Page 72 of Protected Hearts

Sudden pain sliced through his side. He felt the air slam from his lungs even as his vision blurred. He still saw clearly enough to take a final shot.

The woman hit the floor.

“No!” Shiloh’s pained scream echoed. Hot blood pulsed out of Oaks’s side with each beat of his heart.

“No deal! You broke the deal!” Shiloh ran to a chair and picked up a laptop that he hadn’t noticed before. Through a haze of stinging pain, he saw her rapidly tapping the keys.

Then she was at his side, maneuvering his head into her lap. The warm, steady fall of her tears kept him grounded.

“I love you. So damn much,” he rasped.

“Oh god. Oaks!” Her voice wobbled. “You’re going to be all right.” She looked up at his brother, who hit his knees next to him. “He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”

Carson grunted as he examined what felt like a hole that went all the way through his side and exited his back. “It’s close to the side. It might not have hit anything vital.”

Shiloh’s eyes swam with tears, making them a brighter blue than ever. When she looked at him, he saw all the love in those beautiful eyes.

He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch.

“Everything’s going to be all right, honey.” The words broke on his dry tongue. “It’s over now.”

Chapter Seventeen

“You guys shot up the hangar…and managed not to blow anything up?”

Was that his baby sister’s voice he heard? Oaks tried to pry his eyes open, but his lids weighedsomuch.

His mind whirled in a dizzying rotation that made him feel like he was on a ride at an amusement park. He hadn’t been on any rides like that since he was in the sixth grade and his class visited a theme park.

He never told any of his brothers or his sister, but he’d tossed his cookies more than once that day. He’d come home sunburned and dehydrated, feeling pretty low and completely uncool. Lucky for him, none of his school buddies told his family about it. Until this very moment, Oaks had forgotten all about it.

Willow spoke again, sounding far off to the side. Where the hell was he anyway? He still couldn’t open his eyes to locate her.

All at once, the confusion in his mind cleared, and the events slammed into order.

The hangar. The shootout.

Shiloh.

His lips moved, but he couldn’t force out more than a groan.

“He’s waking up!”

The familiar voice of an angel sounded a foot from his head. He forced his eyes open to fix them on Shiloh.

“My…wife.”

A soft sob burst from her. “Oh, Oaks…” Her hand was cool on his jaw. He clung to the feel of her smooth skin.

“What…”

She seemed to know what he was asking. “You just got out of surgery.”

He mentally felt along his side where the bullet entered.

“You’re lucky as hell, brother.” From nearby, Colt’s voice had a thick edge that sounded with emotion that he rarely, if ever, showed anyone. “The bullet went through your side and didn’t hit anything. But you lost a fuck ton of blood. I guess you used up one of your nine lives.”

He planted his arm on the bed and started to shove into a sitting position. “I’m going home.”

---