Reaping Consequences

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mathias

I feel a hand on mine, and I force myself to open my eyes. The low, steady throbbing pain in my side is nothing much. Opening my eyes, I look around the room for a minute, and see the inside of a hospital room. The beeping noises are coming from the machines next to me, and I look down to see Cadence's hand in mine.

Her cheek is resting on my thigh, and she's asleep. Brushing the hair out of her face with my finger, I can't help but stare at her. Even with that damn messy hair and no makeup, she is still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen before.

Rubbing my thumb along her cheek, she starts to stir, and the moment her eyes land on mine, I feel like I can't breathe.

Tears pool in her blue eyes, and I hate that I'm the reason for them. She deserves so fucking much more than me, but I'm too much of a selfish bastard to let her out of this damn contract.

"Mathi –" I put my finger to her lips. I don't want to hear how sorry she is for what Aldrick did. I don't give a fuck about him or anything else. I just want to be in this room with her and nothing else.

"Don't say you're sorry. You did nothing wrong. Marks was the one who shot me and not a damn thing would have changed that except handing you over to him and that would have never happened. I'm too much of a selfish bastard to let that happen. I want you all to myself."

A tear falls down her cheek, and I brush it away with my thumb. "What about Aldrick? Do you think he'll come back now?" I honestly don't know the answer, and part of me just wants to tell her no. I don't want to lose her to him, and I have a feeling that I will now that Marks doesn't want her anymore.

"I don't know Cadence. I haven't spoken to your brother. He isn't the man you think he is." She nods her head, but doesn't say anything for a short period of time.

"I know he isn't. I don't want anything to do with him." She pauses and shakes her head. "It's his fault that you are in here and that the Marks guy tried to do whatever to me. This is his entire fault, and I can't forgive him for that."

I can feel myself let the breath out that I was holding. I'm so fucking glad to hear her say those words right there. "You could have died." More tears start to fall down her cheeks, so I do my best to scoot over on the tiny hospital bed and pat it for her to lay next to me. She stares at me like I'm crazy, but I don't care. I just want to feel her body against mine right now. I want to hold her and promise her that everything will be okay.

Cadence wipes hear tears and gently gets on the bed, curling up into my side. Her arm wraps around my waist, and I close my eyes. I would take another bullet if it meant that I would get to hear her say those words again.

"Please don't ever get shot again," she whispers. Her finger runs along my chest before pausing. Looking down at her, I can't see why she stopped.

"What?" I ask, clearly not understanding.

"I was so afraid that you were going to die. I couldn't deal with that. In just a few days you changed everything. I can't lose you." I kiss the top of her head. Her finger starts to move again, but we just sit in the silent room until the door opens and my brother comes in. He shuts the door silently behind him, but he doesn't move further into the room.

"Rhys," I murmur. He gives me a pained smile, and I know he's going to tell me something I don't like. "Mom and dad are here aren't they?" He nods his head, almost ashamed that he called them. "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

He doesn't look at me right away, and when he finally does, he goes to say something, but can't seem to find the words.

"I love you, Mathias. I don't ever want to get another call like that." I nod my head because I get it. I wouldn't want to get a call from someone telling me that my brother had been shot either. I would have gone crazy with worry about Rhys if it were the other way around.