[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 27

Everything ached. Especially her head.

With Nora's consciousness returning, she easily recalled what had occurred to make her end up this way.

A car accident.

And right after she had resolved her conflict with the O'Goods too.

She felt like every part of her was attached to weights and even a twitch would prove to be difficult. Her left hand felt especially heavy. And hot.

In an attempt to ease the discomfort, she squeezed it, and immediately after, heard a gasp.

"Nora?"

It took her a moment, but she lifted her eyelids and saw a shadow beside her. After blinking a few more times, her blurry vision cleared, and she recognized the figure illuminated by the setting sun.

"Declan?" she croaked.

They were in a hospital room. She recognized it. It was the very same hospital she used to work in. And the hospital where they first met.

Declan clasped her hand and leaned over her to kiss her forehead. The gentle gesture made her relax, but it also didn't prepare her for what he said next.

"Never," he growled.

"Huh?"

Just from one word alone, Nora could tell he was furious. She had never heard him so angry before. The tone snapped her wide awake, and even her body aches seemed to fly away from the shock.

"You're never leaving me. I won't allow it." He exhaled a shaky breath that made goosebumps rise across her skin. "I'll lock you up if I have to. I'll give you everything you'll ever need. That way, nothing will be able to take you away again."

Normally, she would've laughed at such a ridiculous remark and faulted it as an overreaction to her accident. But something about him sounded so serious, so foreboding, that Nora couldn't even afford to brush it off as a poorly made joke.

As she was still processing what was going on, Declan pulled away, giving her a view of his face once more.

His eyes swirled with something she didn't recognize. It looked as if he truly believed his words were justified, and he didn't seem to realize just how crazy he sounded.

At that moment, someone else's face flashed to the forefront.

Logan Bishop.

They really were father and son.

Ever since she first interacted with Logan, she knew there was a touch of madness in him. And like peeking through the blinds of a window, Nora had just witnessed that very same madness in Declan.

And yet, she wasn't intimidated.

After all, she had just survived a car crash. And to be honest, if their circumstances had been reversed, she very well could've been the one spouting asinine promises. In fact, Nora was positive she would've done the same thing, especially since she had already lost her parents due to a similar incident.

She couldn't bear to lose another loved one.

Of course, Declan was only human, and her condition after the accident must've caused him distress. But she also wondered why he jumped to such an extreme resolution.

As she observed his haunted expression—agonized and shaking and vulnerable—something inside her brain clicked into place, and she suddenly realized why he was behaving so strangely.

And it made her heart race.

Her hand raised of its own accord and cupped his cheek in a soft caress. He turned to kiss her palm, his brows furrowed as if he were in pain.