Page 110 of Ruthless Beasts

"I don't want to bother you."

"I'll get you a card," I promised, unsure why I hadn't thought about that until now. Probably because we'd do anything she asked us. She didn't need to lift a finger. "You can order whatever you need online. For you or the baby."

"Is that too much? I don't want to be a burden." She was toying with that bottom lip again.

"Baby." I crouched so my eyes were locked on hers. "My girls are never a burden. And we've got more money than we could ever spend ourselves in this lifetime." When she was still unsure, I added, "I'm sure Hannah will help you."

"She does like to shop," she agreed.

"Buy her whatever she wants, too," I offered.

Was that weird? I just wanted her to be happy, and if her happiness depended on her best friend, I'd do whatever I could to please them both.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you need to." Her hand patted my cheek affectionately. "I appreciate all you've done for my friend. She needed out of her job, and she didn't realize how awful it was until she finally left it. You gave her a safe place. You're practically a hero."

My cheeks heated, which was new. But I'd never been called a hero before. A man like me couldn't be a hero when my hands were coated in so much blood that water washed from my body always ran red. I swallowed past the knot in my throat, my voice hoarse. "I need to get you dressed."

Wordlessly, I placed her by the end of the bed, then I went to my dresser and pulled out my shirt. Walking back to her, Ifinished toweling her off before I slipped it over her head. "Look at that. This shirt fits you just fine."

She looked down. The shirt that fit me like a glove still hung over her tiny frame, ending at an inch above her knee. Her eyes met mine again. "Thank you."

I leaned in, burying my fingers in her hair before gently brushing my lips against hers. "You never have to thank me for a damn thing."

"I do," she whispered.

I sighed, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Time for bed, baby." I scooped her up and used my free hand to pull back the bedding before laying her on the mattress. One last kiss before I pulled back. "Get some rest."

Walking away from her in our bed was the hardest thing I'd done all night. That was saying a lot, since I led to so much destruction. But by her side was the only place I wanted to be. Except my best friend had a total adrenaline crash while bathing with our girl, and I couldn't leave him out cold in the bath all night.

I grabbed him a pair of boxers and a towel before I approached. Ace was leaning against the sink with freshly washed hands, watching him while I was dealing with Belle, so I turned to him. "Was he fine after? How was the blood loss?"

"He seemed to do well after the initial hit. Refused to let me check up on it."

"But?" I prompted.

"There was a lot of blood. Sprayed against the wall and smeared when he hit. No choice but to torch the place with all that blood he left behind."

I stepped closer to Mercer. "The water is clear. He must have rinsed it off prior or drained the tub."

"We'll bandage up his arm before putting him to bed," Ace confirmed. The angle of Mercer's body made it hard to see the damage.

"Help me wake him." Mercer was shit to wake on the best of days, but on a day where he tossed back some pain meds, which never really sat the best with him anyway, well... I just hoped we could wake the big lug.

I leaned down, keeping my face at a distance in case he woke up swinging, and pressed into his shoulder. "Merc." When he didn't stir, I pushed into his shoulder harder. "Mercer."

Ace leaned over, pulling the plug of the bathtub up so the water drained before patting his legs. "Mercer. Get the fuck up or I'm taking the spot next to Bellamy in bed."

The mention of her name had his eyes fluttering a little. Oh yeah, our girl got us all going. "Maybe we should leave him here and fuck her instead."

I knew I was goading him, but damn, we all had a jealous, greedy streak. It didn't matter that he probably already fucked her the minute he got home. He wanted her again because she was something we wanted to have. Men were jealous creatures at their core.

He squinted his eyes tightly. "Fuck off and leave our girl out of this."

"There he is." Ace smirked. "Knew we'd get through to him."

I knelt at the side of the tub. "You fell asleep taking a bath with our girl."

"I fucking didn't," he argued, but his words were slightly slurred, spoken with no passion behind them.

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