Nicest room in the clubhouse, it’s the only one with a decor above the frat house look of the rest of the place, plus it has its own en suite bathroom.
“It’s nice.”
I can feel her body start shivering under my hand. Wonder if shock is setting in.
“Sit down on the bed for a minute. Gonna draw you a bath, baby.”
She doesn’t even bother responding.
I rush into the bathroom and turn on the faucet. I grab bath oil I’m sure belongs to Luna and add some to the bathwater, before returning to where she’s still sitting on the edge of the mattress.
“Come on, Beautiful, let’s get you cleaned up.”
“There’s things I need to tell Tony.”
“That’ll wait.”
“But—”
“Babe, it’s five o’clock in the morning. Whatever you have to tell them can wait until you’ve had some sleep.”
She doesn’t say anymore and placidly lets me strip her out of her dirty clothes. I grind my teeth when I see more bumps and bruises, which were hidden under her clothes. Last thing she needs right now is my temper. I help her into the tub and grab some towels for her to rest her arms on so they don’t get wet.
It’s not until I sit on the floor beside the tub and gently wipe the remaining blood off her skin with a wet washcloth, tears start rolling from her closed eyes. At the first sob, I get to my feet, strip out of my clothes in record time, and sit down in the tub behind her, pulling her into my body.
I let her cry until she only occasionally shivers in my arms.
“Up, baby. We’re gettin’ out.”
I dry her off and shuffle her to the bed, tucking her in. Then I dry myself and slip between the covers beside her, roll on my side and rest my hand on her belly.
“Sleep, Beautiful.”
“James?”
“Mmm.”
“How did you guys know where I was?”
I prop myself up on an elbow.
“You had a tracker on you.”
She looks at me quizzically and then understanding floods her face.
“The heel of my boot. I forgot.”
I lean over her to press a kiss on her lips.
“Good thing you did. That and Jasper Greene’s presence of mind saved you.”
“And your father,” she says on a little smile.
“And Pop,” I agree. “Can you sleep now?”
“Mmm.”
I lie back down with my head on the pillow beside her, her hair tickling my nose, but I’ll be damned if I’m moving.
“James?”
“Haven’t moved, Lissie.”
“Thank you for finding me.”
“Would’ve moved heaven and earth. Love you that much.”
She turns her face my way so we’re practically nose-to-nose.
“I know. Thank you for that too.”
“You make it easy, baby.”
Two minutes later she’s asleep.
I’m still wide-awake when the sun comes up.
Lissie
“I hear you did good, Bucco.”
I look across the table at Joe Benedetti.
He showed up with Blackfoot, and Luna arrived shortly after. She suggested Ouray’s office, smiling when Yuma refused to leave my side. He’s been beside me the past hour while I was giving my statement.
“Not sure about that, sir…I mean, Joe. The lights not working should’ve alerted me.”
“Think you’re being a little too hard on yourself, Lissie.”
I shrug and Yuma squeezes my leg under the table. Eager to change the subject, I ask, “Where are we at now? What’s next?”
“Nowak showed up at the FBI office with his lawyer in tow. Ramirez and Gomez are talking to him now,” Luna decides to share. “Luis Bonifacio, aka Bones, is out of surgery and we’ve got a guy on him. As soon as he can answer questions, we’re heading over there.”
“Bones is gonna go down for sure, Lissie,” Blackfoot takes over. “I bet they’ll be able to match up his prints with those from the truck abandoned a few miles away from the Telluride shooting. We’ve got ballistics running checks to match the shells from that scene with the ones from the gun retrieved from Bones last night.”
“He killed Dani.”
“I know. I’m sorry for your loss,” Keith says warmly. “He’ll pay for her, for Tammy, and for Officer Porter.”
Joe gets up from his seat, announcing, “I think we’ve got all we need. You should get some rest. We’ll keep you up-to-date.”
I watch as the three of them walk out of the office before turning to Yuma.
“What now?”
The question is much more involved than the two words imply. I feel lost, tired to the bone, and more than just a little vulnerable. What am I supposed to be doing for the next couple of months? Where am I supposed to go? I woke up this morning in a strange bed, stripped bare to the skin, and other than my soiled clothing from the night before, not even clean underwear or a toothbrush to my name.
Yuma was able to find me a shirt and some old track pants to wear, but had to help me get dressed. He even ended up brushing my teeth, because I wasn’t able to. Being so completely dependent on another person is far outside my comfort zone. It makes me realize how segregated I’ve kept myself most of my adult life.
My job has always been my purpose. I’m not sure how to look at myself without it to identify with. It’s like the ground under my feet is shifting and I don’t know where to step next.
“Now, I’m tucking you back in bed,” Yuma says, looking at me intently. “Then I’m going to make you something to eat and feed you. After that you sleep.” He takes my face in his hands and brushes his thumbs under my eyes. “Don’t like these dark circles, baby, so your job is to rest. My job is to look after you.”
“James…”
I’m undone by his gentleness. I thought hearing him say he loves me was momentous, but having him show me is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.
A soft knock on the door precedes Lisa’s head poking into the office.
“Sweet Lord,” she mumbles when her eyes scan my face.
I haven’t looked in the mirror yet—on purpose—but I imagine I’m not looking my best after last night. Judging by the tenderness and the skin pulling tight, there’s some swelling going on.
“Lissie!”
Before Lisa can stop her, Kiara squeezes through the door opening her nana is trying to block. The poor girl stops halfway into the office and looks at me with big eyes that quickly fill with tears.
“It’s okay, honey,” I quickly assure her, as her bottom lip starts quivering. I hate scaring her. “I had a bad fall, but it looks worse than it is. Come here, sweetheart.”
She stays rooted to the spot when Lisa steps up behind her, my duffel bag in her hands. Yuma walks over and picks the little girl up before coming to sit beside me, with Kiara on his lap.
“She’s going to be fine, honey,” he coos, melting me even more than he already has. He’ll make a great father to a lucky kid one day.
My next thought is I might like to be the woman giving him one. It’s a bit of a shock to the system, since I’ve never seriously considered kids. Not that I wouldn’t want them—I love kids—the concept was just always slightly abstract, something you might add to a bucket list.
I plaster a smile on my face, looking at the little girl who almost looks scared of me, as she seems to burrow into Yuma’s chest.
“It only hurts a little bit,” I tell her, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“I hope you don’t mind, I went through your dresser,” Lisa announces holding up the bag. “Wapi showed up with the keys to your place this morning and said Yuma asked to pack some things you would need. Packed what I thought you might want, and focused on comfortable clothes, I hope that’s okay?”
“Perfect,” I manage, touched. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Let me just put this stuff away for you.”
S
he disappears into the bedroom where I hear drawers slide open and closed.
“What happened to your hand?” Kiara’s voice is hesitant as her eyes are now glued to the splint on my hand.
“I hurt it when it got stuck. The doctor says I have to wear this silly thing for a while, until it gets better.”
“Oh.”
“Wanna help me tuck Lissie in?” Yuma asks the girl when Lisa comes out of the bedroom. “She needs a nap.”
“Okay.”
“And after maybe you can help me make her something to eat?”
“Peanut butter and jelly? Nana says I’m really good at that.”
“That sounds delicious,” I tell her with a smile.
A few minutes later I’m in bed, the covers tucked up under my chin, which is what you’re supposed to do according to the five-year-old.
“Come on, child,” Lisa says from the doorway. “Let’s get started on those sandwiches.”
I watch as she skips out behind her grandmother, much happier than she was minutes ago. Kids are so resilient, and I have a feeling Lisa’s kids even more than most.
Yuma sits on the edge of the mattress, bracing his arms on either side of me.
“What happens is we focus on the here and now, but keep moving forward. You and me, Beautiful.”
He kisses the tip of my nose before my eyes follow him out of the room.
Suddenly that ground I’m standing on seems solid enough.
CHAPTER 32
Yuma
“PLEASE, JAMES…”
I lift my head and look into those eyes I could lose myself in. I lightly kiss the sensitive skin on the inside of her thigh. She hisses at the touch.
She’s primed, wet and flushed, and I’d like nothing more than to slide inside the heat of her welcoming body, but then I notice the bruising on her skin.
“Baby, you’re hurt,” I mumble, much like I’ve been doing since she was shot the first time.
The hunger I feel, I don’t trust myself to be gentle, so I’ve made sure she got off on my mouth or my fingers—or both—and have resorted myself to living with blue balls. I’d done it for months before she came into my life.
It’s only been a couple of days since she was hurt again, because of some piece of shit who was trying to get back at me.
I watch her head come up off the bed, a scowl on her face.
“You’re hurting me,” she snaps. “By withholding what I really need—you. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with my legs or my vagina.”
I press my lips together not to snicker, but somehow I get the sense that might not go over well when she’s lying spread out on the bed, in all her beautiful glory.
“Are you laughing?”
“Wouldn’t think of it,” I lie, straightening my face as I crawl up her body, dropping kisses on her skin.
“You’re laughing.”
“Baby, right now I’m worshiping your incredibly sexy body.”
“Don’t tease me if you don’t mean it,” she says, her breath hitching when I find her nipple and pull it between my lips. “James, please…”
“This what you want?”
I hook a hand behind her knee and pull it up, making room for myself in the cradle of her thighs. Lowering my hips, I rub my hard cock against her wet core. She presses her head back in the pillow and whimpers, tilting her hips in invitation.
“Look at me, baby.”
Her heavy-lidded eyes blink open and focus on mine.
“Yesssss,” she hisses when I guide myself inside her body. Holding her eyes, I make love to her gently, but she quickly loses patience. “Honey, I’m not made of glass.”
“You sure?” I ask, grinding myself deep.
“Fuck me, James.”
Christ. I could feel that in my dick. She still manages to surprise me and it has its desired effect; I lose all control. It’s fast, it’s furious, and when she comes, I fly right over the edge with her.
“I should get up,” I mumble sated, as my dick slips soft from her body a little later. I still have my face buried in Lissie’s hair and my heart is only now slowly returning to a normal rhythm.
“Not yet.”
The alarm clock on the nightstand shows nine forty-five.
“Babe, I promised my father I’d help him finish up the tile in the bathroom today.”
“Is it almost done?”
She doesn’t object when I roll off her this time. Lissie’s been eager for Nosh to surprise Lisa and the kids with the house, but he won’t unless it’s move-in ready. The bathroom tile is the last thing on the list.
He already moved into a room down the hallway here in the clubhouse, an arrangement Lisa thinks is temporary because of the renovations at the house. The intent is for him to live here, in the clubhouse, the way it was before he met Momma.
“Should be done today,” I promise.
I look down at her, long brown hair fanned out on the pillow, her face still flushed from her orgasm, and her dark eyes shining. Even with her body still bruised and battered, so fucking beautiful it takes my breath away. My chest feels too small to contain all I feel.
“What?” she asks, and I realize I’ve been staring.
“Never considered myself a lucky man, probably ‘cause most of the time I was busy feelin’ sorry for myself. Be damned if I don’t feel like the luckiest fucker on the face of the earth now.”
“Come here,” she whispers, her liquid eyes drawing me in and I bend down. “I love you, James Wells.”
It takes another forty minutes before I finally walk into the kitchen, hunting for coffee.
“Fucking finally,” Ouray says, sitting at the kitchen table. “Wasn’t sure your ass was ever gonna surface, couldn’t fucking hear myself think in there. Got shit to do, brother.”
I grin as I pour myself a coffee. We may have been a little noisy, but I’m not about to apologize for it. It does make it clear we’ll have to come up with a better solution than holing up here in the clubhouse indefinitely.
“Lissie should be out shortly. You’ll have your office all to yourself.”
He grunts before saying, “Tse went over to the house with Nosh, and I sent Wapi to check in at Riverside.”
I resist the knee-jerk reaction to interpret what he says as criticism, and take a sip of coffee before I respond.
“I’ll head over there as soon as Lissie gets up. The house should be done after today—unless the old man decides he wants all new windows or some shit—and I’ll get back to the regular routine.”
“You plan to move back there? The Riverside?”
I shake my head. I’ve been thinking about the next step, I just haven’t had a chance to do anything about it yet. “Things have changed.”
“That’s obvious.”
“Yeah, well, I know what I’d like, but it’s not just up to me anymore.”
Ouray chuckles at that. “Good you picked up on that, brother.”
“Morning.”
“Lissie,” he rumbles, as she walks right up to me and lifts her face for a kiss. As I bend down to comply, Ouray puts his cup in the sink and heads for the door. “Later.”
“Want breakfast?” I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’m good. Go help your dad before he disowns you.”
“I’ll get her breakfast,” Lisa, who just walks in, offers.
“Lissie!” Kiara’s little voice is not far behind.
One of the many reasons why it’s time to find a more permanent solution is the fact we’re never alone, unless we hide out in the bedroom. Don’t get me wrong, I love my club family—I just don’t love them so much I want to spend every minute of every day around them. There’s only one person who fits that bill and she’s currently grinning at me. I don’t doubt she knows exactly what I’m thinking. She already reads me like a book.
I leave her in Lisa’s good care and head up to my father’s house.
“About time.”
“Lazy day?”
&
nbsp; I expected the jabs, and am not about to let them get to me and ruin what was a great fucking start to my day. So instead I flip them the bird with a big smile on my face.
“You’ve got an adoring, beautiful woman in your bed, worshiping your cock, time disappears, brother. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.”
Tse grunts and scowls before he turns back to troweling compound on floor, but when I look over at my father, he’s grinning at me.
Lissie
Hanging out with Lisa and Kiara in the kitchen for most of the day was better than lying in bed watching the TV Yuma had hauled in there a couple of days ago, but I was still glad when Ramirez and Luna show up fifteen minutes after the boys got home from school.
“Ouray around?” Luna asks.
“He’s in his office.”
“Trunk?”
“In his,” I answer.
“Yuma?”
“At his dad’s place.”
“Can you get hold of him? Tell him to meet us in Ouray’s office.”
I look from Luna to Tony and back. “What’s going on?”
“Call him, Lissie,” Tony suggests. His eyes are kind, but I still have an unsettled feeling.
A few minutes later, we’re sitting around the large table in Ouray’s office when Yuma walks in.
“What’s this all about?” he asks, before taking the vacant seat beside me.
“The boys; Michael and Thomas,” Luna starts, her eyes on me. “DNA results came back this morning. It opened up yet another layer to our investigation. Looks like Thomas and Michael are related after all.”
“No shit?” Trunk sits forward in his chair.
“Half-siblings. Same dad, different mom.”
“Michael matches the third, unidentified body we found in the grave, but he and Thomas also have DNA in common. Their father’s.” She turns back to me. “Looks like Thomas is Jesse, Lissy; Dani’s son.”
That boy, that confused, innocent-looking boy is her child. Suddenly my throat is closing and I have to swallow hard.
“It’s clear Chains and Bones were both affiliated with the American National League, but we’re just finding out the extent of that involvement,” Tony adds.
Edge of Darkness Page 24