“You’re going to be fine,” she said to him and tried to smile.
Braden reached up and placed a weak hand against her face. She turned into his touch and kissed the palm of his hand.
“He would have killed Conor,” Braden said softly.
She sobbed. He’d saved her brother at his expense.
“It’s fine,” she said again. “We’re going to get you to the hospital, and you’re going to be just fine.”
He grimaced, and she couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked her body.
“You listen to Conor,” Braden said. “Next to myself, he’s the only one that can keep you safe.”
She shook her head.
“No,” she said. “That’s your job. You don’t get to pawn it off on someone else. You’re going to get better so you can do your job.”
His hand slipped from her face, and she shook as she looked down at him.
He was dying. There was too much blood, and he wasn’t going to make it.
“Conor,” she screamed. “Conor help me.”
Her brother was there instantly, like he’d been there the whole time.
He pulled her hand from the coat and moved her to the side.
“He’s not going to die,” he said. “I swear it.”
Teagan nodded, although she knew it might not be a promise he could keep. She knew he would do what was in his power. Now all she could do was pray that it was enough.
Chapter Twenty
Warmth surrounded Braden. A weight seemed to sit on his chest, and he struggled to get it off him.
“Woah, cowboy,” a man’s voice said from beside him. “Let me help you. You’re not exactly in the best condition”
Braden opened his eyes slowly. Never in his life had a simple task been so painful. It seemed like every muscle in his body hurt from top to bottom, and he still wasn’t quite sure what the hell had happened.
He turned his head and found Conor sitting beside him.
“Where am I?” Braden asked, his throat hurt to speak, and it felt like he hadn’t had anything to drink it days.
As if he expected as much, Conor placed a straw in front of him, and Braden drank without question.
“The hospital,” Conor said quietly. “Do you remember what happened?”
He sat back against the bed again. Things were starting to come back. Flashes of memory.
Teagan’s crying face froze in his mind. Panic set in. He had to get to her.
“Teagan,” he said and tried to sit up. Conor placed a hand against his shoulder.
“She’s fine,” he said. “She just stepped out to get something to eat.”
Braden settled back against the pillow. His anxiety passed slowly. “Are you sure? I mean she was outside, in water. She’s not sick?”
Conor shook his head. “She was tired, but that was it. Her specialist already double-checked. She’s been camped out here otherwise, and I had to make her leave to get the food,” he said. “Want to sit up?”
Conor held up the control, and Braden nodded. There was just something not right about lying down and talking to someone.
“How long have I been here?”
He winced as the bed moved but was glad to be able to see where he was, and it made for less muscles to move.
“About a week,” Conor said. “You were shot and started to crash. We were able to keep you alive until we got here, but it was just barely. You crashed several times before they could even operate. It was real touch and go for the first few days.”
He couldn’t remember any of it. The last thing he remembered was Teagan.
“How come I didn’t wake up sooner?”
Conor leaned back in his chair, and Braden noticed the extensive stubble on the man’s face. It seemed that Teagan wasn’t the only one camping out at the hospital.
It made sense. She was still in danger. He doubted Conor would leave her safety to chance.
“Sedation. Seems like they tried to wake you up, but you caused quite a ruckus and made your injuries worse.”
Braden tried to laugh, but pain ripped through his side. He groaned and placed his hand there. It hurt like hell, but at least it would heal.
“Look, man, what you did…” Conor started but stopped when Braden waved a hand.
“She needs you,” he said simply. “More than me.”
Conor leaned in a little, and Braden could see that same look Teagan got when she was about to lay into him.
“She needs you, too, asshole,” he said. “It nearly killed her to see you like that.”
Braden looked away. He wasn’t a touchy-feely sort of guy, and this was edging right down that road.
“You know she loves you, right?” Conor said.
His head snapped over to look at Conor. She loved him? There was no way he could know that.
“Gee thanks, bro,” said a female voice from the door.
His eyes instantly went to the door where Teagan was standing with a tray in hand.
Conor rolled his eyes at Braden and turned around. “I’m sorry, was that some big secret?”
Braden could see the blush spreading on her face as she stepped in the room. He watched as she placed the tray on the table next to him. He turned to Conor.
“Think we could get a moment?”
Conor nodded and gave him a wink. “Good luck.”
Braden watched as Conor left the room and closed the door. “You love me?”
Teagan stared at him from where she stood. All these days of watching him sleep, never knowing if he’d even wake up, listening to the beep on the monitor.
She took in a deep breath and pushed the tray in front of him, then went to sit where her brother had been.
“They said your heart stopped when they were operating,” she said quietly and pulled the cover off the tray.
She hadn’t eaten much at all since being there, but the chicken alfredo had sounded good.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
Teagan looked at him. “Why?”
Braden shook his head. “If only I had brought my gun when I went to talk to you. It was careless. I was so wrapped up in us that I put you in danger.” He grimaced. “The phone. I thought I heard the phone, too. It was probably Finn calling to warn me.”
Teagan shook her head as she forked a noodle.
“We just happened to be awake. It wouldn’t have been any better if we’d been sleeping. Maybe worse because we would have been naked.”
She couldn’t hide the smile that came.
“That’s what makes us being together so dangerous,” he said. “I could have gotten us both killed.”
Teagan ate the noodle and pointed her fork at him. “See, I think it’s the opposite. We lived. Because of that we have an obligation to be together.”
He frowned as he eyed her fork. “And how is that?”
Teagan took another bite, feeling better with each one. “All those years, I could have died any day. So many other people with my condition have. But I didn’t. What’s the point of living if you aren’t going to do all things you can?” She placed the fork on the plate and took his hand in hers. “I do love you,” she said quietly. “And I want to spend every last second I have in life loving you. Because my life isn’t complete without you in it.”
Braden brought her hand his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“I love you,” he said. “I have loved you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. But I can’t promise that I’ll be able to keep you safe being with me.”
Teagan shrugged. “That’s what families for,” she said and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips.
Braden sighed, having her close to him was all he needed. She was what made him, whole, and he would spend all his life letting her know just how much he loved her.
“Especially family like me.”
He looked around Teagan to find Finn standing in the doorway. When he looked back to her, she rolled her eyes.
“You could say we share
a true blood connection.”
Braden looked between them with confusion.
“Ignore him,” Claire said as she stepped into the room. “That’s what we’ve all been doing.”
“Ignore me? But how could he ignore his magnanimous leader who saved his life?”
“Please! It was just some blood, quit acting like you were the one to perform the surgery.”
He turned to Teagan.
“Finn matches your blood type. As it turns out, you both have a rarer type, and they had a shortage.”
He looked over to Finn who winked and then chuckled. It was all a show to him, but he could tell Finn was glad to see him on the mend.
“So what happened with the Russians?” Braden asked. “Did you get Boris?”
Finn shook his head. “He got away, but he won’t be out of sight for long. A man like that isn’t going to take a slight like this, especially when it makes him look bad to his boss.”
“And the guns?”
Finn smiled. “Safe and sound. The shipment came in just after. Noel said the man was shocked to pull up and find not a Russian but an angry Irishman.”
Braden snickered. “And Ennis?”
Finn shook his head. The smile fell from his face.
It was Conor that stepped in on this one.
“He slipped out. It’s hard to tell if the Russians will have anything to do with him, but either way his standing in even his own people has slipped.”
Teagan took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “He tried to save me,” she said. “When I was under the dock, he was angry that I was still there. I don’t think he wanted to see me hurt.”
Braden nodded. He was glad to know that the other man’s morals hadn’t slipped that low. Maybe somewhere in there was still the man who once cared for the family.
“So what happens now?” Claire asked.
The room grew quiet, everyone knowing that what came next wasn’t going to be pretty. The other faction knew that Braden had been a traitor. They would be looking for both vengeance and blood.
“Now the war really starts,” Braden said.
Finn sat in the chair at the corner of the room and sighed. “Now we take back our town,” he said. “We’ve been spending too much time playing by the rules. I think we’ll have to get back to our roots if we want to have any chance of coming out ahead.”
Braden swallowed. They had all tried so hard to be the men they wanted to be, but it just seemed like they couldn’t escape their grimy pasts.
“Well, no matter what, we have each other,” Teagan said. “Because we’re family, and that’s what family does.”
Braden smiled. Family. Belonging. These were all things worth fighting for. The Russians had better bring all they had because there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do to protect the people he cared for. That’s what family did.
A Note from Madison
Thank you for reading Braden. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.
Please keep an eye out for the next book in the series, Noel 2.
You can join my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/OX9r5
ALSO BY MADISON STEVENS
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Author Bio
Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat, it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero temperatures and ice has won out in the end.
When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.
Her webpage is http://madisonstevensauthor.com/
She can be contacted at [email protected]
Braden: #5 (Kelly Clan) Page 10