Page 41 of Ruthless Son

“You… you mean you did this,” I pointed to my neck, “on purpose?”

Rex’s laugh was loud and had all of the men turning toward us. His head lowered to mine, I could see the happiness shining in his blue eyes. “Of course I did it on purpose, princess. I made it clear to everyone that you’re mine.”

“You could have just got a banner and held it up in bright red, it would have been less of a statement.”

His laughter was his only reply, his smile the biggest I’d ever seen it, and I didn’t know if it was because his best friend was awake or because of the most amazing sex I’d ever had? Hopefully a bit of both.

“Come on, Sly’s awake.” He pulled me forward, halting any question I had about his deliberate marking.

The men moved out of our way, creating a path to the patient. “Wendy, make princess some coffee, cream two sugars,” he ordered one of the women, her look of indignation didn’t stop her from getting off her stool and heading to the kitchen. I’d be careful about drinking whatever she gave me just in case it came with a healthy dose of saliva.

Sly was sitting propped up on tons of pillows, his arm supported against his chest in the same position I’d tied it in last night. The IV pole was tucked off in the corner, the armchair moved back to its place. Threads wasn’t in the crowd and I made a note to check on him afterward. His blood donation was helpful, but I worried about the quiet man with the arm full of scars.

“I guess I have you to thank for me being here, princess,” Sly muttered, a tired grin split his face. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles rimmed his eyes, but he was alive.

“Well, I only stitched you up.” I sat beside him and untied the makeshift harness, peeling back the bandages and checking on my sutures. “They’re looking pretty good, just don’t go getting yourself shot again anytime soon and you should hopefully be up and about in no time.”

His face hardened, the silence swarming with tension. “You don’t have to worry about that, darlin’,” he gritted out, before looking over my shoulder. “It won’t be happening again.”

A gleam of something sinister glimmered in his eyes, it wasn’t a feature I’d come to associate with Sly. He was the laid-back one, the jokester, but right now, he had a look that reminded me of Kannon’s—darkness and secrets were hidden amongst the lighthearted visage, but which one was the real Sly?

After patching him back up, and giving him a dose of antibiotics, I left him to his rest. The men converged on him immediately. “Be careful with him,” I called out. “No moving him about, I don’t need those stitches popping open.”

“Don’t worry, Doc, we’ll take real good care of him,” Gauge replied, rubbing his hands together with glee.

I threw my hands in the air, exasperated with the men who were even now helping Sly to his feet. “Don’t worry, princess, they’ll be careful. They’re taking him to his room to get more comfortable,” Rex said as he saw my worry.

“Oh, that’s good then…” Sly shuffled down the hall, a brother on either side of him, making sure he didn’t fall. A trail of barely dressed women followed after them, and I knew exactly what Gauge meant when he said they’ll take good care of him.

Deciding that it wasn’t my business, I looked around for my sister, but didn’t spot her in the common room. “Where’s Millie?”

“Kannon took her to town to get some supplies, she told him she was bored.” Rex rolled his eyes. “He jumped at the chance to take her out for some fresh air.”

“Is she ok out there? I mean…”

“She’s safe. Kannon wouldn’t let anything happen to her, besides it’s the middle of the day and they’re out in public,” Rex reassured me.

Millie was a grown up, and she had to make her own choices, albeit questionable choices recently. But I could only support her through whatever the outcomes were of those decisions, whether I liked them or not.

Although Kannon wouldn’t be a choice that I made for her, if being around the club had taught me anything since I’d been here, it was that they were loyal to a fault. Their brotherhood was something I envied growing up, not having that type of relationship with my own sister. Our bond felt more like a parent-child relationship, especially with our decade long age gap.

“And where the fuck were you?” Rex growled as the door opened. Sonic walked in with a grim face, his clothes were creased as if he’d just picked them up from the floor. “Our brother gets shot and you’re nowhere to be found!”

Rex’s anger was palpable. Instinctively, I placed my hand on his arm, trying to soothe the rage that was aimed at the other man.

“Watch who you’re talking to, I’m still your VP,” Sonic replied, his hand rubbing over his mohawk in frustration. “I just found out, I didn’t check my phone, and I rushed back as soon as I could.”

“That doesn’t answer where you were… Brother.”

“I know where he was.” Callahan stepped out of his office, the big man stern and commanding, and stalked toward his VP. “Did you get what you needed?” he asked, loud enough so that every man still left in the room could hear.

He made it clear to everyone that there was a reason he wasn’t here for Sly when he was shot, and no one could dispute that. Rex stood down, chagrin on his face as he stepped toward Sonic, his hand outstretched. The men did that weird hand shake back slap combo that often made me flinch at how hard the men whacked each other. But they shook it off, and were smiling in no time, as if nothing had happened and one hadn’t just been accused of negligence by the other.

Men!

Women held grudges, they were fucking mean, and they never let you forget it, even if they had a smile on their face. But men shook it out and forgot about it the next day—or in Rex and Sonic’s case, the next minute.

“Hey, VP, you’ve met Mia, right?” Rex wrapped his arm over my shoulders, tucking me into his side, it was a statement if I’ve ever seen one. Sonic clearly understood the message too, the corner of his lip tipped up in a one-sided smile when he watched Rex stake his claim in front of everyone.

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