Page 74 of Ravaged Hearts

Eyes glassy, Hope pressed her forehead to mine and cupped my jaw. “I thought I’d lost you.”

I grunted. “The reaper will have to drag my cold stubborn ass from this earth before I let him take me from you.”

“He tried. Your heart stopped beating three times before he finally gave up. Probably figured you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” She traced her fingertips down my cheek and over the stubble on my chin. “You’re okay with me touching you this much?”

“Of course?” I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“After what happened underground, I thought you might have…regressed.” Her eyes dropped to my chest, and she swallowed thickly as though she hated letting her mind go back to that hellhole.

“Nothing’s changed.” I took hold of her palm and placed it over the bandages covering my heart. “I still want your hands on me.” Then I tensed when I remembered where I was and that soon, a bunch of different doctors and nurses would be poking and prodding me. “But I can’t have anyone else touching me. You need to get me out of here.”

I tried to shove the sheet from my body, but Hope caught my wrist. “Calm down, big guy. I’ve taken care of that. Once you were out of ICU, I told the nurses about your haphephobia, and they were very understanding. When I mentioned I have some medical experience from helping Daphne treat people and dogs, they showed me how to take your vitals and change your dressings. They said as soon as you’re awake, they’ll let me do all that under their supervision.”

This woman. She’d given herself over to the cartel and tried to keep the team out of the fight so we’d be safe. And here she was, still protecting me.

“Thank you.” I brushed the backs of my knuckles across Hope’s cheek, and as I let my gaze roam her beautiful face,thinking how goddamn lucky both of us were to survive, a tightness clawed at the back of my throat.

Jesus, man. Pull your shit together.

Near-death experience or not, I wasn’t about to fall apart in front of my girl. Except I really had thought I was about to die in Ortega’s torture chamber, and the moments before I’d lost consciousness, believing I’d never have the chance to hold Hope like this ever again, had been excruciating.

“What happened to your father?” I asked.

“He was killed during the siege. He woke up during the gunfight and decided to join in. Old habits, I suppose.” She gave a small shrug of one shoulder and picked at the frayed edge of my bandage. “It was Brandon who took him down. I’ve wanted Carlos dead for so long, but I still don’t know how I feel about it now that he’s gone.” She exhaled deeply, then rolled her lips together. “In the compound, he saved me from something awful. It doesn’t make up for all his wrongs, but it made me think he must’ve cared about me in his own way. I guess I’m just trying to process that chapter of my life.”

I took Hope’s hand and twined my fingers through hers. “It’s finished, then? We did it?”

She nodded. “All the major news channels are reporting Carlos and Jorge’s deaths and the sudden, unexpected downfall of the PCC. There’s also a lot of talk about the mystery group who brought them to their knees. You guys are like superheroes around here.”

A nurse bustled into the room, not at all surprised to find me awake. Apparently, I’d been rude to her when she checked on me earlier, not that I remembered any of it. She asked me a bunch of questions and had Hope check my blood pressure and take a quick look at my dressings. After writing notes in a folder at the end of my bed, the nurse promised she’d return with food and then left.

“You took your sweet time waking up, Sleeping Beauty,” said a familiar voice.

Owen. I’d never been happier to see my kid brother in one piece. Wearing a broad smile and a two-inch bandage across his brow, he walked through the door ahead of the rest of the guys and was the first to reach out for a fist bump.

Kane approached next. “We were about to draw straws to see which one of us unlucky bastards had to lock lips with you to get you to open your eyes.”

I held out my knuckles for the sniper. “Sorry, Bro. You’re not my type.”

Shep came forward. “Thought I was about to inherit your cabin.”

I shook my head. “Still hanging around to be a pain in all of your asses.”

One side of the hit man’s mouth turned up, which was as much of a smile as I’d ever gotten out of him.

Brandon was the last to offer his fist. “Good to see you back in the land of the living, Brother.”

“Nowhere I’d rather be.”

“Sage sends her regards.” Brandon shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “She flew home to Montana with the rest of the team to take care of things at the ranch so I could stick around. These clowns refused to leave, too.” He jerked his chin toward the guys.

And there was that annoying lump in my throat again. Owen was my blood brother, but the other guys in this room were more than teammates. They were the family who’d chosen me despite me giving them a whole lot of reasons not to. I made a silent vow to do better by them. To call more often, to make plans outside of work, and most of all to let them know I appreciated them not turning their backs on me when I’d needed them most.

A light tap at the door drew our attention. A dark-hairedwoman wearing a loose, flowery dress stood with a tiny bundle cradled in her arms.

“Gabi!” Hope squealed and leapt from the bed to greet her.

The last time I’d seen Ortega’s wife, she’d sent a bunch of bullets into her piece-of-shit husband. I still recalled the rage in her eyes as she’d pulled the trigger again and again. What had that asshole put her through?

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