Page 59 of The Ghost of Rage's War

“Yeah, because you’re the fuckin’ image of your brother and Arrow. You may not have been broughtup by them, but you have a Michaelson’s mannerisms,” Chance said.

“Bleh,” I replied eloquently.

Chance properly laughed. “You sound like my wife when she doesn’t have an answer. Please tell me you don’t think of the ideal retort later and will inform me of it. Clio does that. Several hours after an argument, she spits something at me, even though it’s incredibly late.”

“Your wife sounds fun.”

Chance’s eyes softened, and I liked that for this unknown Clio.

“She’s fuckin’ perfect. And I tell Clio all the time,” Chance admitted.

“Am I interrupting?” Anderson asked.

“No,” I replied.

“The hospital called. Ghost is stable but critical. The bullet nicked Ghost’s heart, it’s been removed, and doctors fixed the artery. Ghost’s brain began swelling. They inserted a shunt to remove fluid, but his brain kept expanding since the operation. The shunt isn’t doing its job, so they’ve taken Ghost to open his skull to release pressure. Carmelle, nobodies allowed to see him because of Covid and infection. As soon as the swelling resides, they’ll reinsert the shunt,” Anderson explained.

I sat down heavily at the table, and my hands began to shake.

“What if it doesn’t stop?” I asked.

“The docs say there are other measures. They said Ghost has a seventy per cent chance at survival.That’s good news, Carmelle, it’s just my brother making shit awkward and taking the longest path to heal,” Anderson teased, but I saw his underlying worry.

“Thirteen, nearly fourteen years undercover and not a scratch and two seconds back with Rage, and he’s been shot again,” I hissed. “Does anyone else see the irony?”

“Yeah,” Anderson replied.

???

It killed me I wasn’t allowed to go and visit Ghost. When he woke, I wasn’t there by his side, and I should have been. Anderson face-timed me from Ghost’s room, but it wasn’t enough. Bear and Chance had been sworn to secrecy about my whereabouts, and they’d agreed not to tell anyone, including their own club brothers or Drake, where I was hiding. Anderson had reinforced that, by threatening to make me and the girls disappear. Chance hadn’t liked that.

My older cousin… was interesting, albeit that was a mild word for Chance. He certainly didn’t want to lose access to me or the kids, so for now, Chance was playing ball. But I could tell he was used to giving orders and not taking them. Which, all in all, was rather amusing.

Ghost was released from hospital ten days later and I’d had Chance fetch me all his favourite foods. I intended to spoil Ghost when he came home.

The girls and I had missed him terribly. We were all waiting on the porch when Anderson arrived andhelped him out of the car.

Ghost’s eyes opened wide as he took in the Christmas decorations I’d had Bear, Chance, and Anderson put up. His gaze softened as his eyes landed on me, and he checked me over. Seemingly happy with what he saw, Ghost then examined the girls.

Sadie was jumping in a circle and screaming his name, while Shannon had a huge grin on her face. Ghost slowly moved forward, and I could see suffering etched in his face, but he bent to hug the kids, and the breath caught in my throat.

I fell completely in love with Ghost right at that moment. Or maybe I acknowledged the feelings I’d been having. I didn’t know and didn’t care.

But as Ghost bent, despite his pain, to comfort my babies, I knew I loved him. Once he’d fussed the girls, Ghost hugged me tightly.

“Babe, I need to sit down before I fall on my ass and embarrass myself,” he murmured. Together, Anderson and I helped him into the living room, and Anderson gave him some pills and a glass of water, which Ghost swallowed.

Ghost looked around the room in approval. I’d had them decorate inside as well, and the tree twinkled, welcoming him home. On the stove, I had a chicken stew and dumplings cooking, and his favourite sticky toffee pudding was baking. Ghost sniffed as I went into the kitchen and made him a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream.

“Christmas is planned, all we needed was youback,” I said to Ghost later that evening as I cuddled into him. “We were lost without you.”

“I fuckin’ missed you, babe. Was going out of my mind wondering if you were safe, what you were doing, and if the kids were okay,” Ghost admitted in a rumble. I tucked my head into his shoulder as his arms wrapped around me.

“I hated the fact you had to wake up alone,” I replied.

“Anderson’s ugly mug was the first thing I saw. Believe me, you’d have been a huge improvement on him,” Ghost teased.

“Fuck you, asshole,” Anderson interrupted. “I got that shit you wanted. I left it in the bedroom in your closet. See you all after Christmas. You get a reprieve this year, bro, but next year, we’re going to have to let the parents know you’re alive.”

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