Page 52 of Carter's #Undoing

“More of a sinner, but they call me Saint Crowne,” he said.

“Really?” I asked. “So you and Jedidiah are brothers?”

“We all are brothers,” Hollis explained.

“Wow.” My mouth slightly parted as I looked at all of them, trying to find similarities.

“Foster brothers,” Saint added. “And I’m glad we got a chance to know the woman GB has never been able to stop talking about.”

“Thank you.” I managed to grin even though I was still worried. “I’m glad I got to know you guys, too. And the first letter of your alias being the same first letter of your name is really cute.”

“We’re far from cute,” Creed said.

“Definitely not cute,” Saint added, shaking his head.

“Why do women always call men cute?” Hollis asked, placing his hand on his chin.

Jedidiah just stayed quiet. If I didn’t know his real name now, I would’ve thought I dreamt up the entire thing.

Our conversation was interrupted when the doctor came out and told us that Carter was doing well and that we could see him two at a time. As badly as I wanted to go in first, I figured the best thing to do would be to get everyone else out the way, then I could go last and stay for as long as I wanted. Crayson and Malakai nixed that idea, convincing me that I was probably the only one Carter actually wanted to see, so I should go first.

I felt like I practically ran down that hall, only slowing down when I neared the room number the doctor gave me. At first glance, I thought he was sleeping, but as I entered the room and he turned to me, I saw the right side of his face was bandaged.

“There’s my girl.”

“Oh my God, what did that asshole do?” I asked, coming to the side of his bed.

Carter tried to smile, but couldn’t really because of the dressing on his face. “His brother stabbed me in both legs and two wounds on my chest. Each one was a wound that existed prior.”

“So his brother stabbed you where you’d already been hurt before?”

He nodded. “Yes, but it was Rodney who sliced up my face again.”

I clutched my chest. “That’s a different kind of evil right there.”

“Always has been,” he stated. “He gave me the scar in the first damn place, the day I told him I’d go with him if he left you alone.”

My heart sank again. “I’m so sorry you went through that, Carter. Had I known what was going on during the funeral—”

“He would have scarred your face or done much worse,” Carter interjected. “Serenity, he’s gone now and he’ll never bother you again.”

“Or you,” I added. “You’re free of him, too.”

He tugged on my arm so I could scoot closer. “We’re free of him.” Carter glanced at the nurse standing in the hallway. “You know what would be the best kind of celebration?” He wiggled his one visible eyebrow.

“Carter, you just got out of surgery. I’m sure the doctor told you to wait a while before you have sex.”

“My dick is fine,” he said. “In fact, I think if you ride me really carefully, no harm done.”

I rolled my eyes. “How did you wake up from surgery thinking about sex?”

“Making up for lost time,” he answered. “Duh.”

I giggled, appreciating that he was still able to joke despite everything that had happened. “Did the doctor say you’ll have a problem walking?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I should make a full recovery. The surgery was to repair an artery I’d already had surgery on years ago.”

I nodded. “How long do you have to stay off your feet?”

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