Page 69 of Gunner

He takes one step, stumbling against the wall, and then lifts me up into his arms.

“Put me down, you crazy idiot. You’re going to hurt yourself.’

“Not a chance.”

He’s not gentle when he kisses me. He was punched in the face and the split on his lip opens. I taste his blood, but more than that, I taste his desperation and fear. He didn’t know that I was safe. He could only guess what those men wanted. Ronan issmart and he would have gathered in short order who they were, but at first, when he’d found the cabin swarming with them and fought his way out to try to get to me, and after he was taken, it could only have been horrible for him.

I rake my hands over his shaved head, grasping his hair in both fists. “Put me down before you fall over and hit your head again.” He doesn’t obey. I do feel the tremble in his arms. He’s hurting himself to hold me close. I whisper near his ear, just for him. “Ronan.Please.”

He slowly lowers me so that my feet touch the floor, but he holds me so tight, huge hands splayed over my back, that I’m not going anywhere.

“You can’t meet with him alone.”

“I have to. I need him to listen to what I have to say and he’s not going to do that if it’s anyone but us there.”

I can’t say, in front of all these people, that what I want to do is give my father the dressing down of a lifetime. I’ve always dutifully listened to him. The one time I asked for freedom, he let me have it—to some extent, but he did care. Still. I’ve never come to him in a position of authority. He’s always been my papa and I’ve always been the daughter. Now, I feel like a grown woman, ready to take on the world and if that means taking on my father too, I will. I’ll fight and fight hard, dirty, and wild if that’s what it takes.

“I can’t let you go.” He doesn’t finish that sentence, but I hear the unspoken words.

If I never see you again, I’ll die. If something happens to you, it will kill me. I need to make sure you’re safe or I won’t be able to breathe.

“You’re involved now. You and the club.” I note the nods around the room. The men are stoic, but the women are in total agreement. “I’m not sure how to do this. You could follow me or something. But you have to keep your distance. It can only be me and Papa in there.” I beg him silently to understand.

“You don’t have to be strong for me. I know that you’re used to looking after yourself. You’re independent. You’re able to handle yourself in any situation. I might have saved you before, but you returned the favor today. I couldn’t believe it when you stormed in there, alone, like a queen.”

He cups the back of my head, bringing my face so close that his breath skates over my lips. The cut on the lower corner of his mouth is still bleeding. I want to lick it away. I want to be able to heal every single one of those bruises covering his body. I’d take all of his pain if I could.

“You’re my life, Dil.Mio Cuore. Mia Vita. You’re not alone anymore.”

“I never really was, though, was I? You were always there.”

He closes his eyes, and I give in, pressing my lips to his in a gentle kiss that won’t hurt him further. He groans into the kiss but shakes his head.

“Still no. No way I’m letting you go there alone.”

I know this is going to hurt him, but there’s just no way that I can agree to it. “You can do surveillance. I’ll let my father know I won’t be coming alone, but that when we talk, it will be just us.

Ronan’s hands tighten on my upper arms. He doesn’t have his contacts in. My heart races. Has anyone noticed? Doesit matter anymore? They all know his secrets, well most of them. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you. He’ll take you over my dead body.”

“That’s not funny. Not when- after…”

Finally, Raiden breaks his silence. He crosses the room with the other men right behind him. “She’s made her stance pretty clear, brother. We’ve got your back, and you’ll have hers. You think your woman can’t stand on her own two feet after she just fucking rescued you?”

“I’m worried that Luciano Cosmo is going to kidnap her and take her back to Italy.”

Another bolt of pain shreds me apart. “That’s not going to happen.”

Ronan’s thumb brushes over my cheek. “I know you miss it. You miss him. Family is everything. It’s your choice. If you want to go back, I won’t stand in your way. I’d fight with my very last breath to give you the freedom to choose. I’m not going to pretend that a lifetime with your own flesh and blood in the country of your birth means more than just the few weeks you’ve known about me.”

“My father would never kidnap me just because I don’t want to listen to him. I know he’s done bad things, but he’s not living in the past where the man controls his entire family. He’ll listen to me. I’m not going to Italy. Not right now and maybe not ever. That’s my choice.” I press against Ronan’s shoulders, walking him back into the room. “I wasn’t happy here at first, but now I want to be that kindergarten teacher. I want to go back tomorrow and see all those kids I love. I haven’t made many friends here because it was safer for them if I didn’t, but I want that. Five years is a long time. The people back home will havegone on living their lives. My job will no longer be there. My father is there, but he has the means to be anywhere. I’m not just going to talk to him about us. I’m going to try to convince him to retire.” Archer helps me sit Ronan back down on the massive chair. “Don’t look at me that way. I know that you think retirement means taking a permanent dirt nap, but that’s not the only way.”

“What might be the only way to examine you is to have your old lady be here.” Archer casts a plaintive glance my way. “He never said two things in here while I was trying to determine what damage was done to his head.”

“I trust you. I just don’t trust him,” Ronan barks, ignoring Archer completely. “Not when he could have called you and saved us all a lot of worry.”

“And stitches.” Archer points at the tray off to the right, with gleaming instruments laid out on the sterile surface. “Speaking of, you’re going to need at least a few. If you’ll let me do them, it would be appreciated. I have patients I had to leave.”

“Fuck your nose jobs, Archer,” Raiden drawls from the doorway. He leans up against it, arms crossed, watching intently, like he doesn’t quite trust Archer to do his job.

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