She’s Mine Now Read online

  “You Adi’s father?” I asked as I strode toward him.

  The man’s head jerked in a nod, but he didn’t even straighten up. “She done yet?”

  “No.” I clenched my hands together behind my back so I wouldn’t do something I’d regret later. “What was she doing on a motorcycle without a helmet?”

  The boredom melted from his features and was replaced by a deep scowl. He stepped away from the wall, and his dark eyes narrowed. “What the fuck do you want to know for?”

  “Don’t get an attitude with me. I’m treating your daughter and I need to know what happened. She might need surgery and it’s possible she has a concussion. So I repeat, why wasn’t she wearing a helmet, and what was she doing on a motorcycle?”

  The guy folded his thick arms, lowering his chin in a way I was sure was supposed to have been threatening. “Do whatever you need to do to her. Then I’ll take her home.”

  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Where’s her mother?”

  “It’s none of your business where she is.” He took a step forward, but I still didn’t feel the least bit intimidated. If anything, he was putting himself in danger by getting so much closer to me. “It’s not her weekend with Adi. This has nothing to do with her.”

  Aggression and the urge to unleash it rolled around in my stomach. My jaw clenched so hard I was pretty sure I heard my teeth crack.

  But this wasn’t the time or the place to get worked up. Knocking him out wouldn’t help his daughter, and she had to be my priority. Lord knew she clearly wasn’t his.

  Dragging in a deep breath, I turned my back on him without saying another word and stalked back into the room. The door slammed shut behind me and Hunter’s head snapped up.

  “Find April’s number and call her to come in,” I said, going back to my place at Adi’s side. “I’ll stay with her, but that guy is on strike two with me already. If I have to keep dealing with him, he won’t be the only one facing the possibility of arrest today.”

  Chapter 2

  APRIL

  Adjusting the takeout cup of coffee in my hand, I jabbed the buzzer to my sister’s apartment. I also tried to keep the coffee in my other hand upright while I fished around in my purse for my phone.

  The ringtone told me it was my best friend calling, and considering she was on her honeymoon and I hadn’t heard from her for weeks, I really wanted to take the call before it rang out.

  It really was too bad humans had only been given two hands. As far as I was concerned, it was a serious design flaw.

  Adi wasn’t even with me today, and two still weren’t enough. At the very least, parents should have been gifted with at least one extra pair as soon as they placed that little bundle of joy in our arms.

  “Hello?” Katie’s voice crackled through the intercom.

  “It’s me,” I yelled. “I’ve got coffee. Open up.”

  My fingers finally closed around my phone and I shoved my shoulder against the security gate when my sister buzzed me in. Holding the coffee at a precarious angle, I swiped my thumb across the screen and pressed it to my ear.

  “Please tell me you’re calling because Cyrus has finally freed you from his den of depravity,” I joked instead of greeting Luna.

  “My den of depravity?” Her husband’s voice echoed over the line with more than a hint of incredulity in it. “We’ve been traveling across Europe. How is an entire continent my den of depravity?”

  “I should’ve guessed I’d be on speakerphone. You two are ridiculous.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s not the continent, Cy. It’s just you. You can’t tell me you haven’t seen more of the inside of hotel rooms than you have your destinations.”

  He chuckled and I could practically hear him shrugging, but then Luna jumped in to admonish me. “April! We haven’t only been in hotel rooms.”

  “Nah, we’ve also been in—” Cyrus was cut off with a dull thump. I was ninety-percent sure his darling wife had just smacked his shoulder, but it couldn’t have been too hard since he only laughed. “Never mind.”

  Even though they gave me a toothache from half a world away just by listening to them, I couldn’t hold back a smile of my own. “I’m assuming you two are having fun, then. When are you coming home?”

  “Soon,” Luna said with a soft sigh. “I miss the shop, and Cyrus needs to get back to work, so unfortunately, we’ll have to start heading home soon.”

  “Woe be you,” I joked, clutching my purse under my arm as I made my way up the narrow staircase to Katie’s apartment.”

  “Did you tell her we’re having a baby?” Cyrus asked.

  I slammed to a stop with a squeal. “You’re pregnant?”

  “No.” Luna giggled. “But we’ve talked about it and we think we might want to—”

  “I’m knocking her up any day now,” he announced before bursting into another fit of laughter. Luna’s sweet voice murmured something to him and he groaned.

  “Guys, you do remember I’m still here, right?” Their antics nauseated me sometimes, but I couldn’t deny that listening to them made even my blackened heart warm up.

  It was difficult to believe, listening to him now, that just a couple of years ago Cyrus had been as down on marriage and relationships as I was. Meeting Luna had changed his mind faster than I had been able to say “whipped,” and then he’d switched to Team Lovestruck.

  My team, the realistic one who realized true love didn’t exist, had lost a good player that day. But those two were so unbelievably happy together that they made me happy, too. If there was anyone in this world who deserved for the fairytale to be true, it was Luna.

  She cleared her throat. “We know you’re there. Don’t worry. Nothing gross or untoward is happening. I just wanted to call to check in on you guys. How’s my Adi angel doing?”

  I smiled softly and started back up the stairs. “She’s good. She’s spending some time with the sperm donor today.”

  “Really?” she asked, surprised. “How did that happen?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it when you get back.” I reached my sister’s floor, seeing her waiting for me in her doorway. “I just got to Katie’s, so I have to go, but I’m pretty sure Cyrus wants to do something gross and untoward to you anyway. I’ll let you get back to honeymooning. Let me know when your flight is getting in?”

  “I’ll do that. Send my love to Katie.”

  She hung up after I promised her I would check in on her flower shop later today, and I smiled again as I shook my head and stashed my phone in my purse.

  Katie frowned. “What are you so smiley about?”

  “Nothing, Mom.” I winked at her and held out the second coffee. “Peace offering?”

  She took the caffeine, but her frown deepened. “Why are you giving me a peace offering for smiling? Did you do something stupid?”

  “No,” I said, walking around her and into the apartment. “I was just on the phone with Luna. Apparently, Cyrus is on a mission to impregnate her as soon as possible.”

  Katie groaned as she shut her door and followed me to her living room. “Are those two still so crazy in love then?”

  “You betcha.” I sank onto her pale gray sofa and tucked my feet in underneath me.

  My sister walked past, tapping my toes with her hand before heading to her favorite armchair. “Get those feet off my couch.”

  I did as she asked, but a shit-eating grin spread on my lips. “You do realize you’re only two years older than I am, right? You don’t have to mommy me.”

  “Someone has to.” She sipped her coffee and arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow at me. “Are our favorite honeymooners finally back in the city yet?”

  “No. Don’t get me wrong. I miss the hell out of Luna, but they can stay in Love-ville by themselves a bit longer before they come back. Just listening to them made me feel a little like I’d eaten too many sweets.”

  “Amen to that.” She raised her coffee in acknowledgment before bringing it back to her lips. “I’m so ha
ppy for her, but I’m glad it’s not either of us.”

  “You still think you’ll be single for the rest of your life?” I teased, snapping my fingers. “Darn. I guess that means I’m done with being a bridesmaid.”

  “I want too much out of a man to get married.” She smiled, smoothing her hand over the subtle purple throw draped over her chair. “Besides, look how well it turned out for you. I’d rather save myself all that hassle.”

  “Truer words have never been spoken.” I sighed and tried not to pay too much attention to the tight spot that had formed in my chest when I’d dropped Adi off earlier. “Speaking of my greatest mistake, Craig is spending the day with Adi.”

  “Yeah, you mentioned that when you called earlier.” Her green eyes clouded over with worry. “I won’t pretend to understand why you agreed to let him have her.”

  “He’s still her father.” I brushed my hair out of my face. “It’s only for a couple of hours. He’s been reaching out more and more to spend a little time with her. I can’t keep refusing him. She wants to get to know him.”

  “Why?” She sniffed. “He’s never been interested before. After all the shit he put you through, I can’t even believe he’d reach out. The audacity to think he can walk back into your lives and everything will be fine is just another example of what a bastard he is. A dangerous one, too.”

  I nodded but raised my shoulders. “I told him he could only have her if they stay at his mother’s house. That way, there’s someone else supervising too.”

  “Good idea,” she said, but her teeth sank into her lip. “Has he told you why he suddenly wants more time with her?”

  “Nope.” I sat back against the plush sofa. “I asked, but he just smirked and told me it wasn’t any of my business.”

  The worry in her expression intensified, her brows pulling together as her eyes became even darker. “Maybe it’s time to get the courts involved. Just for safety’s sake, it might be better to have a court order stating the terms of their visits.”

  “I don’t think we need to do that. I’ve thought about it, but he doesn’t want too much time with her, and I’m pretty sure it’s just a phase. Sooner or later, he’ll get bored with having to spend a few of his precious hours with a child, and then he’ll disappear on us again.”

  The thought made me livid, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Craig wanted to get to know Adi, and more importantly, she wanted the same thing. If she hadn’t begged me to say yes, I would have turned him down.

  Unfortunately, he’d waited for us outside of her school one day and told me, in front of her, that he wanted to spend some time with her. It had placed me between the proverbial rock and a hard place since I would be the bad guy if I said no, even if it would only have been to protect her.

  Adi was everything to me. I would go to the ends of the earth to keep her from getting hurt, but Craig had always been a master manipulator. He’d known to approach me while Adi was there and he’d played into the whole “I miss my baby” thing so well, even I would have believed him if I didn’t know him better.

  But even so, I only wanted what was best for my daughter. If Craig had somehow turned over a new leaf where she was concerned, I wouldn’t be the alienating witch who kept them apart. As long as I knew Adi was safe while she was with him, which was why I’d insisted on them visiting at his mother’s for the time being, it was fine.

  Katie made a humming noise of disagreement at the back of her throat, but before she could say anything else, my phone rang again. When I pulled it out and saw it was the hospital calling, I silenced it and tossed it down beside me.

  “They’re probably short-staffed again,” I said. “I’ll call back when we’re done. Maybe I’ll pop in for an hour or so later before I collect Adi.”

  The phone started ringing again immediately. It was the hospital again, which made me frown at my phone. They never called twice unless it was a real emergency.

  “Hello?” I said when I answered. “It’s my day off. How badly do you need me to come in?”

  A throat cleared before a voice I didn’t recognize came over the line. “April? This is Hunter Holmes calling. I’m afraid I have some bad news. We’re in the process of admitting your daughter. Doctor Matthews is with her now. There’s been an accident.”

  My heart crumbled in my chest, and my teeth started chattering. It felt like I’d been hit by an eighteen-wheeler in the middle of a snowstorm.

  Katie took one look at my face and grabbed both our purses, then pried the phone out of my hand and took over. Despite the shock, I moved faster than I ever had in my life. My brain was incapable of regular function, but my body worked at double speed.

  We rushed out the door and raced to the hospital in Katie’s hybrid, parking in the ambulance bay before running inside. I thought I heard someone yelling at us, but then I heard Katie barking out some kind of reply before she was back at my side.

  I didn’t stop moving until I saw the big, hulking guy I thought was Hunter Holmes pacing up and down outside a room in the emergency department. He started moving toward me as soon as he saw me, confirming my suspicion that I was right about who he was.

  “April,” he said, pointing at a door down the hall. “She’s right in there. She’s okay, but she’s a bit sleepy because of the meds Chris gave her.”

  I nodded but pushed past him like I didn’t even see him. It would have been impossible to miss a guy that size, even if he hadn’t spoken, but I just couldn’t slow down right now. I would thank him later.

  Craig was nowhere to be seen at first, but then he turned the corner with his arms laden with snacks. The fragile hold I’d had on my self-control snapped as soon as I saw the motorcycle club wannabe.

  “You asshole,” I yelled, black spots dancing across my vision. “What the fuck have you done?”

  He smirked at me like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I didn’t do a thing. Adi fell off the bike all by herself.”

  “Bullshit.” I narrowed my eyes at him, stalking right up and poking my finger into his chest. “This is your fault. I’m going to check on my daughter now. You better stay the fuck away from her, Craig. I mean it.”

  “Yeah?” He snorted and opened his mouth to continue, but then I felt a massive presence behind me.

  Hunter’s hands came down gently on my shoulders. “I’ve called security. They’re going to remove him in a second. Go on in. I’ll wait here.”

  Craig’s expression turned murderous as he turned on Hunter, but the other man didn’t look either impressed or intimidated. He simply crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows as if challenging my backboneless ex to argue with him.

  Trusting Hunter to keep him the hell out of the room, I didn’t waste time in getting to Adi. Tears swam in my vision when I saw her lying on a hospital bed in the center of the sterile room.

  A doctor was with her, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her for long enough to look at him. “Adi, baby? Are you okay?”

  She didn’t answer, but when I got closer to her, I saw her eyes were closed. Just then, a deep, calm voice spoke from somewhere in the room.

  It was like my head was a void, though. I had to put in some real thought before I realized it had to be the doctor talking.

  “It’s okay, April. She’s asleep because of the medicine we gave her, but she’s okay. I spoke to her myself until she drifted off and I haven’t left her side.”

  I nodded, going to the bed and taking her small hand in mine. Still without moving my eyes off her, I leaned over to rest my forehead against hers and snapped at him.

  “What the hell happened to her?” I asked, my voice coming out harsh. I knew I was channeling my anger at the wrong person, but I couldn’t help it.

  My brain was stuck at the moment I got that call, and my emotions were totally and completely out of my control. In the very back of my mind, though, in a place that was still rational and thinking logically, I thanked my lucky stars that she’d ended up at my hos
pital.

  Someone here had recognized her and thought to call me because Craig surely wouldn’t have.

  Whoever that person was, I owed them. Big time.

  Chapter 3

  CHRIS

  I’d never subscribed to the idea that someone’s looks could dictate their personality, but the redhead in front of me sure was fiery. I understood that she was emotional and in shock, but she was aiming those things at the wrong fucking guy.

  “At first glance, I thought she might need surgery,” I said. “Now that I’ve had more time to assess her, there may be a chance we can rehab her without having to go that route.”

  Her green eyes were watery when they lifted to mine, but even the tears couldn’t hide the fierceness in her gaze. “That’s right. I recognize you now. You’re the physical therapy doctor. Why are you down here with my daughter? She needs a real doctor.”

  A real doctor? Wow.

  I had about ten retorts right at the tip of my tongue, but antagonizing a young patient’s mother was just wrong. Besides, I’d have chosen the wrong profession if I took offense to everything people said when they were stressed and emotional.

  Over the years, I’d learned to brush it off. Retorts always jumped to mind, but I never let them get any further than that. Well, almost never.

  “I am a real doctor,” I said, my voice as measured and even as always. “I’m trained in multiple disciplines. Emergency trauma medicine and surgery being among those. Physical therapy is simply my passion.”

  Annoyance flicked across her gaze. “That’s great for you, buddy, but you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here with her.”

  “I fill in for the emergency department when they’re short-staffed. I’ve taken some X-rays of her arm. Would you like to see those, or would you prefer my credentials first?”

  Her brows rose, but then she licked her lips and sighed. “The X-rays.”

  “Great.” I gathered the ones I wanted to show her and put them up against the lightbox. “These look good, which is what led me to believe the swelling might have made her arm look worse than it is. We’ll only know for sure once she wakes up and we can determine her range of movement, but we may be able to avoid surgery.”