Two Kings

Chapter 31

The door opens, the overhead light comes on and Rico enters in a long black coat with a green beanie covering his head. He's not wearing the same clothes I last saw him in—now he's dressed in black trousers and a black button-up shirt. He looks from Trav's bed by the door to my bed on the other side of the room. His eyes shoot up and he stands stuck to the spot, looking stunned, as he did when he saw me in the car shot.

"Am I that much of a frightful sight?" I ask.

"What?" He blinks and his wide eyes suddenly shrink back to their normal size. "No. I'm still trying to get my head around seeing you like this."

"Like what—alive."

"No, like you were just shot." Rico picks up the black metal chair by the door and walks towards me with it in his hand. He still looks unsettled, even though he's doing his best to portray something different. He sets the chair down between my bed and beside table and sits. His body slides down it like it's coated in oil. 

He looks so exhausted, like he hasn't sat for days. That's when I see his right hand has several nasty cuts across his bruised knuckles and a larger cut across the top of his hand. I almost reach out and touch him in that familiar way lovers do. Only, we're not overly familiar and I'm not sure how he would react if I started acting like something more was happening between us.

"Leave us." He waves a dismissive hand at the nurse. "We need some privacy."

"Excuse me," she frowns.

"Leave. Us!" his tone is ill-humored now, like he is on the verge of snapping at her if she doesn't exit the room.

"Excuse me, sir, but she's my patient. I'm responsible for her wellbeing. And I take my job serious. So, unless Alexis wants you here, I won't hesitate to have you removed."

"It's ok." I tell her. "This is Rico, my husband. Thank you, though. And please pay no attention to him. He's rude to everyone."

"Maybe I should hire her to guard you, since he couldn't." Rico jerks his chin at Trav, who is silent, either sleeping or pretending to sleep. I don't blame him for not responding to Rico's taunts.

"Right. Well, I'll leave you two be." I don't miss the roll of the nurses' eyes as she pulls the door shut behind her.

I turn my gaze to Rico, wishing I could ask him where he's been and what he did. Of course I can't, nor will I be mentioning that I've been worried sick he wouldn't make it back here alive. "Why are you only visiting me now?" I ask, wanting him to know that I noticed his absence.

"I had to sort out an urgent situation. Don't worry, I've been keeping tabs on you."

I rub my eye and stare up at the clock above the main door. "My god, it's 2am."

"3, actually." Rico tells me. "Would you rather I leave? Because I can come back later. I just couldn't go to bed until I saw that you're ok."

Sleep sounds good, but I'd prefer to stare at him than the pillow. "No, you don't need to leave. And I'm doing better; even better now that you're here."

He enfolds his fingers together and cracks a knuckle. "Don't say things you don't mean?"

"Oh please," I groan, "I've been shot, gone through surgery, and now I'm in the middle of a blood transfusion. I'm not interested in feeding your ego right now. So when I say I'm better now that you're here, I —" Rico cuts me off with his mouth on mine. I'm not talking full on tongue—want to get in your knickers kind of kiss since this is not a get in your knickers kind of moment. But his lingering kiss tells me he's eager to share more once I'm better. I only wish it were a possibility now, but since it's not, he makes every second count.

Rico pulls back first and collapses in the chair. "Shit!" He pushes his beanie off his head. "I'm sorry." He tells me as he runs his long fingers through his flat hair. "I fucked up, and you got hurt, and I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?"

I imagine for Rico saying he's sorry is like swallowing his tongue.

"I'm sure I'll think up something when I'm better. But I don't want you blaming yourself," I say. "We were both out of line."

"Even so, I know the risks. You're my wife, and that makes you vulnerable. I should have had your back, kept you safe, not let my temper get the better of me."

This is the slippery part; I could assume he cares when he speaks like that, when deep down I can't be sure if he does it out of duty or genuine concern. "Does that mean you do it because I'm your burden, or because you want to?"

Rico snarls. "Don't come after me like that."

"It's just a question?"

His dark brow rises. "Sounds more like an accusation to me. Which is fucked up since I've been putting you above everything else in my life."

"Ok, I get it."

"Do you?" his eyes hold mine. "Cause I'm not sure you do. I don't think you realize that I've been going out of my head, worried that you'd die today." His eyes connect with Grey's ring on the bedside table and an instant frown fills his face. "What the fuck! You need to drool over it some more while you recover."

"No, of course not." I grab the ring from the side table. "I was wrong about the ring. Here. Take the thing. Do whatever you want with it."

Rico shakes his head and pushes my hand away. "I don't want it. That ring represents Grey, and I don't want any part of it. If you knew anything about my brother, you wouldn't put his ring on your finger. He's like a demon dog who'd rip anything apart to get his way."

I place the ring back on the table and say, "maybe we need to agree to disagree when it comes to your brother, since we have different views on Grey."

"Yeah, and you're lost deep in the fantasy section. Because Grey wasn't the nice guy in all this, Alexis. He had an agenda when it came to your family."

"Or maybe you were incapable of seeing him the way I did. He was always good to my family." My voice is getting louder as I try to defend a dead man who isn't able to defend himself.

Rico stretches his legs out in front of him and snarls. "You got no idea who he was."

"Facts speak for themselves, Rico, and he was the only one who stood up for my brother when no one else would. When they threatened to execute my family, he was the only one who stepped in and saved us. Besides you, of course. But without him, my entire family would be dead."

Rico rests his head back against the chair, exhales, and keeps his eyes on me. "Well, I have a couple of facts of my own, none you'll like either. Facts I tried to save you from. But, since you seem to think Grey's arse shine rays of light, I'll give you some facts—Grey set your brother up. He made it look like he was the one stealing pounds of product. I know because Grey laughed about it when he told me."

I feel like I just jumped off a mountain cliff without a cord or bottom in sight. "Why would Grey do that?"

Rico's eyes shift to the ring. "Haven't you ever wondered how Grey had time to get that thing made for you?"

I lose my line of thought. "I... no, never... What are you getting at?"

"Grey didn't give a fuck about your family. The only reason he kept William around was to get close to you. But you had a boyfriend and showed no interest in him. So he set William up, made it look like he was thieving. By that point, Grey had already put word out that your brother was behind the missing drugs. Not that William was none the wiser."

Rico snorts before he continues. "William just assumed things with Grey were still cool. All the while, Grey was waiting to swoop in like the local superhero and save your family by offering a lifeline he knew you couldn't refuse. Not unless you preferred death. Once his associates put out the hit to execute William, Grey offered them the missing drugs and a bonus load if they left your family alone. They agreed, which left Grey wide open to manipulate the fuck out of your family? And he did when he said he would keep you all safe as long as he got one thing in return: you. And the rest, you know, since you agreed to marry him."