If the deal I’d struck was a trap they’d set.
The only thing that mattered was if Dakota and Kayden were okay.
Except it wasn’t a trap.
I was free.
I wasn’t in danger.
Anyone who knew me in Dare’s ring was dead. His close circle of men slain during the shootout.
The raid currently happening at the safehouse would be attributed to the two-year-long investigation that had been conducted by the DEA. They’d finally gathered enough evidence that they’d made their move, even though I had been the one to provide that last bit of evidence they had been lacking.
My name would never be mentioned. I had to believe Ezra had a whole lot to do with that.
But the only thing that mattered was Dakota and Kayden, so even though they’d instructed I go home and lay low, I was walking through the sliding double doors that led into the emergency room in Poplar.
It was the same hospital where Amelia had been taken, and I could still feel the hopelessness and despair I’d felt that day. Ghosts that hung from the walls.
I went straight to the reception desk, her name haggard when it slipped from my tongue. “Dakota Cooper?”
The man behind the counter looked up. Surprise covered his expression. No question, I looked like I could use some medical attention myself.
But I couldn’t feel anything except for the desperate need to ensure they were fine.
To go to them.
To see them safe and whole.
He finally turned away and tapped into his computer.
“I need your ID so I can make you a visitor badge.”
I fumbled to get out my license, trying to breathe as I waited for him to fill out the information. He passed me a sticker. “Put that on your shirt. It’s room E-16.”
“Thank you.”
He buzzed me through the double doors that led into an open room. A nurses’ station was in the middle, and there were a bunch of curtained off areas on each side.
A hall branched off at the back, and a sign indicated rooms E-11 – E-20.
I hurried that way, turning the corner and hitting the hall that had private rooms with sliding doors. I increased my pace when I saw Cody, Kayla, and Dakota’s mom loitering outside a door halfway down.
“Are they okay?” It heaved out of me when I got close enough.
At the sound of my voice, Cody whirled around just as I was making it to them.
And I shouldn’t have been surprised when he threw a fist and clocked me in the jaw. I didn’t deflect it or fight back because I knew I deserved it.
Kayla yelped and Dakota’s mother gasped. “Oh my God, Cody.”
Cody ignored them both when he took me by the shirt and yanked me toward him, spitting in my face, “You don’t get to ask if they’re okay, Ryder. Not when they are in this mess because of you. Because of what you’ve done. You think I don’t know you’ve been touching her? Feeding her those lies you love to tell? I warned you to stay away from her. I told you. You think you’re good enough for my sister? I think tonight has proven to us all that you’re nothing but trash. You’re supposed to be my best-fucking-friend. And you did this? I can’t fucking believe you. After you promised to stay away from her. Get the fuck out of here.”
“I need to see her.” Guilt strangling, I tried to angle around him, to get loose of his hands.
I needed to see her.
Just once.
Tell her I was sorry.
That I wanted her to live whole and free and find every joy that this world had to offer.
He shoved me back and pointed in my face. “Stay the hell away from her.”
“I need to see that she’s okay.”
He edged forward, his teeth grinding as he snarled, “Stay the fuck away from my sister, do you understand me? You are no longer a part of this family. I don’t want to see you ever again.”
Tears burned down his face. And fuck, I hated that I’d destroyed this, too. This friendship. The guy who’d stuck by me, through thick and thin.
He’d asked me one thing.
To stay away from his sister.
Because he loved her. Wanted her safe.
And if I’d listened? She wouldn’t be here.
I gulped around the torment, trying to suck it down. I looked between the members of her family who were caught in a swill of torment. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt her. Never meant to hurt any of you. And I know it’s not worth anything, but I love her. I always have. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, and the only thing I want is her safety and happiness. And I pray that she and Kayden are okay.”