Page 80 of The Devil's Conflict

She chuckles. “No, you’re not, because that is exactly what you needed. I get it. I’m not afraid of you yelling at me, Grayson.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess not.” We lapse into silence for a moment. Something eases inside me having her in my arms, knowing she’s okay.

“Did you mean it?” she suddenly asks, softly, a small hint of hesitancy in her tone.

I ease my head back to look down at her. “Mean what?”

Her blue eyes are crystal clear as they stare into mine. “That I hold your heart in my hands?” she asks.

“Baby girl, you hold every part of me,” I reply. “I used to get so pissed every time I saw you when you were under my command because I wanted you so damn badly and I couldn’t have you. I loved your sass, your spirit. And in the middle of nowhere searching for my next target, you would creep into my mind. I would wonder what you were up to, and if you had finally decided to settle down with some regular guy and have a few babies. I hated those thoughts. Because even then I knew I wanted to be that person, I had no business wanting it at the same time. And what happens? You come charging back into my life and flip everything I thought I knew, thought I wanted, upside down and you were the same person that you were then, just a bit older, and with a grit that only gets there through hard work. And then, after all of that, I’ve almost lost you twice and both times it’s only become more clear that the whole time I’ve been living my life, I’ve been waiting for you to come back into it, Athena.”

Her mouth hangs open a little bit as she stares at me in shock. “Grayson,” she whispers after a moment.

I fight back the discomfort at this conversation. I’m not a guy of words, but she makes me want to be. Makes me want to at least try. “Thea, I can’t give you a world of fancy words, but Ican tell you I want you with me forever. That I will never love a woman the way I love you, and I will never want anyone the way I want you. I will work hard every day to show you that.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t need any of that, Grayson. I need you. I need this, and I need the honesty that comes with it. I don’t want fancy words. That’s for romance books and movies. I want a man who shows me every day that I matter. I thought about you a lot over the years, and I wondered where you were, what you were doing, but I couldn’t allow myself to dwell on it because it would distract me. And honestly, when I heard you were medically discharged, I thought that was it, I wouldn’t ever see you again. But here you are, and I have to think this is right.” She moves to press her mouth to mine, before she pulls away and breathes, “I love you, Grayson Hudson.”

“I love you too, Athena Sutton,” I murmur. “And I want you to be my Old Lady, and you’ll never wonder if you matter to me because I’ll happily show you all the damn time.”

“What does being your Old Lady mean?”

“You’d essentially be my wife without the legal paper. We can do it all up legal if you want though. You’ll wear a cut with my patch on it so everyone will know too.”

She gives a soft smile. “I think I’m good with that. But we’ll hold off on a wedding for now. I’d rather all of this mafia stuff get settled first.”

I press my mouth back to hers, my entire body relaxing as I kiss her. I want to do so much more; I want to show her, but we can’t. Not tonight anyway, and probably not for a little bit longer until she’s healed. But that’s okay. I just need her close to me, even with everything going on.

When I finally pull my mouth from hers, we’re both breathing heavy and her fingers are digging into my back desperately. “No more, baby girl,” I warn her. “You need to sleep, and I need to go back to Church.”

She pouts slightly at that, but she nods, and I can’t help but chuckle. “Fine, but I’d like to point out that I can still give you a hand job with my one good hand. And I heard that orgasms are great for pain and healing,” she says with a pointed look.

I groan and shake my head. “You’re going to be the death of me,” I huff as I gently move her back to the bed. “Now, let’s get you ready for bed, and then your brother can come in here and sit with you.” She opens her mouth to argue but I stop her with a shake of my head. “I know you can take care of yourself, but you’re under the influence of antibiotics and light pain meds. We want to make sure you don’t develop a raging infection, so Theo will keep you company.”

“Fine,” she huffs.

With a bit of moaning and a few yelps of pain that cut me deep, we manage to get her out of the sling and into one of my shirts before I help her into bed. She’s got a light sheen of sweat on her forehead from the exertion, and I grab a cool cloth to wipe it away. “Better?” I ask.

She nods and then gives me a tired smile. “I thought I was supposed to be playing nursemaid to you,” she murmurs. “Or is this just to give me a taste of what it’s going to be like with you in a few years?”

“You and that sassy mouth.” I chuckle, the sound a little exasperated. “Go to sleep, brat, before I have Medic come back up and knock you out.”

She gives a soft chuckle, turning her head into the pillow. “Okay, okay,” she says sleepily. “Love you.” Then she’s out.

I lean down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you too, baby girl,” I murmur. I watch her for another moment before I force myself to pull away.

I head to the door, and when I open it, I find Theo standing there, knuckles raised to knock. He lowers them and I step backto let him in. His expression eases when he sees Thea fast asleep. “She’s out,” I whisper.

Theo nods. “I’ll stay until you’re done,” he whispers back.

I clap him on the shoulder and say, “You did a damn good job today, Prospect. Thank you.”

Theo shrugs, but I feel him straighten a bit under my hand. “I did what I had to do.”

I glance at Thea and then at him. “How pissed are you at me that she got shot?” I ask him bluntly, still keeping my voice low.

His brows shoot up in surprise at my question. “I’m not,” he answers immediately. “I tried to get her to go back in, Sniper. But Thea, I know she’s not going to listen, and she’s going to do what she feels is right. I know you’ll do everything in your power to protect her, just like I will, but Thea isn’t one to stay behind and let us do it for her. She’s going to be in the fight too. I’m just glad it’s not just me anymore,” he adds with a slight smile. “I hope you know what you’re getting into.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, I got that. She agreed to be my Old Lady, Theo, just so you know.”

---