Chapter 23
JACKSON
I woke to the sound of movement—sharp, wrong, too close. My hand went straight for the Glock under the pillow, muscle memory kicking in before thought. The weight of the weapon was familiar in my palm, my finger hovering just outside the trigger guard as I assessed the threat.
Elena was still curled against me, warm and soft, her breath steady against my chest. I didn't move her. I just shifted enough to aim, heart already pounding with the rush of adrenaline that never quite felt like fear anymore—just heightened awareness, the world suddenly in sharper focus.
Then I saw the red hair and the smug grin. Ivy. Standing there like she owned the damn place, holding a tray of coffees and a bag of pastries like this was some kind of casual Sunday morning get-together.
I didn't lower the gun right away. Old habits die hard when they've been carved into you by blood and fire.
But I didn't raise it higher either. Just stared at her while she grinned wider, completely unfazed by having a weapon drawn at her arrival.
Had she already assumed I wouldn't aim it at her? That was a little too trusting.
"Rise and shine, lovebirds," she announced, her voice deliberately loud. "I brought sustenance for the morning after."
She plopped onto the bed like she belonged there, right next to Elena, who groaned and buried her face deeper into the pillow. The mattress dipped, and Elena's body shifted against mine. I was suddenly hyperaware of every inch where our skin touched beneath the sheets.
"I snagged those almond croissants from that bakery nearby," Ivy said, rustling through the paper bag. "Figured we could sneak some to Anna Hospital food is basically a war crime. Besides, she'll be awake soon, and we need to go see her."
I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I was naked under the sheet. Thank God for the sheet. I sat up slowly, keeping it strategically positioned over my lap, and took the coffee Ivy shoved at me without asking. Our fingers brushed, and she winked at me, completely shameless.
"Black, two sugars," she said. "Elena mentioned it once."
So Elena had taken note that time in her apartment. Such a small gesture, but it stood out.
The bitter heat of it grounded me as I took a careful sip. Steam rose between us as I popped the cap off my pill bottle and swallowed the painkillers. My leg throbbed like hell where the bullet had grazed me, but our intimacy last night was not one I'd ever regret.
Elena groaned again but finally emerged from beneath the pillow, hair tousled and eyes heavy with sleep.
She clutched the sheet to her chest with one hand and took her coffee with the other.
"You have no shame, barging in here," she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. "But yes, we'll go see mom again."
The woman fighting cancer while her daughter was tangled up with a man who killed people. The irony wasn't lost on me.
"Me? Shame?" Ivy gasped and feigned hurt before winking. "I've seen you butt-ass naked before, Lena, and let's just say there's nothing this guy's packing that I haven't seen before," she said as she gave me an obvious once over and shot me a devilish wink.
I wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or not. But I was not about to prove her case.
Twenty minutes later, we piled into the car I'd borrowed from Grayson.
I hated being in the backseat, hated being classified as "impaired" just because I was medicated and limping.
They hadn't cared about that last night when I'd driven everywhere.
Then again, we'd all been too stressed and running on fumes.
Today, the pair of them had words to say about it. But I didn't argue. Not today. Some battles weren't worth fighting, especially when Elena had insisted on helping me into my clothes, her fingers lingering longer than necessary as she buttoned my shirt.
Ivy adjusted the rearview mirror, catching my eyes in the reflection. Her smirk was knowing, predatory. "So, Elena..." she drawled, glancing sideways at her friend in the passenger seat. "Is he as good with his other weapon as he is with a gun?"
Elena groaned, color flooding her cheeks. "Jesus Christ, Ivy."
I smirked, leaning back against the headrest. Some things were better left implied.
Ivy cackled, slapping the steering wheel. "That good, huh? Damn, girl. Get it."
"Can we please talk about literally anything else?" Elena pleaded, but there was a smile playing at the corners of her mouth that she couldn't quite suppress.
"Oh, sure. Jackson, how was it railing my best friend?" Ivy asked, and Elena groaned as I let out a chuckle.
They really were a rightful pair of friends.
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and grief. It was a mix that I felt uncomfortable in. But I wanted to be here with the two women I'd taken under my charge.
Especially Elena. Ivy made me think of a fiery little pitbull that just came attached at the hip with her. They were a combo deal.
I shook my head as we walked, scolding myself for thinking such things. Elena had asked what this was between us.
I still had no idea. No clue what this was becoming, but I sure as shit knew she as a weakness for me now. A woman I couldn't get out of my mind.
Anna was awake this time when we stepped into her room. Her eyes were clear and focused, her smile real despite the pallor of her skin and the way her hospital gown hung loose on her frame.
She looked frail in the hospital bed, but she lit up when she saw the girls enter the room, her face transforming with a joy that made her look younger, healthier.
Ivy handed her a muffin like it was contraband, and Anna took it with both hands like it was gold, her thin fingers curling around it protectively.
"My favorite smuggler," Anna said, her voice soft but warm. "You're going to get me in trouble with the nurses again."
"What they don't know won't hurt them," Ivy replied, dropping into the chair beside the bed with casual familiarity. "Besides, you need real food, not whatever sad excuse for nutrition they're serving here."
Then Anna's gaze shifted to me. I was still in the doorway, unsure if I should even be here. This was family time—real family, not the kind bound by blood oaths and violence. I felt like an intruder, a shadow that had followed Elena home.
"And who are you?" Anna asked, her eyes—the same striking blue as Elena's—assessing me with surprising sharpness. A lioness protective of her two cubs.
"Just a friend," I said. It wasn't a lie. Not exactly. We were something, Elena and I, but I didn't have words for it yet. Friend seemed safer than the truth. That I'd kill for her daughter, that I'd die for her if needed, and that I was falling for her in ways that unsettled me.
She looked me over, slow and deliberate, taking in the tattoos visible at my collar, the way I leaned against the doorframe to keep weight off my injured leg. There was no judgment in her gaze, just curiosity and something else—something knowing.
"I hope one of my girls knows not to let you go," she said finally, a small smile playing at her lips.
I chuckled, caught off guard by her directness. Elena groaned again, this time in embarrassment. "Mom."
Ivy, of course, couldn't help herself. She leaned in conspiratorially toward Anna. "Let's just say if he was a cowboy, Elena's been saving the horse lately."
Anna blinked. Then it hit her. She burst into laughter, full and bright, the sound filling the sterile room with unexpected life. Elena covered her face with both hands, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide.
"Ivy!" Elena hissed, but there was no real anger there.
I found myself smiling too, watching the three of them together—this little family they'd built, held together by something stronger than blood. Something I'd never really had.
A knock at the door cut through the moment. The sound was polite and measured. It was the knock of someone who knew they were interrupting but was doing it anyway. I tensed instinctively, shifting my weight to stand properly despite the pain that shot through my leg.
Grayson stepped in, holding a bouquet of flowers like he'd just walked out of a damn movie. Lilies and roses, arranged perfectly in expensive paper. His suit was impeccable as always, not a wrinkle in sight. The perfect gentleman—if you didn't know what those hands had done.
Our eyes met briefly. A silent acknowledgment passed between us, one of professional respect, but wariness too. I'd been avoiding this moment, knowing it would come eventually. The family meeting the family.
Anna tilted her head, confusion evident in her expression. "Who are those from? I haven't seen you on staff before."
He smiled, all charm and polish. The face of legitimate business, Leo called him. The pretty front for ugly work. "I'm not staff. But thanks to your daughter, my sister is alive and well."
I watched Elena stiffen beside me, her shoulders going rigid. This wasn't how she'd planned it. I could see the panic rising in her, the way her hands curled into fists.
Grayson stepped further into the room, his movements deliberate and smooth. "I'm Grayson," he said, extending his free hand to Anna. "My sister Meredith had a miscarriage recently. There were complications—she needed a transfusion urgently, and Elena happened to have the same rare blood type."
He explained the situation with practiced ease. I watched Anna's face shift from confusion to understanding to pride, her eyes darting between Grayson and her daughter.
"She saved her," he said, his voice softening with what seemed like genuine gratitude. "Your daughter saved my sister."
Anna reached for Elena's hand, eyes full of awe and pride. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered.
Elena's smile was strained, her knuckles white where she gripped her mother's hand. I could see the war raging behind her eyes—the truth she wanted to tell versus the lies she'd been living.
Grayson stepped closer and took Anna's other hand, kissing it like some old-world gentleman. "It's lovely to meet you, Anna. Truly."
Then he said it, the words hanging in the air like smoke before a fire. "Finding out I have a half-sister has been quite a shock. But I'm glad I have more family now."
The room went still. Even Ivy stopped breathing, her usual smirk frozen on her face. I shifted my weight, ready to move if needed, though what I'd do, I wasn't sure. This wasn't a situation that could be solved with a gun or fists.
Anna's eyes widened, her gaze darting to Elena, who looked like she might be sick. "You're Anthony Cassaro's son?"
She didn't even hesitate, as if she'd already seen a glimmer of the man she'd once been with in the man before her.
Grayson nodded, his expression carefully composed. "Yes."