Author: Olivia Cunning

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?”