Page 83 of Rage's Heart

“Seriously,” Zero agreed, his usually impassive face showing genuine relief.

Killer, towering over everyone as usual, awkwardly thrust a fluffy stuffed bear toward me. “This is from the girls at the clubhouse. Trixie picked it out.”

Rage’s brow went up.

Trixie had made it clear on multiple occasions that she wasn’t my biggest fan, but maybe we were turning a corner. Whatever it was, I’d take it. “Tell her thank you for me.” I was touched by the unexpected gesture.

Sarah moved to the edge of the bed, her eyes red-rimmed “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t?—”

My heart squeezed. “No. This is nobody’s fault, but Chad’s.”

She nodded, though I could see the guilt hadn’t left her eyes. As she stepped back Dread move closer to her, his hand briefly touching the small of her back. I glanced between them. Had something developed between them in the last few days?

“Did they catch him?” I asked, not needing to specify who I meant.

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly, the air becoming charged and cold. Each man looked to his left and then his right, silently communicating something.

“Don’t worry about him, baby,” Rage said carefully. “Just focus on getting better.”

His evasion wasn’t lost on me, but I was too exhausted to push. Whatever had happened, or was going to happen, to Chad was something Rage clearly didn’t want to discuss.

“Time to head out. Mac needs her rest.” Rage said suddenly.

Sarah was the first to move at Rage’s demand. She came over and gently gave me a side hug. “Get some rest. Love you, bestie.”

I used my good arm to pat the side of her head. “Love you back, bestie.”

Once she moved aside, all of Rage’s brothers came over and pressed a kiss to my cheek before filing out with Dread and Sarah leaving together.

“Am I crazy or is something going on there?”

Rage looked to the door then back to me, his shoulders going up. “Who knows.”

I patted the edge of the bed. “Come here.”

Rage hesitated, his eyes dropping to where my hand rested. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re not going to hurt me. Now come here,” I repeated. “Please. I need to feel you close to me.”

He couldn’t deny me, not when I was looking at him with pleading eyes from a hospital bed. “You’re not playing fair, woman.”

I smirked. All was fair in love and all that jazz.

Carefully, he lowered himself onto the mattress beside me, his body barely touching mine like maybe he thought I might break.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he confessed, his voice thick with emotion. “When I saw you on that screen. When I saw him pull that trigger…” He swallowed hard, unable to continue.

I lifted my hand to his face, my fingers brushing against his stubbled cheek. “You didn’t lose me. I’m right here.”

“But you almost weren’t.” His eyes, usually so confident, were haunted. “And that’s on me. I should have protected you better.”

“This isn’t your fault,” I insisted, echoing what I’d told Sarah. “This is Chad’s doing, not yours.”

As he looked away, I saw something dark flicker in his eyes. When he looked back at me, his eyes had changed, determination replacing whatever had been there moments before.

“Baby.” He took my hand in his. “These last three days have been the worst of my life. Sitting here, watching you, not knowing if you’d ever open your eyes again... It made me realize I don’t want to waste another second.”

The monitor attached to my chest started beeping faster as my heart picked up speed.

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