Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Now?
He too was awake and responsive.
Some memory gaps still lingered around the attack itself, but he remembered Devyn…remembered everything important to him.
Devyn smiled as they made another slow lap around the hall.
“The first thing that man mouthed to me after waking up was ‘marry me.’”
Xander smiled weakly.
“Still had a damn tube down his throat but he couldn’t resist shooting his shot again.” Devyn laughed softly. “I guess he figured I couldn’t tell him ‘no’ this time. Not after saving my life.”
Xander swallowed hard as the guilt surged again.
It should’ve been him. His chest tightened until it hurt to take the next breath.
“I’m sorry,” Xander whispered.
Devyn stopped walking, turning and glaring so hard Xander took a step back. “You better not say that shit again.”
Xander blinked.
“I’m serious,” Devyn snapped. “Enough blaming yourself for someone else’s crazy.”
“I just—”
“Just be happy for the millions my lawyer said me and Luke are going to get from the studio settlement.”
Xander stared at him.
“And after all this rehab shit is over, we’re getting married somewhere far away. I’m thinking on an island. Barefoot, quiet, no phones, cameras, or crowds. Just us and nature. We’ll mail the pictures to our friends and family.”
Xander smiled. Solitude did sound nice right about now.
“And then,” Devyn continued, “we’re building a house near the Gulf, or maybe Cancun, and starting up one of those charter fishing companies where tourists pay to take them out all day and show them the best spots to fish.”
“Fishing?”
“Yeah.” Devyn grinned, his eyes glossing over. “That’s always been Luke’s dream. I think that man might be half shark. He took me out on his stepbrother’s yacht once for deep sea fishing, and I swear to God it was the best day of my life. I’d never seen him smile and laugh so much.”
Xander wanted to believe it, but this couldn’t possibly be a happy ending.
Devyn loved stunt work, he’d been doing it since he was fifteen years old. He lived for danger and adrenaline.
Now he expected Xander to believe he was ready to spend his days on some fishing boat with tourists who thought a good vacation activity involved yanking hooks through the mouths of innocent fish?
He wasn’t buying it.
But he also knew his friend was trying everything to make him stop blaming himself.
So he kept the apologies trapped inside his head, where they’d continue to play on constant repeat.
He stayed until visiting hours were over.
He’d been feeling good about his visit, especially when he’d gotten a chance to pop in on Luke.
He’d been asleep most of the time, but when he cracked his eyes open and saw Xander, he’d smiled around the tube taped to the side of his mouth.
Security was moving him through a private route down the official access halls that emptied into a back exit, but the moment they stepped outside flashes exploded through the darkness.
“Xander!”
“Over here!”
“How’s Devyn?”
“Is Luke Mercer alive?”
The security the studio provided loosely surrounded him in a way that didn’t make him feel safe at all.
They grinned for the cameras, while halfheartedly waving the small mob back, tossing out lines like, “All right folks, back it up,” and “Let’s give him some room, he’s had a long day.”
“Studio wants him rested up,” another added.
The cameras blinded him as questions crashed into him from every direction.
“Xander! One picture!”
“Did the hospital confirm Devyn’s release date?”
“Are you increasing your security detail?”
“Xander, look this way!”
“Damn, you got some sexy guards, Xander!”
Yeah…that was the problem.
They were too smooth and camera-ready, like security bought for aesthetics instead of survival.
He didn’t feel protected and it made the cold knot of fear in his stomach grow larger.
“Are you dating one of them?”
Oh god. Xander cringed. This reeked of a damn publicity stunt. Devyn deserved better.
“Xander!” One voice cut through louder than the rest. “Your attacker is still out there! Are you sure you’re safe to be out in public?”
His heart sank as he was shoved into the backseat and the door slammed shut.
He stared out of the tinted window while the SUV pulled away from the hospital.
Was he safe?
He didn’t know anymore.
Maybe it was over, and since the person failed, they realized it wasn’t worth the risk now that security around him was tripled.
God, he hoped so.
He slid his fingers unconsciously into his pocket towards Cassidy’s card.
Just thinking of him lessened a bit of the fear inside.
Cassidy Morrison was solid and comforting in a world that wasn’t.
Strong, mature, safe…virile.
That word embarrassed him every time it crossed his mind, but it fit.
Cassidy carried himself with this intense masculine confidence that made every other security guard around look like a kid playing dress up.
Then he found himself wondering ridiculous, pointless things.
What was Cassidy really like when he wasn’t working?
How did he live? In a house…an apartment? A man cave?
Did he cook?
Did he have pets?
Family? Friends?
Does he have a nickname? Surely his family didn’t call him HOS.