Page 146 of Mad Love

“Yes,” he replied, his tone flat. He looked at Knight. “Can you meet Bishop and get the chopper ready?”

Knight gave him a mock salute. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

“Fucking idiot,” Ryan muttered as Knight and Ash left.

I cocked my head to the side. “Where exactly did you park a helicopter?”

“Parking garage across the street,” he answered. “The roof was empty, so Bishop left it there after we dropped you guys off on the roof access to the hospital.”

“Do I want to know where you got a helicopter from?” I asked, giving him a long look.

His mouth flattened. “Probably not. But we’ll give it back when we’re done.”

“But we can take it to Brookfield?” I leaned against the bed, suddenly exhausted.

Ryan moved closer and wrapped me in his arms. “Yeah. We’ll probably have to stop to refuel on the way, but we’ll do it outside of L.A. From here it should take less than two hours.”

“How bad is it out there?” I murmured, turning my head against his chest to look out the window. This room had a view of the building beside it and the H-VAC units, so there was no way to tell what damage the city had sustained.

He stroked my back as he answered. “It was a six-point-five.”

My nose wrinkled. “Explain that to the person who didn’t grow up in a place where the earth routinely shakes.”

He snorted a laugh. “It was strong and did some damage, but overall, it wasn’t catastrophic.”

I lifted my head, my chin on his chest. “Uh, I beg to differ. Gary’s house literally broke in half.” I’d sorta been able to make out the shape of the house from the flood lights under the chopper as it had carried us away, and I’d been stunned to see most of its left side was gone. Trees had toppled, and there was a giant crack running through the backyard up to the foundation.

“Well, that’s because the cliffside broke free,” he replied. “The majority of the neighborhood didn’t have a ton of damage.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “Leave it to Gary to be destroyed because he had to have the house at the top.”

“It is rather poetic, isn’t it?” Ryan smiled against my forehead.

“He’s really dead?” Somehow it just didn’t seem believable that the monster was finally slayed.

Ryan tilted my head back to look in my eyes. “He’s really dead, baby. He’ll never hurt you, or anyone else, ever again.”

I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My hands tightened on the waist of his pants. “Will you get in trouble?”

He snorted like the idea was amusing as hell. “Not a chance. There were plenty of us in the room to attest he was about to…” He trailed off, tensing again as the memory seemed to wash over him. His fingers curled around me, like he was trying to make sure I was still there in front of him, all right and whole.

I turned my face up, brushing my lips on the underside of his scruffy jaw. “Hey, I’m fine. We’re both fine.”

He nodded slowly and found my lips with his. What started a sweet, soft kiss of reassurance quickly turned into something hotter and more primal. His hands spanned my waist as he crowded me against the side of the bed. I sank onto the edge, my legs opening so he could step between them.

I gasped as he pressed against me, and I wanted desperately to rock my hips, arousal sharp and potent as it soared between us. Something deep inside me craved this connection between us, needed it to reaffirm that we really were both on the other side of this and okay.

Which was, of course, when the door to my room opened.

“Seriously? You two couldn’t wait?” Ash sounded a mix of bemused and exasperated.

I peeked over Ryan’s shoulder and hid a smile against his shoulder. “Any word from Linc and Royal?”

He nodded and closed the door as he stepped into the room. “They’ll meet us at Brookfield. I also saw Bishop in the hall. Bex is good, but she wants to stay here with her mom and dad.”

“Court staying?” Ryan guessed.

Ash grimaced. “No. Bex told him to go, and Malcolm threatened to call security if he didn’t leave Bex alone.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes I don’t think those two will ever get their shit straight. Court’s going to meet us at the chopper.”

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