Page 123 of Exile and Embrace

Even if he had come, his brother would have found a way to take me at some point. Finn knows that as well as I do.

Finn shakes his head and sits down on the coffee table in front of me. “How could I be mad at you for that? You don’t know how many times I wanted to stab him over the years.”

Christian enters the room, Jovan and Alessio trailing behind him. “We managed to convince Billie and Hadley to stay put since Jovan and Alessio will be on their way home soon, but both of the girls want you to call later.”

I groan and squeeze my eyes shut, but my mouth twitches up into a smile.

I have no doubt that the pair of them are chomping at the bit to get to Tennessee just to check on me.

“You let them know that I’ll call after I’ve gotten some sleep.” I tilt my head back against the plush cushions, looking up at the ceiling.

My yawn tugs at the corners of my mouth, stretching wide.

Christian chuckles. “You definitely need some sleep. We’ll all try not to keep you up much longer.”

Alessio nods, tucking his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. “You get some rest and try to heal up as much as possible, Ava. If I hear that you’re not relaxing, I’ll send Billie after you.”

Laughing, I reach up to offer him a one-armed hug.

I bite back the hiss of pain that comes when he hugs me a little too hard.

Alessio leans down, his mouth hovering beside my ear. “I’m glad you’re okay. Get some rest and don’t go easy on Finn. He should have told us about the threat long before you were ever taken.”

I roll my eyes and give him another squeeze. “He did the best he could. I don’t blame him, and you’re not going to either.”

Zoe crosses her arms, nudging me with her foot. “And what are the two of you talking about over there?”

My cheeks warm as Alessio pulls away. “Nothing important. He was just telling me to get better.”

Christian rolls his eyes. “Clearly, that’s what she should be doing. You just said that to her before.”

Alessio winks at me before pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge. “I must be forgetting things in my old age.”

Jovan claps a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “I have to get back home. If there is ever anything you need out in Oregon, contact me. I have a couple connections up there.”

Alessio nods. “I’m going too. If I don’t get home to Billie, she is going to come out here and insist on staying until Ava is fully healed.”

The pair of them leave, the door slamming shut behind them.

Christian takes a seat in one of the chairs, his smile faint.

“Glad you’re okay, Ava, though I wish that you would’ve told me who it was that you were going to Oregon with.” Christian’s gaze narrows as he turns his attention to Finn. “I would’ve been watching for signs of his father coming around from the beginning.”

Camila breezes into the room, rushing over to pull me into a tight hug. “I swear, with the way he talks sometimes, it sounds like he forgot that he handed control of the cartel over to me.”

I grin and hug her back, wincing when something pulls the wrong way. “Everybody didn’t need to rush over here to deal with me. I’m not an invalid.”

Camila rolls her eyes and grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, holding it to my mouth. “Sip. You look like you’ve seen better days, but water is going to make you feel better.”

Finn rolls his eyes and takes my hand, his fingers lacing with mine. “Glad everybody is so happy I’m alright.”

I stick my tongue out at him. “You’re fine. You only took a couple hits. Honestly, I was expecting better from an assassin.”

His laugh is warm and deep, his eyes shining as our gaze connects. “Yeah, you would think that I would have been able to do better.”

“You’re clearly not meant to be a field doctor. You rushed me to the hospital for a couple scrapes and bruises.” I pull away as Camila tries to clean some of the blood from my hair with a rag Zoe brought her. “Everybody needs to stop fussing over me. I’m fine. Everything is fine. The doctor said as much at the hospital. I just need to get some rest.”

Finn stands, forcing everyone to move back a step. “Let’s go get you some rest then. Everyone else can fuss over you later.”

---