Love and War: A Bad Boy Romance (Small Town Bad Boys Book 2)

by Annette Fields

  "Fuck you," I said defiantly. I didn't give a single fuck if I was rude or inconveniencing anyone. The love of my life could be in the morgue for all I knew.

  Dahlia suddenly stood up.

  "I have an idea," she declared. "I'll be right back." Without another word she left my room and pregnancy-walked down the hallway.

  I cracked a smile at Ash.

  "She's starting to waddle."

  "I know," he breathed with a half-smirk. "I can't believe I'm closer to being a dad every day."

  "I'm so glad I'll still get to be an aunt," I said, squeezing more tears out of my eyes. "Before I have my own, that is."

  Being kidnapped and so close to death sent my emotions through a never ending rollercoaster. First I was pissed at the world for no one telling me about Liam, then I was overcome with relief and gratitude at merely being alive.

  How could I even begin to go back to normal life after this experience? Especially if it was a life without Liam?

  I didn’t dare to think of it.

  Dahlia returned about twenty minutes later holding the arm of an older gentleman with a thick salt and pepper mustache. His eyes were red and I noticed a thick bandage wrapped around his arm.

  "Hazel, this is Detective Jeffrey Barnes, Liam's dad."

  Suddenly, being polite seemed utterly important.

  "It's nice to meet you, Detective," I greeted, extending a hand.

  "Likewise, despite the circumstances." He cracked a small smile and patted my hand before sitting down with Dahlia and Ash.

  "Were you there too, Detective?" Ash asked him.

  "I was," he replied. "So far I'm the only one that's been discharged. Those young cops kept me in the back of the pack so I wouldn't get hurt."

  He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue in his pocket. "Those poor guys. It really was a war zone. It'll take a lot for all of us to recover. Mentally and physically."

  "And Liam?" I asked, unable to hold back the question any longer. "How is he?"

  Detective Barnes' eyes immediately watered again as his mouth trembled. My heart began to break in preparation for the absolute worst news.

  "Liam took the worst of it, I'm afraid." He paused to blow his nose and wipe his eyes again. "He ran straight into gunfire to save you. He got shot several times and lost a lot of blood."

  “Oh my God,” Dahlia raised both hands to her mouth in horror while Ash wrapped a protective arm around her.

  My breath left me again and I could only say one word.

  "No..."

  The word rattled around in my skull before it came out of my mouth. It couldn't be true. I couldn't accept it.

  "He's been in surgery for the last several hours," the detective went on. "We don't know if or when he's going to wake up."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  LIAM

  Sirens blared through my head as bullets whizzed past my temples. The only thing that drowned them out was the blood pounding in my ears.

  I ducked down behind a car and peeked over the bumper, trying to make sense of the massacre laid out before me.

  The only people still out in the open were the bodies lying motionlessly on the ground. Some innocent, some not. Emergency services had arrived but no one dared to go out and tend to the wounded. They were too concerned about saving their own lives before stepping out onto the battlefield.

  I heard a clatter to my right and instinctively raised my weapon in that direction. A masked thug dropped his magazine as he reloaded his gun. I fired off one shot and nailed him right in the torso.

  I felt dizzy. Unwell. How many people had I killed?

  Yells and running footsteps erupted all around me. Where was everyone going? And why? What was the point?

  "Sir, are you hurt?"

  I looked up to see a blue-uniformed man standing in front of me.

  "Sir, let's go to the ambulance and get you checked out, okay?"

  I nodded and followed him, taking slow, careful footsteps as though I might step on a landmine. For some unknown reason, I couldn't keep my head down. I looked again at the battleground that was supposedly safe now.

  One body lying on the sidewalk across the street caught my eye. A petite female with blonde hair.

  My heart stopped and I ran.

  I ignored the paramedic and everyone else yelling at me. I had to know. I had to see.

  The woman's left arm laid outstretched behind her. On her hand was a diamond engagement ring.

  The ring I gave Katie when I asked her to marry me.

  Someone was screaming NO as my hands turned the body over. It had to have been me.

  But when I saw her face, it wasn't Katie looking back at me.

  The hair turned to a rich, dark shade of brown. Her eyes were green instead of blue, and with an adorable splash of freckles across her face.

  Hazel.

  "Hazel!"

  My eyes snapped open and a painful, blinding light seared them shut again.

  "Relax, Officer Barnes. You're dreaming."

  I was covered in sweat and sucked in rough, ragged breaths. Something beeped rapidly at the same rate as my heart pounding in my chest.

  It reminded me of Hazel and how our hearts always beat at matching rhythms.

  "Hazel! Where's Hazel?"

  My mind spun with confusion. I couldn't feel most of my body and had no idea where I was.

  "She's fine, Liam. She's resting and being treated."

  The voice was calming enough that my thrashing stopped and I hesitantly opened my eyes, blinking under the harsh light above me.

  "Quite frankly, you're lucky to be alive, son."

  As my vision came into focus, I saw a figure dressed from head to toe in surgical scrubs, including covering his head and mouth. He wore glasses and had bushy eyebrows which raised slightly when I looked at him.

  "You have a rare blood type and lost a lot of it by getting shot four times," he said. "Good thing you're as strong as an ox."

  "But Hazel," I reiterated. "You're sure she's okay?"

  The doctor looked bored with the question already.

  "Would you like to see her?"

  "Yes!" I answered without thinking, before the memory of the last time we spoke sent an ache through my chest.

  Go to hell, she said with those tears in her eyes I'd never forget.

  "I mean if she wants to see me."

  The doctor wrote on a pad of paper before he stood and headed for the door.

  "I've cleared you for visitors since you're awake. I'll have a nurse bring her down. We'll discuss your injuries and route to recovery later."

  I could honestly say I didn't give a single fuck about my injuries or recovery plan. Not as long as I saw with my own eyes that she was safe and free.

  Leaning back into my pillow, I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. If she really came through those doors, there would be no way I'd let her go. Every moment we were apart just felt wrong. If I had been with her I could have protected her and prevented my fellow officers from getting injured. Hopefully, none were in as rough shape as me.

  My room doors burst open with a sudden crash and my vision filled with the most beautiful, dark-haired, green-eyed angel I'd ever seen.

  "Hazel."

  Her name left my lips in a whisper because relief and love swept over me so strongly, my breath left my body when I saw her face.

  Seeing her wasn't enough. I still couldn't feel my left arm so I raised my right one out to her. I had to touch her.

  "Liam!" she cried as she rushed toward me.

  Everything else in the world melted away when we touched. The cold, calmness of the hospital environment exploded with heat, color, and passion when we reunited.

  We kissed as if we'd never kiss again, running our hands through each other's hair and faces as if not believing the other person was really there.

  "I love you."

  "I love you so much."

  "I thought I lost you."

  "You're never losing me again." />
  I couldn't distinguish my own words from hers but it didn't matter. We felt the same way. We were one again, us again, and would never be apart.

  Only when I felt woozy and exhausted did I lay back on my hospital pillow, taking a long, full look at my beautiful woman.

  "How are you feeling?" I asked as I lightly caressed the bruise on her cheek.

  She kissed my palm and leaned into my hand, smiling. "Physically? Like I got in a bad car accident. Mentally? I don't know, probably pretty messed up for a while. But seeing you makes it a whole lot better."

  Her eyes left mine for the first time to travel all around my hospital bed. I was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and I assumed pain medication.

  "What about you? How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

  "I don't feel much of anything," I replied, looking back up at her. "Except hopelessly in love with you."

  Her smile grew wider as she leaned down to kiss me, slowly and sensually this time like we had all the time in the world.

  “I’m so sorry--”

  She began to whisper her apology against my lips but I shushed her, kissing her deeply. Tasting her sweet mouth seemed to bring renewed strength and life to my limbs.

  “Don’t apologize,” I told her. “It’s over. It’s in the past.”

  "I wanted to tell you I loved you for weeks but I was too chickenshit," she admitted. "I never imagined you'd be nearly dead before I said it to you."

  "I'll remind you to tell me every day from now on," I said with a smirk. "So you know to appreciate me the next time I take a few bullets for you."

  "Snarky jerk," she muttered as she punched me in the arm.

  "Ouch, that's my one good arm left!"

  "Shut up, you can't even feel it."

  Even with one good, mostly numbed arm, I was able to pin her hands down and prevent her from wiggling free.

  "I can still have my way with you," I whispered as I pulled her close. "Even if I'm mostly a gimp."

  "I can't believe you're even thinking of that right now," she said. "You're lucky to be alive. The doctor will probably order you not to do anything strenuous for months."

  "You know how creative I am, beautiful." I smiled as I watched her cheeks flush with heat. "We'll figure something out."

  "Ahem..."

  Both of our heads swiveled to the doors where the doctor's head poked in.

  "If you don't mind, I would like to go over the severity of your injuries and prognosis for recovery."

  "Sure," I replied.

  Hazel and I exchanged a look that said the same thing. This guy may have been a genius surgeon but he was clueless about giving a couple some private time.

  The doctor shuffled in, still completely covered in his scrubs, and settled onto the rolling stool next to my bed.

  "As I was saying, you sustained four gunshot wounds and lost nearly two liters of blood," he began. "Your body needs oxygenated blood to heal, so it's imperative for you to rest and not do anything... physically demanding for at least three months."

  "Tall order, Doc," I muttered, which caused Hazel to giggle but the doctor continued on as if he didn't hear me.

  "You'll be able to stand fairly soon, but the damage to your muscle tissue was severe. I recommend walking in small increments and using a wheelchair over longer distances. Gradually you can work up to a walker and then a cane as you rebuild your strength."

  My jaw tensed as my teeth ground in frustration. I was joking about being gimpy earlier but it seemed like I really would be for a while.

  "And how long until I'm fully recovered?" I asked. "Namely, when can I get back to work?"

  "By my estimate, about six months to a full recovery. Even then you may still feel some occasional numbness or weakness but you should be walking normally by then."

  The frustration only set deeper into my bones. Six months of barely being able to get around. I hated being a sitting duck more than anything. What the hell would I do with myself?

  Hazel's gentle squeeze on my shoulder softened my mood and brought me back to the present.

  "Can you give us a moment, doctor?" she said sweetly.

  He seemed annoyed at being kicked out of his own hospital room again but obliged her. When he was gone, Hazel looked back at me with a crafty smile and a wicked gleam in her eye.

  "What are you so happy about?" I grumbled.

  She took my face in her hands and kissed me deeply.

  "I'm so happy I can kiss these lips whenever I want." She raised her lips to my forehead and pressed a kiss there. "I'm so grateful you're still the same person up here and didn't suffer any brain damage."

  She pulled away and looked at me seriously with her hands clasped around the back of my neck.

  "I wouldn't care if you lost your legs or arms completely. I'm going to be thankful every day that I have you with me, my man, my love. And I'm going to help you recover in any way that I can."

  My heart swelled as I pulled her close, resting my forehead on hers as I inhaled her sweet scent and looked into her gorgeous green eyes.

  "Goddamn, I love you so much, Hazel. You are the most perfect woman for me and I will never lose sight of that."

  "And like you said, we can get creative," she said, the wicked gleam in her eye returning. "With you in a wheelchair, I might even get to dominate you once in a while."

  "Oh yeah?"

  I pulled her roughly, tightly against me until she was nearly tumbling into the hospital bed with me. Her gorgeous tits pressed against my stomach and her lips parted ardently. I grabbed a fistful of her hair near her scalp and pulled back to expose her soft, creamy neck.

  "I wouldn't count on it, beautiful."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  HAZEL

  Six months flew by in the blink of an eye.

  Liam went through rigorous physical therapy and surpassed all expectations, as I knew he would. He walked unassisted with only a slight limp by three months. By six, he was good as new.

  He was able to go home after only two more weeks in the hospital and continued his physical therapy at home. And he was obsessed with it.

  Every day I came home to find him doing pushups with his legs propped up on a chair or doing lunges along the walls for support.

  I had to practically climb him like a spider monkey on a tree to make him take a break, on top of reminding him that he needed rest just as much as exercise. It would only set his progress back if he injured himself from over-exertion, which was my main fear. The guy was as stubborn as a mule but he would eventually listen to me.

  I all but officially moved in with him the moment he was discharged from the hospital. At first, I would still go to Ash & Dahlia's after work since most of my stuff was there. But as Dahlia's belly kept growing they started dropping more hints about turning my room into a nursery.

  Not to mention every time I left Liam's place, he turned on the puppy dog eyes and held me tightly until I threatened to pee on him.

  "I would not even be opposed to that," he said with a naughty grin before gently releasing his hold. "But really, it would be nice if you just stayed here."

  I emptied my room and moved my things in the very next day.

  As Liam recovered, I worked part time with consulting clients while helping him with his exercise, wound cleaning, meals, and keeping his house in order. By the time six months passed, we became closer than most couples that had been married for years. We leaned on each other and provided for each other selflessly and were happy to do so.

  This was the kind of supportive, passionate, and deeply loving relationship I never knew existed. After a man run straight into gunfire and gets shot for you, how can you ever doubt his love and loyalty?

  It made me incredibly happy to be his nurse, housekeeper, cheerleader and sexual release after all he did for me.

  When he was cleared physically to return back to work, I went back to consulting full-time and life pretty much returned to normal.

  He was already hom
e when I pulled up one evening with a stupidly big grin on my face and my phone ready in one hand. I had something I needed to show him.

  "Liam!" I shrieked when I burst through the front door. "Look, you have to see!"

  The smell of home-cooked, grass-fed burgers wafted in from the kitchen and made my mouth water but dinner could wait.

  "See what, babe?" He approached me looking as handsome as ever with a dish towel thrown over his shoulder and a glass of wine held out to me.

  "Ash and Dahlia just had their baby!"

  I accepted the wine from him and thrust my phone into his face, where the photo of my tiny little niece, Rosie Ava Forsyth, filled up the screen.

  His eyes lit up and he smiled a genuine, affectionate smile at the sight of the tiny newborn.

  "Damn, she is really cute." He glanced at me and winked. "Those good Forsyth genes."

  "Yeah, right," I scoffed as I took a sip of wine. "She looks exactly like her mom. I wonder if she'll have our dark hair or Dahlia's gorgeous platinum blonde hair."

  "Well, I hope our kids take after their drop-dead gorgeous mom."

  Liam returned my phone to me and encircled his arms around my waist, pulling me in for a deep kiss. He never failed to greet me with wine and kisses when I came home from work and it always made my heart flutter. But right then it fluttered something extra.

  "Our kids?" I asked, breaking the kiss abruptly.

  "Well yeah," he replied as if it were obvious. "When the time is right, of course. I want you all to myself first."

  "You really want kids with me?" I asked, tears of happiness springing to my eyes. "A family?"

  His hand caressed my cheek and neck as he placed another soft kiss on my trembling lips.

  "More than anything, my love."

  He pulled away and lowered his hand to mine, where he pulled me into the kitchen.

  "But first, wine and dinner."

  ***

  Dinner was absolutely delicious. My cooking, although decent enough, didn't hold a candle to Liam's. I was secretly thrilled when he was well enough to cook so I could be spoiled by his food again.