Chapter 3

3.

Jace rushed at me. He threw his jacket over my head. Shut out my vision. Pulled me off the windowsill and into his arms.

I struggled. A whimper kept spilling out.

"Let go... I'm so hot... Jace, I can't take it!"

He shoved me under the blankets. Wrapped me tight.

His voice dropped. Gentle. Coaxing.

"Don't be scared, Ryan. Just hold on."

Several footsteps rushed toward me. Doctors surrounded me. Asked what happened.

Jace paused for half a second. Then his voice came out cold as a scalpel.

"Someone laced her medication."

I heard a doctor suck in a sharp breath. He barked orders for a sedative.

In the haze, someone pulled my arm out from under the blanket. A needle went in.

The fire inside me slowly died. I stopped fighting.

They wheeled me off for a full workup. The results were bad.

The doctor said the accidental dose did significant damage to my nervous system.

Without proper recovery, I could face cognitive impairment down the line.

The room fell dead silent. The air itself felt frozen.

Jace stood there. The person truly responsible. Rigid. Disbelieving.

I watched him quietly.

"Jace, who did you piss off so badly they'd do this to me?"

He lowered his head. Avoided my eyes. Grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"I'm sorry..."

I turned away from his touch. Silent refusal. Silent blame.

Maybe he actually felt guilty.

A moment later, he dragged a doctor in front of me by the collar.

The man's face was pure terror. His eyes darted between us.

"Wh-what's going on?"

Jace didn't even look at me. His voice was surgical steel.

"He told me he was giving you vitamin pills."

"I didn't know he got his hands on that kind of substance."

He pulled out his phone. Dialed.

"Dad. I need the legal team. Something happened. Someone spiked her medication. I want to press charges. Attempted murder. Grievous bodily harm."

The man's face drained of all color. Watching him realize his life was over before Jace even lifted a finger. A different kind of cruelty.

My body shook. I couldn't stop it.

This was the first time I'd seen Jace handle something like this. So cold. So efficient.

He hung up. Wiped his hands clean with the towel. Turned to me.

"This idiot screwed up. It won't happen again."

"From now on, I'll handle everything for you personally."

He wasn't serving justice for Ryan. He was cutting off a liability. A fool who messed up and could bring trouble to the Sterling name.

I nodded numbly. I never thought he'd actually sacrifice one of his so-called brothers.

I only found out after we started dating. He wasn't just a pro racer. He was the heir to Sterling Properties. All the people around him were friends from the racing scene. Track days. Mod shops. This hospital was one of his family's holdings.

Silence swallowed the room.

Jace's phone rang.

The pain in his expression smoothed out the second he saw the caller ID.

He answered. Tessa Grant's sugary voice spilled through the speaker.

"Where are you? I miss you so much."

His face changed. Instantly.