Wine and Whiskey (Surviving Absolution #1) (26 page)

“Shae. I loved her, and she left me.”

His glassy eyes look right through her.
To him, she’s a random person bothering him. Fearful of his reaction, she
hesitates to touch him again. She leans in closer to his face, trying to make
him really see her. “It’s me, Nick. I’m Shae. I’m right here.”

“No, Shae wouldn’t dress like this.” He
scowls before reaching out and running a strand of her hair through his
fingers. “Not with this slutty hair and makeup.”

Unable to hold back, she attempts to
build a connection between them and covers his hand with hers. “It was for TV.
I wore all of this for
Saturday Night
Live
, remember?”

He flings her hand off like it burns him.
His face flushes as the fury ignites. “You did something with her, didn’t you?
Where is she? What did you to do her?”

Her love can’t reach as far as he’s gone.
Maybe Max can convince him to go to the hospital. Or physically force him, if
need be. Her shoulders slump in defeat. Everyone feared he would destroy her,
and it ended up being her who pushes him beyond the breaking point. An easy
target for his enemies, she causes him endless worry. The stress of protecting
her too much for him to withstand any longer. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”

“You think I’m too stupid to realize
you’re trying to trick me?”

She flinches from his dinner plate
smashing against the wall behind her, her legs quivering as she steps backward.
The only time she’s ever been afraid of him. “I’m not, I promise. I’ll get Max.
He can help us.”

“Don’t you dare walk away from
me!
”

Nick charges after her as she runs out of
the kitchen. She flies into his office and locks the door with trembling hands,
trying to figure out what’s gone wrong, how to help him. She has to find Max.
Wood splinters behind her as Nick kicks in the door.

“I’m fucking talking to you.” As he lunges
at her, she puts her hands up to protect herself. He grabs her wrists, his
fierce grip crushing her bones. She falls to her knees, the carpet burning her
skin as he yanks her forward. The room spins around them, her head flailing as
he shakes her, screaming in her face. “Never fucking walk away when I’m talking
to you. Do you hear me? I said, do you hear me?”

The force of his anger leaves her
breathless, and all she can do is whisper, “Yes. I hear you.”

She dangles in the air, suspended by his
fists wrapped around her. Pain stabs her throat, head, and back. But mostly her
heart. From the emptiness of his eyes, hollow except for the madness overcoming
him. His voice. His hands. But, not him. Not the man she loves. His body just a
vessel for his misguided fury.

“Where is she? What have you done to
her?”

“Let her go.” The barrage stops at Max’s
enraged voice behind them, and her chest constricts at his gun pointed at
Nick’s head.

Nick jerks toward him. “What the fuck do
you think you’re doing?”

“I’m protecting Shae. The Nick I used to
know would have wanted me to. Now let her go.”

Nick’s grip loosens, and she falls to the
floor, her muscles aching from the adrenaline racing through them, never
expecting to need rescuing from Nick. She scrambles to her feet and runs past
him to Max. He pushes her behind him, creating a barrier between them.

“Don’t you see what I’m trying to do?” Nick’s
fingers curl around his scalp, digging into his forehead. “I have to find her.”
Nick sways again and topples against the desk. His eyes widen as he stares at
her, a flicker of recognition crossing his face before he whispers, “Shae?”

He’s as scared as she is. Reaching out a
trembling hand, she tries to soothe him. “I’m here.”

His voice falters as he tries to speak
again. Blood trickles from his nose, and his eyes roll up into his head. He falls
to the floor, violent convulsions racking his body.

Max kneels over him before looking up at
her. The first time she’s ever seen fear in his eyes. “Call an ambulance.”

* * * *

Max drums his
fingers on the arm rest and looks over at Shae. She hasn’t said a word since
they were ushered into this tiny, windowless room more than three hours ago.
Just stares at her arms, running her fingertips across the angry red silhouette
of Nick’s handprints.

Proof of his failure to protect her. And
his broken promise to Nick. He rubs his hands down his face. Any other man
would already be dead for touching her like this. And, Nick will want to be
when he finds out what he did to her.

Unable to sit in these hard-ass chairs
any longer, he paces in the small space. Gray walls and furniture with black
swirl carpet evoke a subdued environment, devoid of all emotion and
stimulation. A sharp contrast to the turmoil embroiling them.

Two members of Nick’s security team stand
outside the door, along with a hospital security guard. He shakes his head,
knowing it irritates the hell out of them. They can’t stand real or wannabe
cops, but hospital protocol requires in-house protection for celebrities while
they’re in the building. Another surreal aspect of living in L.A.

“It’s my fault. I did this to him.”

Her cracking voice stabs his heart, and
he drops back into the seat next to her. “What are you talking about?”

She tilts her head, pursing her lips
together, trying to keep from crying. “Juan and Spencer’s threats pushed him
over the edge. If he didn’t worry about me so much, it wouldn’t have broken
him.”

He doesn’t know how to respond. Her words
may be truer than he wants to admit. Nick’s obsession with her and, in turn,
the relentless need to keep her safe could destroy a man just like any other
addiction. However, there’s more to this than stress. Not wanting to scare her
with his own fears of a brain tumor, he’ll let Nathan tell them the diagnosis.

But he can’t let her blame herself.
Innocent and sweet-natured, she didn’t fully understand the circumstances she
was drawn into until it was too late. He wraps his arm around her trembling
shoulders. “He’ll be okay. You know how stubborn he is. He’ll be fine just to
spite me for being hotter than him.”

Her quiet laugh contrasts with the tears
shining in her eyes. “I’d forgotten about that. I didn’t even know you were
listening to us at the coffee house.”

“My job’s security. I always know what’s
going on.” He shakes his head, guilt burning in his gut. “Or, at least I used
to. Nick has me questioning myself right now.”

“Me too.” She lays her head on his
shoulder, a welcome reminder she still trusts him amidst the chaos. “Thank you
for helping me earlier. I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t
come in.”

He doesn’t either. The image of Nick with
her still shakes him, grateful the meltdown didn’t escalate beyond him grabbing
her wrists. Not certain if he could have pulled the trigger on his best friend,
no matter how much they both want to protect her. There’s no question Nick can be
an ass, but not to women, and especially never to Shae. Nick would destroy any
man, including himself, who would hurt her. He dreads the implosion when the
truth comes out.

“I never thought in a million years I
would have to pull a gun on him, let alone see him hurt you.”

A shaky breath and small nod are her only
responses. He refrains from giving her the lecture she deserves. Just like
Carrie, he told her to wait, but she took off anyway as soon as his back was
turned. At least with Carrie, her busting into the bedroom ended up awkward yet
funny. This time could have ended with him at the morgue rather than the
emergency room.
Why the fuck don’t these
women listen?

He swipes at the screen of his buzzing
phone. “Carter’s here.”

With twisted irony, Nick’s collapse on a
Sunday buys them an extra day without anyone being aware of his condition.
Carter’s schemes to cover for his absence give them only one or two more days
before word gets out and the threats really escalate. They need a game plan. He
takes off his jacket and wraps it around her shoulders. “Will you be okay?”

“Yes. Thanks for always taking care of
us. I don’t know what we’d do without you.” She tucks her arms inside the
sleeves and wraps them around her legs, resting her head on her knees. Her red,
splotchy face and dark circled eyes reflect her worried exhaustion.

His shoulders droop.
Fuck.
He can’t leave her like this, so pitiful and scared. “I’ll be
right back, okay?”

Her small smile confirms he’s doing the
right thing. She shouldn’t be alone. He steps into the hall, curling his hand
around the edge of the door to keep it from shutting all the way in case she
needs him. Nick’s right. He is getting soft.

Carter nods to him. “How is she?”

“Freaked out.” Just like he is. He rubs
his throbbing eyes. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to say it’s an emergency
appendectomy, which gets us—”

Max puts up his hand to stop him as
Nathan strides towards them, nodding toward the door. “Is Shae inside?”

“Yeah.”

Max and Carter follow Nathan into the
waiting room, and Shae grabs Max’s hand and squeezes as he sits next to her.
His stomach clenches, uncertain of what he’ll do with her if Nathan delivers
bad news.

Nathan nods before pulling a chair in
front of them, his face pinched from stress. “Nick’s unconscious but stable.
He’s responding well to the meds, and we’ve been able to reduce the swelling in
his brain. I don’t think there’s any permanent damage, but we’ll know more when
he wakes up. Right now, we have to wait and see.”

Unsure of when he crossed the line from
job to friendship, his body relaxes at Nathan’s good news. First Nick, then
Shae. He’s kidding himself, thinking he’s only concerned about the business.

Nathan frowns and shakes his head before
he continues, “His blood work came back with markedly abnormal levels. I’ve
sent his test results to experts who specialize in cerebral edemas. I have a
hunch about what caused it, and they can confirm if I’m right.”

She asks the question before he can get
the words out. “What do you think it is?”

“Normally, I would wait until we know for
sure, but if I’m right, you’re in even more danger than usual.” He lets out a
long sigh, his voice dropping to a restrained tone. “Someone may be drugging
him. His symptoms were so sudden and severe, and nothing else would cause them
to come and go. The uneven doses would explain why the first attack was
moderate and improved when you went to New York, but returned so intensely when
he came back.”

What the hell?
His mind and pulse race at Nathan’s theory. The culprit
would have to be someone they trust. No one else could get close enough to Nick
to poison him.

Her fingernails dig into his skin as she
squeezes his hand again. “How is that possible? He would know if someone was
giving him pills or injections.”

“He’s ingesting it. We have to figure out
what it’s in so you don’t consume any. With your size difference, it would
probably kill you if you received a dose. Is there something he eats or drinks
no one else does?”

Now, it’s Max’s turn to rub his forehead.
Nick always turns to alcohol when something bothers him. Shae in New York
without him would be more than enough to drive him to drink. “Whiskey. She
doesn’t drink it, and I haven’t had any lately.”

Her hand flies over her mouth, and she
turns to him. “When Spencer threatened me, he asked if I ever drank whiskey. He
knew—”

“Spencer threatened you, and Nick’s being
drugged?” Nathan’s face flushes before he stands up. “Damn it, Shae! This just
gets worse and worse. I knew I shouldn’t have let you and Carrie stay at his
house.”

There’s no time for arguing. He has to
get her settled so he can sweep the house again and find this son of a bitch
before he causes them any more harm. “That’s enough, Nathan. Neither of us can
deal with this right now.”

Nathan scowls as he puts his hands up.
“Fine. Let’s focus on Nick right now, and then we’ll talk about the rest
later.” His expression softens. “Where’s Carrie?”

Max glances at his watch. “She’ll be here
soon. The plane lands in about ten minutes.”

She stands up and hugs Nathan, his name
badge swinging from her arms sliding around his waist. “I’m sorry to put you
into the middle of this. Thank you for helping him.”

Max meets Nathan’s gaze over her head,
raising his eyebrows and nodding. Nathan better fucking comfort her, even if
he’s pissed.

Resistant at first, Nathan sighs and
returns her embrace. “You’re welcome. If you see Carrie first, tell her I want
to talk to her right away.”

“Okay. Can we see Nick now?”

They follow Nathan to a dimly lit room,
silent except for the beeping of Nick’s heartbeat across a black screen. His
face remains pale with dark circles under his eyes, but the tension is gone.
She strokes his forehead before kissing him and whispering, “I’m glad you’re
not in pain anymore.”

Max pulls a chair next to the bed and
motions for her to sit down, forcing himself to appear calm for her sake. “The
guys are right outside, so you’re both safe. I’ve got to take care of some
things. Will you be okay?”