Bitterness spread through me when I thought about our falling-out before his accident. Did he want to get out of it? What would happen once he recovered? Would he continue fighting? We didn’t have a chance to talk about it and clear the issue, so I couldn’t know if he planned to return to fighting after he recovered or not.
“They don’t care if he’s well or not,” Masen replied, talking to me like I was a child. “They only care about whether he’s able to bring them money or not.”
“That’s horrible,” I bit back.
“That’s life,” Blake said flatly. “And for Hayden’s and your own good, you’ll stay out of it.”
“You’re seriously expecting me to stand aside and let Hayden get hurt because, what? Because those criminals want it?!”
“Keep your voice down,” Blake hissed into my face, glancing at Hayden’s door. “You can’t get him out of there. Not even Hayden can do that.”
My heartbeat ran rampant, and I felt as if everything was spiraling fast. “Why?” I whispered helplessly.
“When you have a certain status that entitles you to some benefits, you can’t expect to give it up without paying a price.”
A certain status? “A price? Like the Yakuza members cut off their fingers?”
“Not quite, but the principle is the same; you can’t expect to get out just like that.”
My mind reeled with so many questions, but I didn’t have a chance to ask any, because the door opened and three guys in black leather jackets and dark jeans left Hayden’s room, sporting intimidating scowls. Blake and Masen inched closer to me in a protective manner, which surprised me.
The shortest guy had a burly build, and I assumed he was the highest ranking out of the three. He closed the door and nodded at Blake and Masen before his emotionless hazel eyes found mine. They flickered with interest, and he checked me out slowly, making my skin crawl by the time our eyes met again.
My breathing picked up its pace. I was frightened to move even an inch in order not to provoke them. All of them wore scary tattoos that crept up their necks. They had shaved heads and earrings of various sizes and shapes, which instigated fear and disgust in me.
“Your girlfriend, Jones?” He motioned with his head at Blake’s arm he’d placed in front of mine. It almost looked as if Blake and I were holding hands.
“Just a friend, Miller,” he said firmly. His face donned a casual expression, but I could feel the aggression his body gave out.
Miller looked at Masen. “Yours?”
Masen rolled his eyes. “What? Are you interested in banging her? She’s my cousin’s girlfriend, so back off.”
I gaped at Masen, thankful he’d come up with a quick lie. Miller didn’t respond, and the tension became almost palpable in the air as the guys glared at one another. I just hoped this wouldn’t escalate into something ugly.
Miller shook his head and smirked, his eyes holding mine. “Tell your cousin he has a terrible taste. He should find something more fuckable next time.”
Hurt and shame gripped me, but I managed to keep my face expressionless. Miller and his cronies walked away, sniggering on my account. I took a deep breath and pressed my hand against my raging heart, hoping to steady my nerves before I entered Hayden’s room. I was worried that these bastards had upset him, and I didn’t know what his mood would be when I saw him.
“Don’t listen to him. The day he says something nice would be the day I grow a second dick,” Masen told me. It felt weird that he was helping me after all those insults he’d thrown at me before, but I was done questioning positive changes in my life.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s not like I didn’t hear something like that before.” I sounded resentful, so I threw a smile on my face. “Thank you for helping me.”
“If they heard you were Hayden’s girlfriend, they would use it against him sometime, so we can’t take any chances. You’re welcome. Now let’s see him.”
We entered Hayden’s room and found him looking at my drawings that were on his lap. He raised his head and smiled when he saw me. His bleak eyes immediately lightened, but I was barely aware of it because my focus was on his hand that held one of my drawings...
He’s moving his hand!
“Hayden?!” I rushed to him. The sight of his now mobile hand brought me tremendous relief. “You can move your hand!” I was astonished because he wasn’t able to feel it last night. “When did this happen?”
“In the middle of the night. I’m surprised myself.”
I was about to grab his hand, but I halted, afraid to hurt him somehow. Noticing my hesitation, he grinned and took my hand, his fingers wrapping smoothly around it. “Take it, silly. It won’t melt if you touch it.”
His hand was warm, and the feel of his skin against mine enthralled me. I never knew one simple touch could mean so much. I never knew how important it could be, always taking for granted my ability to feel and move.
The unshed tears messed with my vision, but I didn’t want to turn into an emotional mess now, especially not with Masen and Blake around.
“You feel this?” I squeezed his hand.
“Yeah. It’s still a bit weird, and my reactions are slow, but it’s something at least. Doc told me that was normal, so I guess I can’t bitch about it too much.”
“That’s awesome, man,” Masen said with a smirk. “Now you can jerk off.” He winked, and I frowned at him, wondering if his dirty jokes ever had a limit.
Hayden burst out laughing, cursing in between the fits because of the pain from his broken ribs. I studied his face closely, more than glad to see him in a good mood after those guys’ visit. I was worried that they might’ve threatened him or something else to get what they wanted.
“Hayden, what did those guys want?” I asked.
Hayden’s expression hardened. He looked at Blake. “T is crazy. He insists I fight and can’t understand I can’t fucking do it. He sent those mofos to check if I was as crippled as he’d heard.”
I frowned. Hayden mentioned the mysterious “T” when he received that phone call before his accident. “Is T one of the guys who visited you?” I asked.
“No. Those were his thugs.”
I moved my fingers over his, wishing I could protect him. “Did they hurt you?”
“No. We just talked. They were weird, though.” He looked at Masen and Blake. “They said I agreed to fight Axel, but I never did that.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. “But Hayden, you—”
“Either way, you can’t fight him,” Blake interrupted me. “Wait. Do you plan to?”
“I don’t know, man. I wish I could cop out of it because that asshole fights dirty.”
“And he can pack a punch,” Masen said, scratching his jaw.
“Please Hayden, you can’t fight.” I used the exact words that made him furious with me that morning, but this time, I said them calmly, hoping I wouldn’t get the same reaction from him. I wanted to talk to him about fighting and try to explain my perspective, but I had to wait for him to recover first.
“Yeah. They’re finally convinced I’m useless, so I’m off the hook for now,” he said, and no anger or annoyance laced his voice.