Page 76 of King of Sinners

“I’m going with Jake?” Leo grunts. “Are you taking me out to the desert, Uncle Jake? Is that how this ends?”

Jake doesn’t answer, he’s looking at Charlotte too. “You know something? I like her. I don’t say that about many women.” And then he steps close to me. “Make it right.”

I shake my head. Jake is the last person I expected to hear words like that from. “Jake?”

“Roman might have had a point. We could use a bit of softness around here, and I can’t deny that she’s got the right temperament for our work.” And then he pulls out a cigar, lighting it in my apartment. “But I think you’re going to need to grovel.”

Grovel? Is that even going to be enough?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Mason

The doctor arrives and it’s a good thing he’s discreet. We’ve brought Jackson up from the garage, with a nasty cut on his head, Leo is still bleeding from the nose, and Charlotte has gone from pale to ashen.

I’ve seen brawls with less injuries.

And all of this before we have a meeting with all four families. A meeting where I need every bit of confidence and power, and inside I’m dying as I watch Charlotte suffer.

That feeling that I might rip my brother to shreds fills my chest again. She’s slumped on the couch, her features in a perpetual wince.

I walk over to her as the doctor looks at her shoulder. Not one to cause a scene, she lets me take her hand in mine. “You all right, baby?”

“I’m…” Her features pull even tighter. “It really hurts.”

I bring her hand to my lips, kissing it as the doctor finishes the examination. “It’s dislocated. I’m going to have put it back into place.”

My teeth grind together as my lips thin. I hate the thought of her being in pain. It makes me crazy, and I don’t even realize I’m cursing until everyone turns to look at me. Even Charlotte.

“Mason.”

“I wish it was me,” I whisper, touching her cheek.

She gives me a small smile and hope fills my chest.

“You can hold her nice and still for me while I put it back into place. If we were in the hospital, I would give her an anesthetic.” The doctor frowns, looking at the other injured men. I know he’s wondering… “But it will be less painful for her to have me pop it in now then to wait.”

“Can I hold you, sweetheart?” I feel my family looking at me, I don’t care. I know they’ve never seen this side of me. Hell. I barely recognized this man. But Charlotte deserves all the tenderness I am capable of giving. And more, if I’m being honest.

Tentatively, she nods.

“I think the bedroom would be best,” the doctor clears his throat. “I’ll put it back in place while she’s lying flat on her back. How firm is your mattress?”

“Not very,” I answer, my brow crinkling.

“Maybe the island then.”

“Is it going to hurt?” Charlotte asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes,” the doctor answers and my fist balls into my thigh. “But then, you’re going to feel better. I know how painful a dislocated shoulder is.”

I help Charlotte stand, trying not to hurt her more than she already hurts. We make our way to the counter while Jake gets a pillow. I have to lift her in my arms to get her on the counter and she whimpers softly as I lay her down.

Jake slides the pillow under her head, his eyes filled with a tension he doesn’t usually display.

I place my chest on her chest, holding her head between my hands. “It’s all right, sweetheart. It’s going to be better soon. I promise.”

She looks at me, pain and worry brimming in her eyes as the doctor extends out her arm. “I’m going to give a quick pull to put the joint back in the socket.”

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