before…” She averted her gaze. “His brain is probably fine.”

“Probably?” Brian asked, his voice cracking.

Myrna kissed Brian’s jaw. “We’ll know more when we get to the hospital, but he’s been walking around with this injury for over a day. The blood took a long while to accumulate, so he can’t be hemorrhaging much.”

“Goddamned Eric starting fights,” Brian said. “And you,” he said, his intense brown eyes swiveling to focus on Sed. “If you’d think with your head instead of your cock on occasion, this would have never happened.” His gaze moved to Jessica. “And why are you here anyway?”

“She helped me find you,” Sed said. “Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going and then shut off your fucking cell phone?”

Brian leaned heavily against the back of the elevator car and pressed on his temples with both hands. “I don’t know. I’m stupid. I was only thinking about myself.”

“Brian—” Jessica started.

“Don’t speak to me. You have no idea what kind of damage you left behind when you walked out on Sed.”

Jessica’s eyes widened and she glanced at Sed in disbelief.

Great. Just what he needed: Jessica to know she was his greatest weakness.

“Brian, I know you’re upset, sweetheart, but—” Myrna began.

“Don’t you dare side with them.”

“I’m not siding with anyone. I know you’re upset and I don’t want you to say something you’ll regret.”

“Why would I regret telling the truth? You fucked him up big time when you left him, Jessica. He hurts everyone around him without regard for anything but his fucking libido.”

Sed couldn’t argue. He’d hurt Brian more than anyone, because, as a romantic, Brian was the easiest to hurt. Sed had seduced every one of Brian’s girlfriends with the exception of Myrna. He’d have slept with Myrna too, if she’d allowed it.

“I suppose you’re fucking her now.” Brian pointed at Jessica, who flinched.

Sed and Jessica avoided each other’s gazes.

“God! You’re such an idiot!” Brian reached over and slapped Sed alongside the head. “She’s just going to destroy you again, man. You have the shortest memory of anyone I know.”

Sed knew Jessica would destroy him. He knew it, but he loved her anyway. He’d always loved her. He’d never stopped loving her, and he’d still love her after she knifed him in the heart again. Even now she was setting him up to knock him down and he honestly didn’t care. Whatever she had in mind couldn’t be worse than living without her.

Unless she planned on leaving him again.

His gaze swiveled to the object of his obsession, who was pointedly staring at the floor in front of her. She wouldn’t do that again, would she? God, he wouldn’t survive if he had to watch her walk away from him again.

The cab sat waiting for them outside the hotel. Sed slid into the front seat with the driver, leaving Brian, Myrna and Jessica to climb into the back. All the way to the hospital, the interior of the cab remained silent. Sed stared out the windshield, wondering how he could possibly fix this mess. He’d do anything to make it better. But really, what could he do? He wasn’t a doctor. He didn’t have any influence over the functioning of a hospital. He had to try to do something, though. Sitting back and letting things happen was never on his agenda.

The cab driver dropped them off in front of the emergency room. The front desk directed them to Trey’s room upstairs in the ICU. There, they found Eric pacing the hall.

Eric seized Brian in a bear hug. “Oh good, oh good, you made it.”

Brian pulled away and glanced into the nearest door. “Is he in there?”

“Yeah. Dare’s with him. All my pacing was making Trey nervous, so he told me to get lost.”

Brian grabbed Myrna’s hand and pulled her into the room. Jessica stayed behind in the hallway with Eric, while Sed followed the newlyweds. They found Dare sitting on the edge of Trey’s bed, talking to him in hushed tones.

Trey glanced up when Brian came into his line of sight. He smiled brightly and then his gaze shifted to Myrna. He bit his lip and scowled. “I’m sorry I interrupted your honeymoon. I’m such a pussy.” Trey spoke with a slurred voice. He concentrated on swallowing and then blinked slowly.

“This is more important,” Brian said.

Myrna nodded in agreement.

“Didn’t I see you with Jessica earlier this evening?” Dare asked Myrna. “Is this your wife?” he asked Brian.

“Yeah. Myrna, this is Trey’s older brother, Darren,” Brian said.

“Dare,” Dare corrected and extended his hand to Myrna, who shook it.

“Can I borrow you for a moment?” Myrna said, tugging Dare from the edge of the bed by his hand.

“Uh, sure. Okay.”

Sed watched Myrna lead Dare out into the hall, thinking her request strange. Brian took the spot on the edge of the bed recently vacated by Trey’s older brother.

Trey glanced up at Sed. “They bothered you, too. Sheesh, I’m a regular pain in the ass, aren’t I?”

Sed shook his head. “What did they tell you?” Please say you’re going to be all right, Trey. Please.

“Tore a vein or something in my head.” He pointed to a spot several inches behind his left ear. “They have to drill a hole and suck the blood out. It’s not as bad as it sounds. The MRI didn’t show much blood in there. Just a little hole in a vein. Shouldn’t be too hard to f-fix…” His eyes drifted out of focus.

Brian reached for the call button, but Trey grabbed his arm and shook his head slightly.

“I’m all right,” he insisted. “I just can’t think so good.”

“Well, nothing unusual about that,” Brian said.

Trey smiled his typical, infectious grin.

“Isn’t it dangerous to drill a hole in someone’s head?” Sed asked.

“If they don’t, I’ll die.” Trey covered his eyes with one hand. His throat convulsed as he swallowed hard.

“You’re not going to die, Trey,” Brian said. “If you do, I’ll kill you.”

Trey chuckled. Sed realized he was probably making Trey feel worse, but he didn’t want to leave. He needed to see Trey moving, breathing, joking around. That way he could convince himself that Trey would be okay and that helpless feeling in Sed’s gut would ease.

“Did you tell the doctor the last thing you need is another hole in your head?” Brian touched the holes in Trey’s left ear, which usually had rings and studs in them, but apparently all of his jewelry had been removed. “Tongue pierced, eyebrow twice, nose, two in your lip, five in your ears.”

Trey moved his hand from his eyes. He looked more alert than he had a moment ago. “Might as well make it an even dozen.” He laughed and then winced, his right eyebrow twitching slightly. He glanced at Sed. “You look like you’re at my funeral.”

“What can I do for you, Trey?” Sed asked. “Anything. I’ll do anything.”

“Smile.”

Sed tried, but it made his chest constrict in agony.

Brian’s gaze focused on Sed’s bare torso. “Did you lose your shirt at the casino, or what?”

Sed glanced down at his chest. “Uh, I gave it to a fan.”

“You lose more shirts that way,” Brian said.

Trey laughed.

Sed smiled. Trey was going to be okay. He had to be.

Myrna came back into the room. She approached the bed and leaned over Trey. Her fingers gently brushed the long strands of black hair from his forehead and she kissed his brow.

“There will be a fresh cherry pie waiting for you when you come home,” Myrna said.

“Awesome!”

“When do you get to come home?” Sed asked.

“Tomorrow, I hope. I fuckin’ hate hospitals.”

“Do you really think they’re going to let you out of here that quickly? After brain surgery? Get a clue, man.”

“Brain surgery? It’s nothing that serious. I don’t have a tumor. They’re just sucking out some blood. No big deal. A hotel maid could do it.” He made a sucking sound and pantomimed vacuuming the side of his head.

Sed shook his head at him. “No big deal, huh?” Five minutes ago the guy was freaking out. What was different? He noticed Trey was clinging to the front pocket of Brian’s jeans with two fingers. Ah, Brian. Trey’s rock. Sed was doubly glad he’d retrieved him.

“If it was a big deal,” Brian said, “don’t you think they’d have already started operating?”

“They’re waiting for a brain surgeon,” Myrna said. “A good one. Dare said their father called her personally.”

Why hadn’t Sed thought of that? Trey’s father, Dr. George Mills, was a renowned plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. Of course, Dr. Mills would have connections and get Trey the best possible care.

“He’ll need a good one. Doc Mills knows his son doesn’t have any spare brain cells to sacrifice,” Brian said, punching Trey in the shoulder.

Trey scowled at Brian. “Why did I want you here again?”

“To ruin my good time, apparently. You can’t imagine the incredible things Myrna was doing to me when Sed interrupted.”

“Fine, then. Leave.”

“Before seeing your new haircut? Wouldn’t miss that for anything, buddy.”

“Haircut?” Trey glanced around nervously. “What haircut?”

Brian grinned down at him. “You know they’re going to have to shave off all your hair before they start drilling holes through your thick skull.”

Trey’s eyes widened. He glanced at Myrna for verification. She nodded slightly. “It will grow back, sweetie.”

“Fuck that.” Trey tried to get out of the hospital bed.

Sed grabbed him by both shoulders and shoved him back, pinning him to the mattress with sheer force. “You aren’t going anywhere, Mills. Don’t make me sit on you.”

Dare entered the room. “They said the doctor should be here soon. She’s on her way upstairs now.”

Sed caught sight of Jessica peeking in the doorway, gnawing on the end of her index finger. He considered calling her in to join them, but knew Brian would probably just upset her again. Sed winked at her. Her eyes widened as if she’d been caught doing something wrong and she disappeared back in the corridor.

“Dare,” Trey whined in his protect-me-big-brother voice, “Brian says they’re going to shave my head.”

“Well, duh, Trey. I think that’s pretty standard.” Dare lifted an eyebrow at Sed. “Why are you abusing my brother?”

It took Sed a second to realize he was still pressing Trey down against the hospital bed with both hands. He released Trey’s shoulders and stood straight. “Because he was trying to get out of bed.”

Dare’s green eyes shifted to his little brother. “Why were you trying to get out of bed, dipshit?”

“They’re going to shave my head!”

Dare chuckled and tousled Trey’s hair affectionately. “Is that really your biggest concern?”

“Do you think I want to look like a total douche?” He lifted a hand in Sed’s direction. “Like him?”

“Hey,” Sed protested. Yes, he kept his hair very short. But he didn’t look like a total douche. Did he?

“No offense, Sed,” Trey added.

Sed ran a hand over the soft fuzz on his scalp and eyed the long bangs covering one of Trey’s eyes. He’d never pull off an emo hairstyle like Trey’s anyway. Too much maintenance.

“You’ll wish you had that much hair when they’re finished with you,” Brian said. “Cue balls will be jealous of your shiny dome.”

Trey covered his head with both hands. “Shut up.”

A nurse nudged her way through the congregated friends. “You all have to leave. I need to prep him for surgery now.”

Trey eyed the razor in the nurse’s collection of frightening implements and started to climb out of bed again. Sed widened his stance, prepared to force him back down if necessary.

“If you move from that bed, Terrance, I’ll tell Mom why the last pool boy quit,” Dare threatened. “She and Dad are on their way, you know.”

Trey’s eyes widened and his entire body sank into the bed. “Don’t call me Terrance,” he muttered.

Brian chuckled. “Deflowering virgins again, Trey?”

“He liked it.” Trey’s ornery grin made an appearance. “And I really liked it, but I don’t want my mother to know that.” He glared at his brother. “I have a bunch of shit on you too, you know.”

Dare chuckled and an ornerier version of Trey’s grin spread across his face. “She’ll never believe you. Mom thinks I’m her angelic son.”

Brian burst out laughing. Sed didn’t know Dare well enough to understand what had Brian in hysterics. He could only imagine what acts of debauchery the lead guitarist of Exodus End might pursue.

The nurse squeezed around Sed to stand next to the bed. “I need to get this done.”

Trey turned on the charm. “Yeah, you guys get out of here. We have some shaving to do.” He lifted an eyebrow at her suggestively. The nurse dropped her gaze and blushed.

Sed wondered if Trey would actually be able to talk her out of shaving his head. Surely not. The woman was a professional.

Sed grabbed Trey’s hand in a firm handshake and patted him vigorously on the shoulder. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

Trey paled, his nose freckles appearing in stark contrast to his light skin.

Sed supposed he shouldn’t have reminded Trey what was about to happen. He should just keep his mouth shut and defer to Brian, who was an expert at placating Trey.

Myrna kissed Trey affectionately right on the mouth. “Cherry pie and cherry cobbler when you get home.”

“Now you’re talkin’,” Trey said.

Sed grinned. Midwestern women and their way of trying to feed their love to people. Perfectly fine by him. The woman could cook her ass off. A skill Jessica had not quite mastered.

Jessica.

Shit. He’d just left her out in the hallway all by herself. She was going to be pissed. And he wasn’t sure why that thought excited him.

Sed found Jessica leaning against the wall outside Trey’s door. Eric stood beside her. She had her head resting against his muscular upper arm and he was stroking her long, wavy hair with one hand. Sed buried a spike of inappropriate jealousy. He knew Eric wouldn’t make a move on his woman. Eric valued his life too much.

“Sorry I left you out here by yourself for so long,” Sed said to Jessica.

Eric cleared his throat loudly.

“It’s okay. Eric was keeping me company.”

“You could’ve come inside.”

She shook her head slightly. “I didn’t want to upset anyone.”

Sed drew his brows together. “Like who?”

“Brian.”

Sed shrugged. “Eh, he’ll get over it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Eric said.

“Why does he hate me so much, anyway?”

Sed loathed the look of hurt in her eyes, but was glad he wasn’t its direct source.

“No idea.” Like he was going to tell her he’d seduced Brian’s girlfriends to make himself feel better about his own lonely, miserable existence. Uh, yeah. That was sure to win her back.

Eric sent Sed a disapproving stare, shook his head, and then pushed off the wall. “I’m going to go see Trey.”

Jessica turned into Sed’s bare chest and wrapped her arms around his waist beneath his leather duster. “Trey’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” Her voice sounded small, igniting his need to protect.

He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “He’ll be fine. I guarantee it,” he murmured against her silky hair.

The elevator at the end of the hallway dinged, and repetitive squeaking advanced toward them. Jace slid around a corner and raced in their direction. Sed hadn’t known the dude could move so fast. Winded, Jace skidded to a stop in front of Sed.

“Just got. Eric’s. Message.” He gulped several breaths of air. “Trey?”

“They’re prepping him for surgery right now.” Sed nodded toward the open door to his left.

“Surgery?”

Eric came out of the room, followed by the rest of Trey’s visitors.

“Took you long enough.” Eric reached over and peeled something off the side of Jace’s neck. “What is this? Wax? What have you been up to, little man?”

Jace flushed. “Can I see Trey?”

“We got kicked out,” Brian said. “We’re supposed to wait in the waiting area until he’s out of surgery.” He nodded toward the lounge area near the elevators.

“Surgery?” Jace repeated. Typically a master of hiding his emotions, Jace looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, knocked him flat on his ass, and then pissed on his forehead. “I can’t let him go into surgery without seeing him.”

He didn’t wait for permission. He just barreled right into Trey’s room. “What the… You can’t be in that bad of shape if you can do that.”

Sed turned his head toward the open door. Do what?

Dare suddenly jetted across the hall and grabbed a tiny woman, who was dressed in green scrubs, in an enthusiastic embrace. He lifted her off the floor and bounced her up and down in his arms. “Dr. Angelo. Thanks for rushing here so quickly.”

She smiled. “My pleasure, Darren.”

Sed had the urge to demand the woman’s credentials before she went mucking around with Trey’s brain. As hard as it was for Sed, he knew he had to stand back and not interfere.

“You okay?” Jessica asked.

Sed nodded. She kissed the center of his bare chest tenderly, her fingers splayed over his rib cage. His heart thrummed against her lips.

Eyes on Jessica, Brian made a sound of frustration and stalked off toward the waiting area with Myrna on his heels. What the fuck was he so pissed about?

Dr. Angelo entered her patient’s room.

“Dr. Angelo!” Trey’s voice carried into the hall.

“Why haven’t you shaved his head yet?” Dr. Angelo said sternly. “And who are you? You have to leave.”

“S- Sorry.” Jace came out into the hallway, his face red.

The doctor’s sudden, no-nonsense attitude made Sed feel a hell of a lot better. He smiled and took Jessica’s hand. “Trey is going to be fine,” he said as they walked toward the waiting area.

“Of course he is.”

“Let’s go, little man.” Eric grabbed Jace in a headlock and hauled ass down the corridor.

When they entered the waiting room, Brian turned his back on the group and wiped his damp face on the hem of his T-shirt. Sed had never seen Brian cry and they had been through some seriously horrible shit together. Brian’s earlier nonchalance, his teasing, had all been an act for Trey’s benefit. Sed’s heart sank. If the levelheaded one of the group had come undone, things were pretty bad.

Myrna took her husband’s head between her hands, her fingertips curled behind his ears, and pressed her forehead against his. She murmured to him, “He’ll be fine, sweetheart. You have to believe that.”

“But what if he’s not?” His voice cracked.

“Don’t let yourself think that way.”

Good advice. Sed just wished it was easier to follow.

Brian took a deep breath and crushed Myrna’s body against his chest.

Jessica placed a timid hand on Sed’s belly and he looked down at her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

Why did she keep asking him that? Since when did she give a shit how he felt? And, no, he wasn’t okay. He didn’t know what to do. There was nothing he could do. He wanted to climb the sterile, white walls just to occupy himself.

“I’m here for you,” she whispered, her jade-green eyes watery with tears.

If ever a woman had said the right thing at exactly the right moment, that was it.

Whatever it took to make her love him, he’d do it. To hell with what Brian or anyone else thought. He refused to give up on her this time. She would be his again. And not just in body. That would never be enough for him and he knew it.

Sed drew Jessica against his chest, hugging her close. She hesitated and then her arms stole around his body beneath his leather duster. Her small hands splayed over his bare back and she snuggled close to his chest. His heart throbbed beneath her ear—so full he thought it might burst inside his chest.

Dare entered the waiting room. “Okay, which one of you started that fight so I know who to destroy if Trey doesn’t make it through this in perfect health?”

All eyes turned to Eric, who blanched. “Me? What about Sed? He’s the one who pulled Jessica off the stage and got the bouncers all riled up.”

Sed nodded. “He’s right. I started it.”

Dare sank into a chair with a heavy sigh and rested his forehead in both hands. “It had to be the big guy,” he murmured. “One more reason to pray the little pain in my ass makes it through this.”