Page 80 of Rage's Heart

I knew exactly what I was going to do when I found Chad. He would bleed for touching a hair on my woman’s head. He would hurt for trying to take what belonged to me.

“Where are you going?”“ Jack’s voice stopped me. I turned to find him right behind me, his face almost unrecognizable from the anger he was feeling.

“To find the man who shot your sister,”“ I replied flatly. “Stay out of my way.”

“And do what?” he shot back.

“Whatever’s necessary.” Unlike him, I wasn’t bound by moving within the lines of the law.

Jack stepped closer. “You think I don’t want to find him? That’s my sister in there.”

“That’s why you need to stay here with your mother and your wife.” My tone left no room for argument. “They need you.”

Jack’s jaw clenched, the internal battle warring inside him written on his face as he glanced back at Lillian and Chelsea. His training as a cop went against every instinct he had as a brother, husband, and son.

Finally, he gave a quick nod. “Find him,”“ he said low. “Make it right.”

I held his stare, making sure I’d heard him right.

Good. We were on the same page and thank fuck for that.

Without another word, I turned on my heel with my brothers falling in step behind me.

Chad thought he could hide after trying to snuff out the light of the one person my black heart beat for, but he was about to learn just how fucking wrong he was.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mac

The darkness felt like a heavy blanket enveloping me in its nothingness. Occasionally, I would hear voices—clinical, professional voices discussing things like blood pressure and oxygen levels. Then they’d fade, and I’d slip back into the void.

But this time was different.

This time, I heardhim.

“Come back to me, baby. Please.” His voice was rough, broken in a way I’d never heard it before. “I can’t do this without you. I don’t know how.”

Something inside me struggled toward his voice, fighting against the darkness that wanted to keep me.

“The doctors say to keep talking. That there’s a chance you might hear me.” There was a pause, followed by something that sounded a lot like a sob. “So I’m gonna keep talking until you open those beautiful eyes. Until you come back to me.”“

I felt pressure on my hand—warm, familiar, strong.

“Remember when we found Diesel? How you were ready to kick my ass because you thought I was hurting him?” A choked laugh. “That’s when I knew you were something special. This fierce little blonde was ready to take on a man twice her size to protect a dog she’d never even met.”

Rage.

“I never told you this, but I knew that night. I fucking knew you were it for me. And I fought it because I knew I didn’t deserve you. Hell, I still don’t, but I’m too selfish to let you go.”

The pressure on my hand tightened.

“Mac, baby, I need you. There’s still so much we haven’t done. I want to wake up every morning with your hair in my face. I want to fight about stupid shit like where the cereal goes and whose turn it is to pick what’s for dinner. I want to make you laugh, make you come, make you happy. Every. Damn. Day.” When his voice cracked, I felt something wet hit my hand.

“I was supposed to protect you. What good am I, if I can’t even keep you safe?”

His voice dropped to a broken whisper. “I won’t survive without you. So you have to fight. Come back to me. You promised, baby.”

With every ounce of strength I possessed, I forced my fingers to move, to squeeze his hand. The effort was monumental, but I had to let him know I heard him. That I was still here. That I was his, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

---