Chapter 5 BENEATH THE BRUISES

Myla stared at him, dumbfounded, for a few seconds. Then she sneered, "Where did you hear such a ridiculous rumor? First, you're a crook, now a gossipmonger?" She laughed in his face, then continued. "You're pathetic, and you will be hearing from our lawyers soon. You are done. Just get out of here."

"Get out of my way, bitch." He roughly tried to force Myla to back up as he pushed by her, deliberately hitting her in the stomach with his elbow.

Myla gasped, then punched him back hard. Scott staggered back and tripped over his fallen chair. He lunged forward, trying to keep his balance, and fell full force on her, knocking her to the floor. Her head hit the marble floor hard, and the sound echoed through the room.

Hayden's bellow of rage filled the room.

Jared vaulted the conference table and roughly grabbed Scott off her. Beck was already at Myla's side, checking her over as Hayden rolled up beside him.

Setting Scott on his feet, Jared plowed his fist into Scott's midsection. The blow knocked Scott into the wall, and he slid down to the floor, vomiting all over himself and groaning as he held his stomach.

Myla moaned softly and tried to get up, but Beck gently held her down. "Take it easy, Myla. You hit your head pretty hard there.

Myla's vision swam as she laughed weakly but didn't try to get up again.

"Jared!" Beck yelled when he saw him preparing to hit Scott again. "Don't waste your energy on that waste of space. It may take time before the ambulance gets here; we need to get her to the hospital. You know how tricky head wounds can be, and I'm not liking the dazed look in her eyes right now."

Hayden looked coldly at Scott, then raised his eyes to the stunned gazes of those left standing at the conference table. "Meeting over! Someone get that asshole out of my sight. As far as I'm concerned, he can stink up his own car until a tow truck can move it out of here. Anna, I'll call you tomorrow. I want legal steps taken to shut that filthy mouth of his."

"Okay, boss. Am I correct in assuming you are also going to pull your financial portfolio from his firm?" Anna asked smugly.

"Immediately, thanks for reminding me."

"Hayden," said Carter spoke up cautiously as Jared gently picked Myla up. "I don't think Scott meant to deliberately hurt Myla."

"I don't know, Carter; to me it looked like he deliberately tried to knock Myla aside as roughly as he could, and he has a nasty reputation for physically abusing the women he's been associated with in the past. I don't think he's changed."

Carter nodded in understanding.

Hayden turned to Scott, moaning, shaking from. "All these years, I have ignored the derogatory words you use with women and your alcoholism, but you crossed the line when you dared to harm my wife. I will fucking ruin you." He growled out. Then followed Jared as he carried Myla out, with Beck closely behind.

* * * * * * * *

Jared placed Myla in Beck's arms, got into the SUV, and then Beck gently placed her back in his arms. She curled instinctively into his lap as he cradled her like she was made of glass.

Hayden wheeled himself in and locked into position, his eyes never leaving her face. Beck slid into the front passenger seat beside the driver, giving a clipped order to move.

The car sped off.

The air inside was tight with worry.

Jared glanced down at her, gently brushing hair from her damp forehead. Her eyes were unfocused, her breathing was shallow, and she kept mumbling random things under her breath.

She blinked slowly, her lips parting like she was about to speak. But her words were slurred. "Don't... take..."

"Myla, don't what?" He asked as he leaned down to hear better.

"Don't... to Crest hospi..." she mumbled, barely above a whisper.

"It's the closest, honey," Jared said softly, finally understanding her.

Her brow creased. She whined, a soft, childlike sound. "No... no, not there... too many bad memories... don't want to go..."

Jared looked up, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror where Beck's worried eyes met his. It was the same place Hayden had been rushed to after the accident.

Then she started thrashing slightly, still mumbling, No... no, under her breath.

"It's okay," Hayden said quietly, his voice low and warm. "We won't go there, baby. We'll go somewhere else."

"Okay," she breathed out. Then she started humming a broken melody under her breath.

Hayden let out a worried sigh. "She is getting more loopy." He looked at the driver. "Steve to St Veronica, I have already texted the MD that we're coming. Speed up." He said sharply as he reached over and caressed her hair.

She leaned into the touch, then suddenly turned her head toward him, startling him, and Jared quickly adjusted to support her head better.

"You're touching me," she whispered like she was amazed. Then she gave him a sleepy smile. "It's been so long since you touched and looked at me like that..."

She blinked slowly, her eyes glassy. "I thought you didn't love me anymore."

Hayden's breath caught. The words hit like a knife in his gut. He swallowed hard, opened his mouth to speak-

But her eyes rolled back, and she slumped deeper into Jared's chest.

"Myla!" Jared panicked, tapping her cheek repeatedly. "Hey... hey... come on, sweetheart, open your eyes-"

"I felt a bump on her head; make sure she doesn't fall asleep," Hayden said, panicked.

A beat later, her eyes fluttered open.

She blinked slowly, dazed. Jared let out a heavy breath of relief.

"Just try to stay awake, baby," he murmured, nuzzling her hair. "We're almost there."

She made a soft sound and curled tighter into him.

When they pulled up to the clinic, two nurses were already waiting with a gurney. Jared placed her on it, and they all watched grimly as she was wheeled away.

Hayden sat still, his chair by the tall windows, staring at the sterile white floor. Beck leaned against the wall while Jared paced.

Her words echoed again and again in Hayden's head: "I thought you didn't love me anymore."

He closed his eyes as his chest clenched painfully.

After the accident, everything had changed. The months of pain, different experts and specialists, long surgeries, and long, sleepless nights in a hospital bed, unable to move. He had thought he knew devastation when the doctor had told him he would never walk again. But the worst came when he found out he was impotent.

Something inside him had cracked open and bled dry that day. The crash didn't just physically break him; it also stripped him of what made him a man.

He had always loved Myla with his whole being; their one year of dating and two years of marriage had been heaven. Their sex life had been raw, wild, and consuming. He used to take her up against walls, bend her over the kitchen counter, and wake her up with his mouth between her thighs.

And suddenly... He couldn't stand or walk... couldn't even get hard.

So what did he have left to offer her.

He became bitter... angry. Hated himself for needing help to do basic things; her comfort and care felt like pity. He felt like he was watching her try to love a ghost.

He started pulling away, locked in his head. Even Jared and Beck had confronted him more than once, telling him to stop pushing her away.

But he didn't know how to face her without feeling like a useless failure of a man.

He thought he was sparing her from the burden that he had become.

Now he saw the truth. All that time, she had been hurting, too. And his mercy had made her believe he didn't love her anymore.

He rubbed a hand over his mouth, his throat aching as he looked out the window.

But there was one thing none of them knew, one thing he had never told a soul.

He remembered one thing too clearly from the hit and run. Seconds before the masked-up driver hit him, he had winked and saluted Hayden.

The crash was no accident. It had been an assassination attempt.

And with the latest evidence he got recently, it seems like they were not done yet.