Riot huffs out a laugh. “She was the first. Dragon couldn’t keep her away.”
“How long was I out?”
“Almost a full day.”
“I hear him talking. Let me in there,cabrón,or I will take your left nut and put it with the head I found in the fridge.¿Tu me entiendes?” Do you understand me?
She’s here? She’s not trying to run? I scrub a hand over my face and keep it there.
I look around to see who she is threatening with mutilation. I don’t see Blaze anymore, so the former marine must be standing guard at the top of the stairs.
“No, ma’am,” I hear him counter with a squeak of trepidation.
“Let her in. She won’t stop. Trust me.”
“This is club business.” Ares sounds like he’s not going to budge. Fuck that.
“You’re the president, that’s fine. What you say goes.” I sit the rest of the way up and ignore the screaming coming from my stitches. “But that woman saved my life. She deserves to hear what I have to say, and you need to hear what she has to say.”
He looks at me and for a moment we stay like this. Years of us communicating with nothing but a simple look isn’t something that fades because he’s mad I went AWOL.
“I promise you will have answers,moy brat. You can trust me.”
His forehead presses against mine and he takes both sides of my face in his hands. “I thought I lost you.”
“You nearly did, and the fight hasn’t even started yet.”
Heavy footfalls pound down the stairs and we both look to see another hellraiser coming in to see the damage.
“Look who I found ready to take Casanova’s left nut.”
Reaper steps aside, and Persi’s teary eyes come into view. Dark hair hangs around a tear-stained face. Wildness gleams behind black lashes and there’s a look of determination not only pinning her lips into a grim slash, but keeping her shoulder in an abrasive hold. She’s ready to fight.
For me.
Emotions are not my strong suit and I’ve had enough of them slung at me today. I feel like I’m drowning.
“Come here,hermosa.”
I register Riot moving the duffle and the jar from sight. I can focus on that and let the blisters of fury kill me slowly. Or…
I open my arms and she falls into them, careful not to touch the large bandage covering the stitches.
“You almost died,cabrón. I should take your left nut. I told you to let me go.”
“Never.” I wipe at her tears. “Thank you for doing the hard thing and staying around to save my life. I owe you.”
“We all do.”
Ares pulls Persi in for a hug and she’s passed around like they’ve all initiated her into the family. Nova is the last to approach her. “You brought our family peace of mind today. These men have torn the roads up looking for him for weeks. Thank you doesn’t seem like strong enough words for how we feel having Rage back with us.”
It takes a lot to leave me speechless, but Persi manages it regularly. She’s talking to Nova when her pretty lips move, but it’s me she’s looking at when she says, “I love him too.” A broken, pain-filled smile tugs at her lips. Heat brushes over the soft slope of her cheeks and that stubborn little chin lifts as if to dare anyone to challenge her confession.
My brows arch. Love was never in my game plan. That fucker with the shotgun must have hit me harder than I thought. She did not say what I think she said.
Persi accepts Nova’s embrace. Staring at me, the sultry, wild-eyed Colombian princess leaves everyone behind to stand by me. My world narrows down to only her and the way her lips come over mine. My senses become submerged in everything that makes up the woman in my arm.
“Love?”