Page 99 of Ricochet

“I need to have you curl around me in bed.”

Colin’s chest expanded as he drank in her safe place. That would be his too. Not wounded, her sleeping against him, silky hair falling over her bare shoulder after they tangled themselves in the sheets. “Give me a little bit to getfixed up, and I’m all over that, babe.”

“Thank you.” Head still down, she glanced over. “Your phone’s in your back pocket?”

He nodded, and she helped retrieve it.

“I’m sorry Mayhem’s put you through all this.”

Her head snapped toward him, erasing the woman she was seconds ago. “That wasn’t Mayhem.”

“Okay.” He took his eyes off the road, caught off guard by the strong need to defend the groupthat had a hit for her execution. “Either way, we’ll work everything out. Pull up my contacts and find Brock Gamble.”

Silence.

“Adelia. Listen to me.”

She didn’t say a word.

“There’s one person you have right now to lean on. To trust. And that’s me. Can you do that?”

“I trust you. It’s everyone else I don’t.” She tapped on his phone and pressed SEND. The call rang on speaker. “Please don’tmention I’m with you.”

Colin slowed to take another turn and pretended that made sense. What did Adelia think Brock would believe? Mayhem shot him for fun? That Colin took a bullet and left Adelia in a diner parking lot while under fire because he needed medical treatment? The idea of protecting her didn’t seem to compute to her, and he wondered how often she’d been turned on.

“Hey,” Brock answered,likely already on high alert that Colin had called his cell phone directly instead of going through HQ. “What’s going on?”

“I ran into a little tangle.” He stopped at a four-way stop sign and then drove by a police car.

“What kind of tangle?” Brock asked.

“GSW to my side, but I’m feeling lucky today. Don’t think anything important was nicked.” He licked his lips. “Mostly a superficial scratch.”

Adelia made a point of shaking her head.

“Jesus Christ. You’re feeling lucky,” Brock muttered. “What do you need?”

“A med team. Bullet didn’t come out.”

“Fucking hell,” Brock grumbled. “Adelia, you’re okay?”

Colin glanced her way while she stayed mum. “She’s phone shy.”

“I prefer no one know where I am,” Adelia admitted. “Even you.”

“Under these circumstances, not everyone gets what theywant.” Brock paused. “Patching in Parker. Gimme a minute.”

Adelia groaned. “How many people are we going to bring in to this conversation?”

“However many it takes,” Brock added.

She glared at the phone like he could see him. “What’s wrong with a regular hospital and an alias? Like normal.”

“Aliases are a pain in the ass. Parker Black here.”

“Thanks for the thoughtful explanation,” Adeliasaid.

Colin watched her knead a thumb into her temple as he drove down random roads and waited for his marching orders, crossing through the town and continuing to check for tails.

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