At least for a couple of hours until I could wash the spatters of my brother's blood from my skin.
26
What Beck had failed to tell me as we left the hospital was that his safe house wasn't driving distance away. He'd given me a thick woolen coat from the trunk of his car, and we'd driven only a few minutes to the local airstrip. I was past the point of questions, though, and just hugged the coat tighter around me as we boarded a small aircraft.
I fell asleep before the plane even took off. In the grand scheme of things, leaving the hospital with a practical stranger who'd just snapped a man's neck in front of me, then getting on a plane to an unknown location? Yeah, not the most street-smart of choices. But I was a sheltered, naïve idiot, and the thought didn't even cross my mind until I woke up the next evening in a lush king-size bed.
Thankfully, though, I still wore my thin hospital gown, and I didn't feel like anything bad had happened. Listening to my gut was a new thing for me, but in this instance, it seemed to be telling me I was safe.
A small pile of folded clothes sat on a chair near the bed with a folded card propped on top.
These should fit you! Come downstairs when you're ready. xx Riley
Yeah, she was definitely redeeming herself after being such a ball-busting bitch at our first encounter just a few days ago.
My body, especially my ribs and face, screamed at me when I took my first steps—I really hoped Dylan made Blake hurt a lot before he killed him. After I’d warmed up, the pain eased, and as I was well used to having aches, they were easy to ignore.
After a bit of poking around, I found a small attached bathroom, already stocked with shower products, so I took the opportunity to wash up and comb through my tangled hair. This was when my ribs really made their annoyance known, but I managed to get clean, eventually.
The mirror showed a nice, colorful display of bruising already starting across my cheek, and I had a lovely fat lip, but all in all… I’d had worse.
The clothes Riley had left me fit well. Soft sweatpants, a tank top with a built-in bra, and a black zip-up hoodie. It was incredible what a shower, clean hair, and fresh clothes could do for a person, and when I emerged from the bathroom, I felt a million times better already.
And hungry. Holy hell, I was hungry.
That hunger alone was what pushed me out of the bedroom in search of the kitchen. I found the stairs, then followed my nose as the salty smell of bacon wafted through the house and made my stomach lurch.
Oh man. It smelled so good, but the last time I'd tried to eat bacon it tasted like fish.
Please have been a one off; I can't quit bacon forever!
"Hey, girl!" a pretty chick with a blonde-and-teal braid running down to her waist greeted as I entered the kitchen. "You slept for ages. But excellent timing, my pretty pregnant friend; my babe is making breakfast for dinner."
I blinked at her several times in confusion, tucking my arms around myself and shifting my gaze to the tattooed guy standing at the stove with a frilly Mrs. Claus apron tied around his muscular neck.
"Um." I wet my lips, looking back at the girl. "Sorry, have we met? I don’t—”
"Oh shit, sorry, girl!" She grinned like she was about to start laughing, but not in a mean way. Or it didn't seem to be, anyway. "Sorry, where are my fucking manners? I'm Eddy, this is Dante."
The guy at the stove raised his spatula in a wave, and I gave him a small nod of greeting.
"And you're Brooke, right?" Eddy gave me a bright smile. "Come sit, Brooke. I wanna hear all about you and how you met Dylan."
"Eddy!" Riley scolded, coming into the kitchen behind me. "Leave Brooke alone. Jesus, nosy bitch." She slid onto the barstool beside Eddy and exchanged a loving smile with the other girl, clearly joking. "Brooke, are you hungry? We all slept in pretty late, so it's breakfast for dinner."
I didn't need to ask what that was; it was pretty obvious, given that Dante was cooking bacon and eggs and the clock glowing on the oven told me it was seven in the evening.
"Uh, yeah. Yep, I'm pretty hungry." I awkwardly took a seat