Page 103 of Vicious

Slayer in the driver’s seat lets out an amused snort. “Don’t worry about them. You’ll want that, ah, what’s it called, Mr. Attorney?”

“Plausible deniability,” Chase answers flatly. “The less we know, the better, May.”

“But I want to know,” I insist. “I deserve to know.”

“Bloodthirsty, isn’t she?” Slayer asks, and there’s a note of approval in his voice. “I like it.”

“Don’t like it too much,” I mutter. “I’m taken.”

I don’t know why I said that.

“So am I,” Slayer says, flashing a grin at me before turning his attention back to the road.

Nobody answers my question though. We all just sit in grim silence as the SUV takes us through the forest.

I’m glad to see the trees thin out and the dirt road become more substantial.

Chase’s arm around me never wavers, and I finally let myself relax and close my eyes.

It’s going to be okay.

CHAPTER 29

Chase

I rub the skin just under the stitches Hunter had given May. I can’t see them right now, since they’re covered with bandages, but I know they’re there.

May makes a noise and slaps at my hand. “Stop it. You’ll tear them, and then that dickwad doctor will get mad at me again.”

I snort and flop onto my back again. “He’s never going to let us live it down. I bet the next time I see him, he’ll ask me if we had sex in the mud again.”

It’s strange having May in my bedroom. I haven’t had her up here at all in the months since I’d ‘bought’ her.

I know why I never did. I turn to look at her, wearing one of my shirts, draped in my sheets, and I know that I don’t ever want to wake up without her by my side ever again.

“None of his fucking business,” May mutters. “But after the lecture he gave me about infection, I’ll keep out of the mud for now. Besides, it wasn’t exactly comfortable.” She goes to prop herself up on her elbow, only to wince a little and lie back down. “Was it really just yesterday?”

She sounds fragile and uncertain, and I can only imagine the kind of trauma she’s going to have to heal from. I can still hear the gunshots and Simon shouting for us to run.

“Just yesterday,” I confirm. I drop my arm over her torso, well above the cuts. “I was so scared I’d never see you again, May.”

She’s silent for a moment, then she lets out a slow, shaky breath. “When I was positive I was going to die, I wanted to see you.” She laughs, but it’s a strained sound. “I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”

I shouldn’t be so happy to be in her thoughts under these circumstances but knowing that May wanted to see me has my heart swell. I kiss the side of her head. “I should have locked you up properly. Then you would have been safe.”

“I would’ve hated you if you had,” she tells me. “If you’d tied me down and locked me away completely, I wouldn’t have started to—” She cuts herself off, shaking her head as she gives a nervous little laugh.

I take a deep breath and steel myself. I know what I need to say, although part of me balks at it too.

“I’m sorry,” I finally get out. “For… For making you feel like you had to run from me. For ignoring your complaints. For not taking care of you the way you deserve to be taken care of.”

May looks up at me in surprise. “I’m sorry, what? I could’ve sworn you just apologized to me, but that’s not the Chase Vicious I know.”

I groan and run a hand through my hair. “It’s killing me. It goes against everything I stand for. But,” I pause as I try to gather my words, “I want you by my side, May. And you deserve to have somebody who respects your desires.”

For a long moment, she only watches me. Her lips part a few times, like she’s going to speak, but she doesn’t. I’m starting to get nervous — which is not a familiar feeling for me — when she finally says, “Yes. I do. And I should drop your ass like a rock for ignoring all the times I said no and meant it.”

Before I can reply, she shakes her head.

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