Page 126 of Gunner

I groaned. First Zeus was smitten by the biker, and now my sister. What was wrong with them? Didn’t they know he was dangerous?

“You shouldn’t be talking to him,” I said. “How did you get his number, by the way?”

“That day after you got out of the hospital when we were here, I gave him my number to call me if he needed anything. He’s kept me up to date every day.”

I scowled. “Don’t encourage him by talking to him.”

“Why not? He seems really into you.”

“The guy’s the president of the Blood Hounds. That tells you everything about the kind of man he is.”

“All I know is that he’s been taking care of you, and Zeus adores him, follows him everywhere. You must have liked him at some point. What happened?”

I found out he was using me.

“It’s not important.”

“All right, don’t tell me, but I’ll say it again. He’s a good one. Whatever he did wrong, the guy’s clearly trying to apologize. Plus,”—she leaned in with a wicked grin—“he seems like he knows his way around the bedroom.”

“Sis!”

Laughing, she blew me a kiss. “Keep in touch, okay? I’ll be back in Smoky Vale for my next doctor’s appointment. Let’s meet up then.”

She’d finally caved in and planned to leave Smoky Vale tomorrow. Thank god she’d made that decision. The mayorhadn’t called for that evacuation of pregnant women, but those who could were leaving just the same.

At least now I didn’t have to worry that one of those calls would be that they found my sister’s body.

I waited until their car had disappeared, then closed the door. It was almost nine, so I let Zeus outside to take care of his business while I cleaned up downstairs. The pain was mostly gone, but depending on how I bent or stretched, the wound ached.

When the rooms were tidied, I called Zeus, who came running on dirty paws.

“Have you been digging in the garden again?” Squatting to clean them off, I gritted my teeth through the pressure on my side. “There you go. Let’s go to bed.”

I settled Zeus down for the night, then climbed the stairs. Not seeing Gunner all afternoon felt weird, and I hated that I noticed. Trying to sleep didn’t work either, so I snagged Mason’s journal from the night table. I was obsessed, I knew. I must have read the thing three times already, but every time, I found something I’d missed. How could one book cause so much trouble? Sometimes I wished Jamie had never given it to me.

The creaking of the door pulled me out of Mason’s entry about the night he’d slept with me and Gunner. He’d left my bed to go straight to Gunner’s. Yet the way he talked about his experience with both of us held such sincerity, like he’d cared about us both, even though his actions had been the opposite.

“Are you reading that again?” Gunner entered my bedroom. He’d changed out of the clothes he’d been wearing earlier, though he was dressed similarly. Jeans and a T-shirt with his cut.

He would look magnificent in a suit.

“Do you even know what it is?” I asked.

“I’ve figured out enough. Something to do with Mason.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” I glanced at the clock. It was already past eleven. He never stayed this late.

“I wanted to check in on you. I gotta admit, Ben. We’ve spent so much time together this past week that I missed you this afternoon.”

Oh god, he was killing me. Or saving me. I no longer knew, but my walls were crumbling. How much longer could I resist if he kept being so raw and honest about his emotions?

“Did you at least miss me a little?”

“I had company.”

Smiling, Gunner shrugged out of his cut and took off his boots.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

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