Chapter 156: Missing them so much

Ivy

The hospital smelled like bleach and I hated every inch of it.

Angel lay propped against a mountain of pillows with a bandage wrapped around his head like a turban. There was an IV taped to the back of his hand, and a black eye swelling shut on the left side of his face.

His lower lip was split. He looked like he had fought a bear or something, and under any other circumstances, I would have laughed my head off.

Instead, I stood by the window with my arms crossed, my foot tapping the floor nervously. I was trying so hard not to throw up.

"..a concussion, Felix! They had to scan his skull!" Anthony paced at the foot of the bed, his hands shaking badly. "My only son jumped in broad daylight, in front of half the city, and there are videos about it! Did you see that somebody has already put them online? Do you know what the headline says?"

"I’ve seen it," my father grunted calmly from the armchair in the corner. He sat with one ankle propped on his knee. "Calm down, Anthony, our people are working on taking the videos down."

"They better track down that bastard!’ Angel croaked from the bed.

God, he was so shameless. Was no one really going to address the fact that the reason he got this beat up was because he attacked me?

"They’re calling me a punching bag, Dad. A punching bag. The nurses were laughing at me, I heard those bitches in the hallway."

"Then they will be fired," Anthony snapped.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek.

The urge to puke was getting stronger. My body trembled as the image of what happened this evening replayed over and over in my head.

That was Roman. I would know those hazel eyes anywhere. The hurt in them haunted me, seeping through my veins like a lethal toxin.

God, how could I not have recognized him?

Why was he wearing a disguise? Was he following me all these while? How could I not have noticed after spending every night, weeping and begging for a chance to see him and his brothers again?

"He came out of nowhere," Angel continued, sniffing like a kicked puppy. "I was just talking to Harper, and this psycho jumped me. I didn’t even see his face."

"Talking?" The word flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. "You had me by the hair!"

His one good eye cut to me, full of venom. "I barely touched you."

"You dragged me-"

"Harper." My father’s voice was mild, but it smacked right on the back of my neck. "That is enough."

I shut my mouth. Of course I did. I had to get out of here. Why the hell was I even in this place? Angel deserved what he got.

"I need some air," I managed. "Excuse me."

I didn’t wait for permission and walked out of the suffocating room. I made it all the way down the corridor of the VIP wing of the hospital, into the women’s bathroom before my knees buckled.

I locked the stall behind me and leaned my forehead against the cold metal door.

The fury in Roman’s voice had me shuddering.

How dare you fucking touch her with your disgusting hands?

The disguise didn’t matter, the second he turned around and looked at me, I would have known those eyes anywhere. I knew what they looked like when they brightened with happiness, when they went dark with anger, when they glinted playfully and when they burned with pleasure as he moaned my name.

Vivi.

I clamped a hand over my mouth as a deep painful sob tore from my chest. Nobody else would have had my back like that. Nobody else on this earth would have wanted to tear a man apart for touching my hair.

Who else but Roman?

And what had I done? I had looked at the man who saved me and told him he would rot in prison.

"Oh, God," I sobbed harder.

I hadn’t meant it. I had only said it because I was terrified. My father and Anthony, I knew exactly what they could do. I only wanted him to stop before he killed Angel and gave them an excuse to hunt him down.

I didn’t know it was Ro. I just needed him to hear my threat and run.

He had heard it all right. His face had crumpled and I would never be able to unsee that.

I slid down the stall door until I was crouching on the tile, tears streaking down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I should have said his name. I almost freaking did. It was right there on my tongue, Ro, and then he was gone. He ran from me.

"Please come back," I whispered into my palms, as if he could hear me. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

I wished he had stayed. I wished he had pulled that stupid prosthetic off right there in front of everyone and taken me in his arms and said Vivi in that honey-gravel voice.

I wished I could have buried my face in his chest, lost in his scent of cinnamon and lavender. I missed him.

I missed them so fucking much. I would do anything to see them again. To have Roman look at me like I was some kind of miracle while feeding me in the kitchen.

I missed Kai, my wild, infuriating Kai, who could make me laugh and scream at the same time. I missed the way he had hauled me onto the back of his bike, his comfort, his kisses.

I dragged a hand down my face, trying to wipe the tears messily. I missed Gideon so much too. I missed the way he used to say Miss Harpley and Amber.

I missed all three of them. I missed them so much it felt like someone had reached into my ribs and smashed it to pieces.

I fished my phone out of my pocket, tapping Roman’s number. He had to still care right? There’s no way he did all that without at least still caring about me. Maybe if I just messaged or asked to meet, maybe just maybe-

Do not show up in front of me ever.

I had no right to disobey them. Gideon’s cold voice rang in my head. I had no right to even want to. I was a liar and a spy to them, I had no right.

Another sob broke out of me before I could stop it. It tore up out of my chest, as the phone slipped through my fingers and clattered against the tile.

I folded over my knees, crying with my hand clamped over my mouth so no one would hear.

My phone buzzed with a call and my stomach dropped as I scrambled to pick the call up.

Was it... was it him?