Page 71 of Twisted Revelations

My grip on his hand grew tighter, noticing every emotion playing out on his face when the blade made the first cut. Throaty groans and deep heaving breaths followed when a pair of over-sized tweezers went into the hole after the bullet. Trickles of thick dark blood seeped from the opening as Dax squeezed my hand and spat out his harsh breaths through gritted teeth.

Rick was quick and strategic with his movements, pulling the slug out and letting it drop with a clink into a small metal pan.

Dax and I never spoke a word. None were needed. I stood through the rest of his surgery, observing, empathizing, and caring for someone in that special way I never knew I was capable of.

After Rick finished patching up Dax, he hovered, taking care of his brother for a few hours as they talked in soft tones. Beverly and I had gone to one of the large bedrooms to get cleaned up.

I pretended to watch television while the question, “What now?” kept recycling through my brain. Were we finished? Were Bev and I free to return to our lives?

When Dax waved me over, I didn’t know what to expect. His brother’s deep and intense gray eyes met mine across the bed. Was it intrigue in his gaze? What had Dax been telling him about me?

“Rick, this is Laura, a good friend of mine. I’m advocating for more than friends, but she wants no part of it,” he expressed. Rick eyed his brother like he didn’t know him, and my mouth dropped open and refused to close right away.

Rick recovered, lifting his hand to meet mine above Dax’s bandaged torso. Dax’s revelation had left me baffled, and I didn’t know how to respond.

* * *

Once Rick left,we found out that our mission wasn’t over yet. The guys wanted to stick around for a few weeks to ensure that eliminating Santino had freed us from any other lingering DG6 threats.

Now, I was on the phone with Megan. The happiness in her tone rang free. It meant that her big biker man was doing something right.

“Wait, what?” I shouted into my phone as the gum I was chewing flew past my lips, and I caught it, stopping it from flopping onto the gleaming marble floor.

“Who opened up the gates of hell and let this kind of shit slither into your brains?” I questioned Megan. Beverly dropped the book in her hand and slid across the couch like her ass was on a conveyer belt.

“What? What?” she whispered breathlessly, eyeing the phone in my hand. I placed the phone on speaker so she could hear Megan’s big reveal. I needed a witness to confirm that I’d heard Megan right the first time.

“Aaron asked me to marry him. I said yes and I want you here for the ceremony,” she repeated. Beverly’s mouth dropped open, and one of my eyebrows lifted and remained stuck in the air.

“Hello? Are you there?” Megan questioned, knowing good and well her news had stunned us into dead silence.

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