RUNNING ON ADRENALINE WHILE guilt gnawed at my gut, I pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and went in through the emergency entrance. I showed my ID and gave the room number, and they let me in like André said they would.
A guy in a black Luna and Associates polo nodded at me as I approached Marcus’s room.
“Tyler?”
“Yes, sir.” He held his hand out and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. I’m a big fan.”
“Thanks.” I shook his hand. “How is Marcus? Elyssia?”
His demeanor turned all business. “She’s inside. She’s fine. No change in her brother’s condition, and the doctor doesn’t expect any tonight.”
“Thanks.” I handed him my rental car key. “You get her stuff out of her hotel?” I’d asked André to check her out.
He took the key. “Yes, sir. Her bag is in my vehicle.”
“Can you put it in the black Yukon parked by the emergency exit?”
Without being conspicuous, he sized me up. “I prefer not to leave position, sir. Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll have someone bring her bag up.”
I appreciated he was doing his job, but I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to get to Elyssia, and I wanted her shit in my rental. “I’ve taken Marcus down. I can handle anything else that’ll happen in the ten minutes it will take you to run downstairs.”
Tyler nodded. “Consider it done.”
I didn’t wait to see if he took off. I quietly pushed the door open, and my heart fucking leapt at the sight of her. Curled on a lounge chair pulled up next to his bed, Elyssia was sound asleep. Her hair falling over her face, her hands tucked between her knees, she was so damn beautiful, my chest hurt.
Quiet, so I didn’t wake her, I squatted in front of her chair and just breathed her in for a moment. Unable to resist, I brushed a strand of her hair from her face just so I could look at her.
Her breath hitched and a small sound escaped from her throat. She frowned in her sleep.
“Shh,” I whispered, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be okay.”
Her eyes opened and she blinked. Then she sucked in a sharp breath. “Ben?”
“Right here, baby.”
Her eyes welled, and she burst into tears. “What are you doing here? You’re on tour.”
I couldn’t not touch her. Pulling her into my arms, I stood to my full height, and her entire body weight, which wasn’t much, dissolved into me.
“You’re here,” she quietly sobbed.
“I’m right here, baby, right here.” I held her tighter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”
She cried harder. “I ignored you.”
“I know.” Trust me, I fucking knew. “We’ll talk about that later, but you’re done not returning my calls and texts.”
“Okay.” She choked back another sob and held me tighter. “I missed you. I missed your smell and I missed your arms and I missed your voice, but I was so angry with you.”
Hating the way she felt, but loving the fact that she was being honest with me, I stroked her hair. “I know, baby.”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie. I withheld information. And if you’ve been reading my texts or listening to my messages, you know I won’t do it again.” I’d said I was sorry. I wasn’t going to repeat myself. “We both made mistakes. You should’ve let me know you were okay.” I was still pissed about the dump André told me she’d been staying in.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed.
I set her on her feet. “Me too.” Grabbing her face, angling her head, I fucking kissed her.
I didn’t hold back. Eight days felt like a lifetime, and there wasn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t give up for her. I stroked through her sweet mouth and groaned like a starved animal the second she kissed me back.
Forcing myself to pull away just enough to see her, I searched her face, both loving and hating what I saw. She was so damn gorgeous, but there were dark circles under her tired eyes and worry and pain in her expression. More than anything, I wanted to take it all away. “Come on, we’re going to get some sleep. Tyler will stay here, and we’ll come back in the morning.”
She glanced at her brother. “I can’t leave him.”
I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “The doctor doesn’t think there will be any change tonight, and you need rest.”
She bit her lip. “But if he wakes up, he’ll try to leave.”
I glanced at Marcus, looking at him for the first time. He looked like fucking hell. “Tyler will call us if he wakes up.” Even if Marcus did wake up, it didn’t look like he could walk out of here if he tried.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her toward the door. “He’s in good hands.”
She swiped at her face before finally giving in and leaning into me.
It was the best damn feeling I’d had in ten days, and I couldn’t stop myself. I pulled her into my arms and took a few seconds to just breathe her in. “Jesus, I missed you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Why didn’t you talk to me?” This shit distance between us could’ve been resolved with a single damn conversation.
She stood perfectly still, and I wasn’t sure she was going to give me an answer. “I thought you’d talk me out of going after him.” Her voice small, she sounded hesitant.
“I would have.” Who the fuck wouldn’t after what she’d been through? She tried to pull away, but I held her firm. “I’m not finished. I would’ve talked you out of going alone.”
“You were leaving for tour. I wasn’t going to ask you.”
“Then that’s where we have the problem.” I looked down at her. “You need something, you ask. That’s how this is going to work.”
“It can’t be one-sided. I don’t want that. I want balance and an equal partnership.”
I refrained from pumping my fucking fist that she was saying she wanted a damn partnership. “It’s not one-sided. If you’d answered your phone, you would’ve known what I needed from you.” Mainly to know she was fucking okay. And I’d just needed to hear her damn voice. Or three words she still hadn’t said to me.
She sucked in a breath. “Oh.”
I stroked her cheek. “I need to get you home.”
She frowned with worry. “We can’t go home, it’s too far.”
I smoothed the line between her eyebrows. “I have a place here.”
Shock clouded out all of her anxiety. “In Miami?”
“Technically, Miami Beach.” I stroked her smooth cheek.
“Miami Beach,” she repeated.
The corner of my mouth tipped up. Fuck, I was relieved to be holding her. “Yeah, it’s even furnished,” I joked.
This time it was anger that furled her brow. “I was staying in a cockroach-infested motel and you have a place in Miami Beach?”
I bit back a grin. “You should’ve answered your phone.”
A soft knock sounded on the door.
I put my arm back around her shoulder and opened the door to Tyler.
He nodded at Elyssia, but he handed me my rental car key. “You’re all set, sir.”
“Thank you, Tyler. Call me if he wakes up.”
“Yes, sir.”
I led Elyssia to the elevators.