Page 44 of Buried

She nodded, her bottom lip trembling. “He’s leaving me,” she choked out, referring to Tristan.

“Easy,” Joey coaxed, smoothing his thumb over her tear-stained, pale cheek. “I know it’s hard, but try not to think about it. Just focus on staying healthy for your family. River and I will do whatever we can to try to keep him here with you. We can’t make promises, but we will try,” he promised her. “Just hold me with you.”

She nodded. He pressed his lips to her forehead. “The doc doesn’t want you to have any visitors except for River, so I have to go, but I’ll come to see you soon. I promise.”

She nodded at him again. He pressed his lips to her temple. “Live for him,” he whispered.

I dragged a chair over to her bed as Joey quietly slipped out of the room. Holding Axel in one arm, I held Adelaide’s hand in the other, pressing my lips to the back of her hand. “Hold him with you,” I whispered to her.

She sniffled. “I’m sorry he kissed me again.”

I shrugged. “He does it to remind you that you can breathe,” I told her. “When shit gets this bad for you, darlin’, you start dying inside. We both just want you to fucking live.”

“I’ll always live for you,” she swore.

I pressed my lips to the back of her hand again as I slouched down in my chair, getting comfortable. “That’s all I’ll ever ask of you, darlin’.”

I finally allowed my eyes to shut for a little while, holding Axel tighter against my chest.

Thank you, God.

Chapter Thirty-One

Reina

Igroaned in pain as I slowly peeled my gritty eyes open, wincing at the bright light in the room. My shoulder and my thigh were burning in excruciating pain. Was this what hell felt like? I was pretty sure it was.

“Fuck, you’re awake,” Sam grumbled from across the room.

I slowly turned my head to look at him, wincing when the movement only made pain flare up all over my body. I was both shocked and excited to see him there. I’d wanted Sam from the moment I laid my eyes on him, but he tended to avoid me like the plague.

He was just coming out of the bathroom. He didn’t have his cut on, and his hair was a mess, like he’d been running his fingers through it for the past few hours. “How are you feeling?” he gently asked as he came closer to me, running his dark eyes over me.

“Like hell,” I muttered, a thrill running through me that he seemed to at least care about how I was feeling. “I’m in a tremendous amount of pain.”

He brushed some of my hair out of my face in a tender gesture that had my heart rate spiking on the heart monitor. My lips parted the slightest bit. He glanced at the heart monitor for a moment before he looked back down at me. There was no amusement in his eyes to my reaction to his touch—ever the serious one.

It was one of the things that drew me to him. He seemed strong, capable of protecting me from the demons that haunted my soul. The real ones were dead, but the ones inside of me? They would never go away.

“To be expected,” he said quietly. “You had to go through surgery for both of your gunshot wounds.”

I winced. That explained the burning, excruciating pain.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Adelaide is facing some trouble.” I frowned. Sam brushed his thumb over my cheek. “Too much stress, but River is with her, and she’s going to be fine. Tristan has tipped over the fucking edge.” I shrugged one shoulder at that, making him laugh huskily. I had never really liked Tristan. He was a complete dick, and he treated Adelaide like shit. “Jesup is with Zyla. She’ll be released later on today.”

“Why are you here with me?” I asked him quietly, asking the question that I was dying to know the answer to. Sam normally only interacted with me if he absolutely had to. I was ecstatic that he was there, finally showing me some attention, but I wascurious too about why he suddenly decided to deliberately place himself in my proximity.

Unless he was only following River’s orders. That made me frown, dampening my mood.

He sighed. “When I got here and found out that you’d been shot, that you were in fucking surgery and no one had heard anything about you yet…” He shook his head as he grabbed my hand in his, playing with my fingers. “I fucking saw red. I wanted blood for what had happened to you, and had I not been held back, Ink would be in a room here instead of walking around freely.”

My breath hitched in my throat at his fierce words. He cared. He really fucking gave a damn. “He tried to protect me, Sam,” I assured him. “I promise that he did.” I didn’t want Ink getting in trouble for the shit that happened to me. He’d done his best.

Sam shook his head, his jaw clenched. “He didn’t fucking try hard enough, Reina. Almost losing you made me realize a fucking lot. I don’t ever want to lose you, and I’m fucking done playing games and beating around the bush with this shit. Done trying to ignore it. I hope you’re ready to stick around because I want you. I’m claiming you as mine.”

My heart rate quickened again, racing double time in my chest. Sam gently gripped my chin between his thumb and index finger before slanting his lips across mine, kissing me like I’d wanted him to do from the very moment I laid my eyes on him.

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