by Stacey Lynn
“What the fuck happened?” I growled.
Liv grabbed a chair, pulled it to the side of the bed. My mind began to clear even as I voiced the question. My hand went to the sheets and I lifted them. Liv’s hand covered mine.
I shot her a look.
Hers matched mine in concern and anger. “Leave it.”
“Where…” I blinked, and the final haze lifted. She’s not coming. She’s not coming. Jules. “Where’s Daemon?” I finally asked.
Liv’s eyes went wide with shock and her lips parted. Surprised I didn’t ask about Jules?
Maybe. My head hurt too much to think about anything.
Not until I knew what happened.
“I was shot.”
Liv nodded. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun, she had indentations on her cheek from sleeping, and she looked like shit. But her eyes went sad. “Badly, Jaden. Jesus—we almost lost you.” Her chin quivered.
I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to watch.
Lost me. I figured that meant I’d almost died.
Which explained why Jules wasn’t coming. Didn’t take a genius to figure out she didn’t want shit to do with a biker who’d die on her, leaving her alone just like Scratch.
I wasn’t fucking stupid.
I was too selfish to be stupid.
With fire in my eyes, I stared at Olivia. “Get her ass here, and Sophie’s. Or tell her I’m showing up at her place, needles and pain and whatever the fuck else be damned.”
Her lips twitched, fighting a smile. “Want me to use those exact words?”
Pain spread to my eyes, forcing me to close them. My head fell back and exhaustion and pain pulled at me. “Do whatever you fuckin’ have to do.”
Silence covered me like a thick blanket before Liv’s hand went to my shoulder. She shoved something small and plastic into my hand. “Will do, J. And use this if you need more meds.”
I mumbled something incoherent and went back to the fog.
The haze cleared more quickly the second time. Beeps and voices in the background became instantly sharp.
The bright light when my eyes were forced open was still blinding, but precise as it wiggled back and forth between my eyelids.
Which felt like they were being yanked and tugged open.
I smacked the offending light away.
“Settle, Jaden.”
Daemon. His voice registered and I followed the sound until I opened my eyes on my own and stared at him. He was next to the bed, cocky grin on his lips, arms crossed over his chest, staring at a man in a white coat.
“Thanks, doc.”
A man with a comb-over too obvious to ignore moved his glasses further up on his nose. He slid a thin flashlight into a pocket at his chest and rested his hands at his sides.
“How are you feeling?”
“Drugged.”
He nodded, a hint of a smile in his eyes though his lips pulled into a thin line. “You’re lucky to be alive.” He glanced at Daemon but I was too sluggish to follow the movement. “You were shot, Mr. Dillon—”
“Jaden.”
He nodded once and continued. “Bullet entered your upper right quadrant, pierced your intestines, bile duct, and lodged into your right lung.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, tried to make sense of what he said, but only focused on the important shit. Bullet… guts… lung… pain.
My thumb tapped on the button still in my hand. “How long have I been out?”
Daemon cleared his throat. “Nine days.”
The fuck? My shoulders jerked, but shooting, stabbing pain in my gut quickly forced me back to the pillow. “Fuckin’ hell,” I muttered, one hand scrubbing down my face. My fingers got stuck on my cheeks and my chin, feeling the full, scratchy hair that had grown.
“Shit.”
“We lost you twice,” the doctor said.
I squinted to read his name but it blurred in my vision.
“It will take you weeks to recover, maybe months before you’re back to full strength. You’ve received two blood transfusions, your oxygen is still low, and you have twenty-eight stitches on your right side.”
Which explained the horrendous stretching, pulling sensation clawing at the skin above my right hip.
“I get it,” I told him, not wanting to hear any more.
No wonder Jules was fuckin’ gone. The fact she was the first thing on my mind, my first concern—even as pissed as I was that she thought she could slink away without having to answer me—scared me.
When did I become such a pussy? Perhaps death could do that you.
I scowled at the thought, ignored the doctor as he droned on about rest and care and visitors and what-the-fuck-ever, before he left the room on a heavy sigh, pulling the door closed behind him.
“What happened?” I asked Daemon as soon as we were alone.
His hands ran through his hair and clasped together at the back of his neck. “Nothing you need to worry about. We’ve already finished it.”
“Finished what?” I growled, straining to move but unable to.
He sighed, dropped to the chair next to my bed, and rested his elbows on his knees. “Sporelli ambushed us, knew that we were planning something and were there. But it doesn’t matter now: Erik Sporelli was taken into custody, and Ryker, Finn, and Switch took off immediately. They’ve taken them all out except for Angelo, who fled back to Chicago.”
A slow breath filled my nose and I let it out, processing everything. “Shit. What does this mean for the club?”
“That Sporelli will come back and try to kick our ass, most likely. But we’ve got four charters headed our way for backup. They won’t get near us.”
Almost satisfied with knowing we were done with their bullshit, I almost smiled. Not running drugs would hit our cash flow, but Daemon had never wanted into that shit in the first place.
Although I would have liked to be the one to help take them out instead of laid up in a fucking hospital bed.
“Who set us up?”
Daemon’s eyes flashed with feral anger. A muscle flexed in his jaw.
“Who was it?” I gritted out. I knew that look. I’d seen it in him once—when he’d learned Olivia’s father, former Nordic Lords President Bull Masters was responsible for putting a hit on his own wife and Olivia had gotten caught in the crossfire. Literally.
“Gunner.”
“The fuck?” I gasped. Shock pulsed through my veins. Every nerve in me had me suddenly scratching to get the fuck out of the hospital, regardless of the blistering pain shooting through my side.
“Don’t fuckin’ make me repeat it. Once Angelo took off, Xbox went searching, and what he found was a trail of income landing in Gunner’s account—whose real name is Maurice Sporelli. Found out he made a call as soon as he heard about us movin’ out the night of the party.”
My head spun from the information. Shit. And we’d let Faith and Liv both work for the betraying dickhead. Not to mention the number of men who got inked by him.
And Jules with her piercing.
My fingernails dug into my palms, my breath came faster than I could take it in.
“Hey,” Daemon warned, watching a monitor pulse and beep, sending piercing sounds through the room. “Calm the fuck down. The important thing is that we took care of most of it, all while you were bein’ a lazy fuck and sleeping on us. Plus, we saved something fun for you.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, but there was nothing playful about the glint in his eye or the crooked smile on his lips.
My look matched his. “Gunner?”
His hand gripped my shoulder. “He’s all yours once you’re out of here.”
He said it to break my fury, and it helped. Barely.
I felt my lips crack into a small smile—just a hint, but my racing heart slowed enough to calm the monitors.
“Can’t wait,” I groaned, my hand clutching my side.
“We’ll fill you in on the rest later.”
I let the weight of all I’d missed out on wash
over me, and eventually we fell back into an easy banter, with football highlights we didn’t actually give a shit about on the television set.
But it didn’t matter. It eased the pain from my side and my head until night fell, and Daemon promised he’d be back the next day.
Olivia had been right. The last thing I’d wanted to do was admit it when she showed up at my apartment three days ago, telling me Jaden had finally woken up and was going to be okay.
But she got what she came for.
He deserved for me to say goodbye to him in person.
Except how did you say goodbye to someone you’d only just realized you loved, knowing you couldn’t be with him?
The life was too much: too harsh, too difficult, and not something I wanted Sophie raised in. My heart alone couldn’t handle it—no way would I expect her to be able to.
Regardless of knowing I was doing the right thing—the best thing for everyone—my palms felt slick and clammy with Sophie’s index finger tucked inside my grip on one hand, my other hand clutching the strap of my purse.
The stark white hallway seemed to stretch and grow with every step we took closer to Jaden’s room.
He was being released tomorrow. If I didn’t see him in the hospital, I ran the risk of him showing up at my parents’ home or my apartment, demanding to see me.
I figured with Sophie in the hospital room with us, the confrontation would be less dramatic.
“Mommy,” Sophie said as we reached his room. Her large, scared blue eyes peered up at me and almost took my breath away. “I miss him.”
“I know,” I told her, running a hand through her hair. “You’ll still see him. But remember what I said about today?”
She nodded, pushed her lips into a pout before she frowned. “He sick.”
“And he might not look okay, but he’s going to be just fine.”
Despite not understanding, she nodded again. I didn’t know how Jaden would look either, but I figured it was better to prepare her for the worst than have her scared when she saw him.
Forcing a bravery I didn’t feel, I twisted the doorknob to Jaden’s room and opened it.
My nerves and my fear instantly jumped to my throat as I took him in, helplessly laid out on a hospital bed that seemed too small for his intimidating frame.
Even with him sleeping, his eyes closed, with his arm draped over his eyes to block out the light, I felt my body warm.
God, he did things to me. My arousal began to pulse, just staring at him, as I uselessly tried to push it down.
It didn’t work, but still I felt my feet to move toward the bed, hesitating only slightly when I wondered if we should come back later.
But I knew if I did, I might not ever make it.
“You’re here.”
My feet faltered at his gravelly voice. I saw his mouth move, but every other muscle in his body was still. I almost imagined I dreamed it or made it up until his full lips pulled and twisted.
“I am,” I finally said, suddenly certain this was the worst idea I ever had.
Enclosed in a room with Jaden, even in a hospital, didn’t provide safety from the anger rolling off him, or the desperation to flee coming from me.
Slowly, he removed his arm from his eyes and rested it over his stomach. He flinched when his hand made contact with his side.
Cracking open one eye, he caught my terrified gaze before quickly dropping to look at Sophie.
“And you brought your safety net.”
I resisted the pull to cower under his sarcasm and his harsh glare. Even if he was right.
“Hi, Uncah Jaden.” Sophie squeezed my hand, as if she needed to remind me that I was there and that she’d been anxiously asking to see Jaden for the last week. She wanted her piggyback rides and her trips to the garage.
“Hey, half-pint,” Jaden said, and patted the bed next to him. Without hesitating, I lifted her and set her down on the left side of his bed so she could talk to him.
Jaden’s hand gripped mine as soon as I let her go, unable to do it quickly enough so he couldn’t touch me.
He tightened his grip when I tried to pull away.
I moved my gaze from his hand to Sophie. “She wanted to see you.”
“That the only reason you came?”
I steeled myself for the lie I needed to give. “Yes.”
He whispered “Bullshit” but dropped my hand. Sophie began showing Jaden her hot pink fingernails we’d painted that morning and her fancy Easter dress that she had already grown out of but insisted she wore to see him at the hospital.
I let them have their time, and like the coward I knew I was being, I slunk to the couch on the far side of the room, as far away from Jaden as I could get, yet not far enough. His pale skin didn’t detract from the physical pull he always had on me.
Drawn to him, I watched him smile and laugh with Sophie. My heartbeat increased every time his eyes snapped in my direction, as if he couldn’t take his eyes off me either.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Sophie,” I said, walking to the bed. Jaden’s hand tightened on her thigh. “We need to get going.”
“Not until we talk.”
“Jaden,” I started, then snapped my mouth shut when his eyes narrowed into slits.
“You running?” His anger rolled off his broad shoulders in palpable waves.
I hitched my purse over my shoulder, trying to buy time. “No.”
“Bullshit.”
My eyes snapped to Sophie. “Watch your language.”
With a quick pat, he tapped Sophie’s back. “Go play, half-pint.”
Sophie looked at me, raising her arms. I picked her up, handed her my phone, pulling up a cartoon app, and slid it into her hand. “Go watch.”
She toddled over to the couch, climbed up, and settled herself easily into the uncomfortable furniture.
Jaden’s hand snapped out and gripped my wrist, regaining my attention, although he’d never lost it. I was just… avoiding.
“You can’t run from me.”
My eyes stayed focus on his hand, too afraid of what he’d see if he looked into my blue eyes: fear. It clung to me like cheap perfume, and I couldn’t erase its scent no matter how hard I tried.
“Jaden,” I said softly. “Maybe it’s not about running,” I raised my eyes to his. “Maybe it’s simply about knowing what I can handle and what I can’t.”
“Bullshit,” he growled.
“This isn’t a fucking card game, Jaden,” I snapped, watching his scowl slightly disappear. “I’ve seen Scratch die, I was in town when your parents were buried. I saw Liv in the hospital after being shot, Faith being kidnapped.” Emotions raged inside, spilling into tears and down my cheeks. I leaned over Jaden so Sophie couldn’t hear. “My daughter was taken.” I pointed a finger at my chest. “My daughter. The only good damn thing I’ve got in my life, and she was taken from me.”
“And we took care of the fuckin’ problem,” he growled, his fingers tightening along the pulse in my wrist.
And hell, it felt good. His strength and his confidence covered me like a thick blanket I couldn’t shake.
“You’re part of the problem,” I hissed. “How many more people in my life have to die or be taken before I just fucking lose it?” I waved a hand in the air, making my point.
“For one,” he sneered, pulling me forward slightly. The move pulled me off balance and my hand came down on the far side of his hips so I was bent completely over him.
Jaden looked down the gap in the front of my shirt and smirked.
“For one,” he restated, “Scratch died because he was a jackass on a bike and he wasn’t safe. Sophie was taken because you fucked around with a psychopath.” Anger and humiliation boiled inside in me in equal measure.
I wanted to argue. But he wasn’t wrong, either. Not really.
“And this club life is dangerous. You knew that before you let me take you against your wall, shoving your pussy in my face like you
wanted me to devour you.”
“Shut up,” I huffed. But my body liked what he was saying. My panties grew damp, and my pulse pounded against my skin, beating in my ears like a rolling thunderstorm.
Jaden’s hand dropped my wrist, and he pressed two fingers to the base of my throat. “Why would I shut up when the reminder of what I’ve done to you turns you on?” One side of his lips quirked.
The move distracted me. His tongue came out and he licked his lips before his hand moved to the back of my neck and he pulled me to him.
His lips were on me instantly. His hand dug into my skin, holding me in place against him, and damn it—I surrendered. My tongue met his and I soaked in the taste of him. My arms shook from the weight of trying to hold myself off his body, off his stitches and his injury, when the only thing my body screamed at me was “Yes! More!”
I fought against it—fought against the pull to throw myself into his arms, crawl into his bed next to him, and never let go.
I tasted every ounce of him that I could while he held my mouth to his, adjusting his grip on the back of my head to a better angle. I mewled into his mouth when he released a groan.
God, he was so sexy and tasted so damn good.
“Jules,” he rasped, breaking our kiss and the trance his touch put me under. He pulled me down until my forehead pressed to his. He shifted, pressed his mouth against my ear. My hips ground against the edge of his bed when his teeth came down and bit my ear lobe. “You can try to fuckin’ hide, but this is a small town. I’m in Sophie’s life and I’ll stay there. Go deal with the shit you need to deal with until you’re not afraid of what’s happening between us, but don’t think for one second that you’ll get rid of me.”
I tried to pull away from him, but his hand tightened and he pulled me back until our eyes were inches from each other. Our shallow breaths mixed between us.
“You’re mine, Jules. And I’ll prove it to you.”
“How?” I asked, unable to stop myself from being sucked into his spell. His eyes, his jaw, his slightly crooked nose… all of it was irresistible, regardless of how hard I tried. Not to mention his confidence and his ability to kill anything that risked harming me.
“Because,” he grinned. “You won’t be able to forget me, no matter how hard you try.”