Page 50 of The Devil's Weakness

My brow furrows in confusion, and he answers my silent question.

“I had a stroke just before my bike struck your car, or so my doctor friend over here tells me.” He gestures toward the man Blade called Hawk earlier today. “After I rolled down the embankment and hit my head, I heard your voice call out to me. You told me that everything was going to be alright. I couldn’t react; I couldn’t even open my eyes. I remember feeling calmed by your words and your touch, though. At the time, I thought it was my Patty calling me home…”

Iron’s voice drifts off as his feelings stir, noticeable by us all. Then, he turns his attention to Blade.

“I saw her, Blade. As beautiful as ever, highlighted in shimmering gold light. She told me she loves and misses me, but it wasn’t time for me to come home yet. That I have family here that still needs me.”

No longer able to hold my tears back in front of these strangers, I let them out.

“I see you, Stone.” He turns and looks at the vile man standing on the other side of his bed. “I see the anger you’re holding in. And the tension between you and Blade is telling. But it’s not her fault. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“The accident wasn’t my fault…” I say out loud, more to myself than anyone else.

“It doesn’t look that way,” the man they called Hawk confirms.

The shock causes my legs to give out beneath me. Blade catches me before I hit the ground as Hawk brings me a chair to sit in. Does that mean this ordeal is over? Can I finally breathe easily and go home? Can we pretend that the last seventy-two hours never happened and I can go back to my boring, uneventful life?

When Blade crouches down in front of me, he keeps his eyes fixed on mine with an intense severity that paralyzes me with fear.?

This new information changes nothing.

I still belong to him.

Chapter Fifteen

I seethe question in her stare. She thinks this news nullifies what I told her downstairs. But she’s wrong. No matter how our paths came to cross, what’s done is done. I’ve marked Sasha as my own, and there isn’t anything that can change that now.?

I turn my attention back to Iron and see Stone looking at her from the other side of the bed. His reaction is conflicted. He was so ready to punish Sasha for this that it never occurred to him the accident could have had nothing to do with her.?

It didn’t occur to any of us.

I stand up, locking my eyes on Iron. He doesn’t talk about Patty very often. Her death really fucked him up. Fucked us both up.

“But that’s where my memory ends,” he finishes before turning his head to look at Sasha. “Thank you for stopping to comfort me.”

I’ve never seen Iron so open before; so raw.

Sasha looks at him with an expression of disbelief. As though she can’t wrap her head around how quickly and drastically her situation has changed. From being on the run to becoming a hostage. Getting claimed by the poor son-of-a-bitch that I am, to realizing she had nothing to do with Iron’s injuries to begin with and should have never been mixed up in all of this.

I can only imagine the emotions running through her mind and body right now.

My cock twitches again, thinking about her delicious body underneath mine, one floor beneath us, less than an hour ago. I look back at Stone, who appears as though he’s going to be sick. The anger we both held toward one another isn’t as prevalent, but our conversation is by no means over. My gaze reminds him that Sasha is mine, and I’ll fiercely protect her with everything I have. We’re going to need to have a more in-depth conversation about this at a later time. I need to make sure he understands exactly how I feel about her.

Squeezing the bar that helps to keep Iron from falling out of bed, I know he’s battling regret that he feels over how he’s treated her since she got here. We may not be the most wholesome group of bastards, but we don’t like to hurt people who don’t deserve it.?

Especially women.

This whole situation has spun each of us out of control. Stone walks around the bed and stops when he’s directly in front of Sasha. I can sense her tensing up the closer he gets. I place a hand on her shoulder and squeeze slightly, trying to comfort her.

Sasha doesn’t look at him, nor does the tension leave her body. I shoot him a look, letting him know she needs time, and I can see him rethinking the idea of speaking to her.

“Glad to have you with us again, brother,” Stone says, instead turning his attention back to Iron. “We’ll be back to check on you soon.”

As Stone and Bon-Bon leave the room, I focus my attention on Sasha again.?

“Are you okay?” I inquire, balancing on my haunches in front of her.

Her body quakes with emotion. Is she sad, angry, hurt? She has every right to feel all of those things and more. Her blank stare reminds me how much of a son-of-a-bitch I am. She blinks through tears that fall faster the further Stone retreats from the room. She nods her head slightly but says nothing. I stand up and look at Iron again, but he’s fallen back to sleep.

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