Tyler
TYLER
Standing by the ambulance, watched Clay and Elliot talk to the uniformed officers outside their house. It certainly beat watching Nate as the paramedics looked over him.
Stubborn man.
Nate had refused to go anywhere until they had looked over , which didn’t work out too well when refused to be looked at until Nate had the bullet out of his shoulder and wasn’t bleeding everywhere. The closest they could reach on a truce was for the paramedics to do what they could on Nate before driving him to the hospital. For his part, agreed to go with him and be looked at there.
As he watched, Elliot broke away from the officers, leaving Clay to talk to them. He didn’t look much different than usual, though his shirt was torn, and his forehead had a black smudge. Clay had somehow gotten through the whole ordeal with little more than his hair being messed up. wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he knew there was a dead man in the hallway and that it had been Clay’s handiwork.
Somehow, he wasn’t all that surprised.
“How’s he doing?” Elliot asked, glancing at the ambulance.
“Stubborn but alive,” grunted.
Nate’s annoyed voice shot out from the ambulance. “You have no room to talk, ! You could have them look at you right now, and I could be on my way to a nice comfortable hospital bed, but no, you have to be stubborn.”
winced. “Gunshot wounds do not add anything to his personality.”
“Mm,” Elliot hummed thoughtfully. “Having been shot a few times myself, I can say that it does make someone pretty cranky.”
“How’s everything going over there?” asked, nodding toward Clay.
Elliot frowned. “I’m more or less covered. Since, you know, I exist. And have licenses for everything I own.”
raised a brow. “You exist?”
Elliot chuckled. “Things with Clay are...well, they’re weird, and they’re always going to be that way. So, surprise, as far as the government is concerned, he doesn’t exist.”
blinked. “What the fuck did he do before?”
“None of your business, or anyone else’s for that matter,” Elliot said, voice uncharacteristically hard.
cleared his throat. “But he’ll be okay?”
“He still has...contacts from before. I’m sure he can keep things smooth. At least, that’s what he insists. The world could go up in flames, and he would say everything will be alright,” Elliot muttered.
“But what do you think?” asked.
Elliot shot him a smile. “I think we’ll be just fine. This isn’t our first rodeo, you know, we have our ways. I trust him. Have for quite a while.”
“Good. Any word on what this was about?” asked.
Elliot snorted. “Politics. Which is normal. Seems this little group had been hired to kidnap Nate and try to get his father to step down. If they couldn’t get him to bow out of the race, then they would have blackmailed him into doing a few things for them. They’re, uh, pretty pissed that we got in the way.”
“Well, except for Mustache,” said, remembering the man’s dead stare from the hallway floor.
“That what you called him?” Elliot asked shrugging. “According to Clay, he was getting ready to shoot you in the back. If you ask me, a knife in the side is the best he could have hoped for.”
And not for the first time in his life, had to face the realization that Elliot and Clay had lived a far bloodier and meaner life than he ever had. For all the struggles growing up in a poor, crime-ridden area, he’d never had to face life and death like they had. It added to their decision to live a normal, loving life and scared the living crap out of when he thought about it.
Elliot’s face furrowed. “You might want to suck up your pride and get out of here.”
looked around. “What’s up?”
Elliot nodded toward a crowd forming. “That.”
As watched, he saw the crowd grow interested. At the center of it, a fancy black limousine pushed through the throng. frowned, knowing there was only one person who would show up at what was an active crime scene in a limo.
“Right, time to go get checked out,” said, swinging himself into the ambulance.
Nate’s face was twisted in a frown right up until appeared. His expression immediately softened, and he reached out from where he lay. A bandage had been strapped over his shoulder, and some of the color had returned to his features.
“Let’s get you into a nice, comfortable hospital bed,” told him, nodding toward the paramedics.
“The only thing comfortable about them is...well, nothing. But at least they’re better than being strapped to a stretcher for the past hour,” Nate told him.
took his hand, sitting beside him. “But at least you’ll probably get some gnarly drugs and some of that fancy hospital food I’ve heard so much about.”
“Oh, you sure know how to talk a man into something,” Nate groaned as the doors shut behind them and the engine revved to life.
bent forward, whispering in his ear. “If you’re good, I might talk you out of those pants.”
“I’m not wearing any,” Nate told him wryly, motioning at the sheet.
“Even better,” said.
Nate laughed, swatting his hand playfully before settling back onto the stretcher. Seeing his peaceful, contented expression was more than enough for as the ambulance drove off. Hopefully, they would have another good, solid moment’s worth of peace before everything crashed around them.
* * *
He should have known peace wasn’t an option.
They’d been allowed a couple of hours to be looked over at the hospital. They’d managed to retrieve the bullet from Nate’s shoulder and stitched the wound up. Everything else had been bruising that would heal with time, and they had, much to ’s relief, claimed there was no concussion to worry about either.
Ironically, it was who needed the most work. The wound on his side, originally a graze, had opened up during the fight, and he’d ended up with stitches. The bruising on his face had been of some concern, but they had eventually determined he didn’t have a concussion. The worst was the fractures, two to be exact, in his right arm, and three cracked ribs.
That hadn’t stopped him from refusing to be stuck in a hospital bed, however. As soon as he was dropped off in his bed and left alone, slipped from the sheets and roamed the halls. Thankfully, it hadn’t been too hard to find Nate. An earnest conversation with one of the nurses, and he had Nate’s room number.
His pleasure faded the moment he stepped into Nate’s room.
The sight of Nate lying in bed was nice, but the man standing a couple of yards away ruined any good feelings he might have had. He bore the same look as Nate, sharp angles in the face and a hard brow, but he had none of the warmth or that strange vulnerability realized he had come to associate with Nate.
“All things considered,” Dane Carter was saying as entered. “This situation isn’t nearly as disastrous as it could have been.”
“Is that so?” Nate asked calmly, eyes on his father.
Dane snorted. “No help from you, of course. This entire situation could have been avoided had you done what I told you.”
“Undoubtedly,” Nate agreed, with no shift in his tone.
“We can thankfully spin your downright stupid decisions into something that will work. With the attempt on your life foiled, the public can certainly be made to sympathize with your situation. You will, of course, be required to rest at home, where you belong. I trust you won’t give me any further trouble, as you have caused more than enough as it is,” Dane said, adjusting his cuff links.
couldn’t hold back anymore. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Dane looked up, surprise, then anger crossing his face. “You. What are you doing here?”
“What you aren’t,” said, crossing the room to stand beside Nate’s bed. “Coming to make sure Nate is okay.”
“You have no business being here,” Dane hissed.
“You know what,” said, taking Nate’s hand in his and holding it tight. “I think I do. As a matter of fact, I have more business being here than you do.”
“Excuse me?” Dane straightened abruptly.
sneered at him. “The only thing you care about is if Nate makes you look good, if he makes your family look good. You don’t give a flying fuck about him, and you’re his goddamn father. I belong here because he’s what matters most, not what he can do for me. You’re a selfish asshole who only cares about his ego. You don’t deserve to be here.”
“You will leave this room. And you will leave my son’s life immediately, or so help me,” Dane warned.
snorted. “I just had a bunch of guys willing to kill me and the ones I love because I stood in their way of getting to him. You think some douchebag in a suit is going to scare me?”
“Enough,” Nate said softly.
turned to him, heart thumping. “Nate?”
The man was holding the call button in his hand, thumb jammed against it. His eyes flickered to before resting once more on his father. No one spoke as a nurse entered the room, the man glancing between them.
“Uh, did you need something, Mr. Carter?” the nurse finally asked.
“Remove this…” Dane began, but Nate interrupted.
“Yes, Ethan. If you would, please remove this man from my room. He’s disturbing my rest, and I’m quite through here,” Nate said evenly, eyes on the nurse.
The nurse looked between Dane and . For a moment, he hesitated, unsure which Nate meant. When he spotted the resemblance between Dane and Nate, or perhaps knowing his mayor for who he was, the nurse advanced toward , hand outstretched.
“Not him,” Nate corrected softly.
Dane’s expression couldn’t have been more dumbfounded if Nate had struck him. “Nathaniel?”
Nate looked at the nurse. “Please remove my father from the room. I don’t think I’ll be needing him here any longer.”
“Nathaniel. Enough of this,” Dane snapped.
“Feel free to call security if necessary,” Nate told the nurse. His eyes locked on his father’s. “I’m sure the press would love to see the mayor dragged out of his son’s room, kicking and screaming.”
For a moment, Dane ballooned, swelling with such indignation and rage that thought he might explode. He wasn’t surprised, though disappointed, when the politician turned and strode out of the room, adjusting his coat. He shot them a look of deadly promise before disappearing into the hall.
“My apologies, Ethan,” Nate said to the nurse. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into the mess.”
“Uh, no worries, Mr. Carter. Can I get you anything else?”
“A water would be lovely.”
“Coming right up.”
“Thank you.”
gaped at Nate, not believing what he had just witnessed. Meanwhile, Nate barely noticed him, adjusting his blanket and settling back into his pillow. It was only after that he looked up and caught ’s stunned expression.
“What is it?” Nate asked softly.
sat down on the edge of the bed, still clinging to Nate’s hand. “That...was amazing.”
Nate gave him a pained smile. “I suppose it only makes sense that I would discover the truth after being nearly killed a few times. Despite everything that happened, he cared only that the family didn’t look bad, that he didn’t look bad.”
sneered. “Bastard.”
“Indeed. And when you showed up, I realized he would once again start in on you as he had done before, and that wasn’t happening, not while I was present. I knew I was willing to tolerate whatever he had to throw at me, but I wasn’t willing to see him do the same to you.”
“You shouldn’t…” began.
Nate interrupted him, smiling. “And I won’t. I’ve seen how willing people are to put themselves in danger for those they care about. You, Clay, Elliot, all put yourselves at risk for me. My father can’t even be bothered to risk the idea of something bad happening for my sake.”
“You gave up everything,” said, awed.
Nate winked at him. “Not everything. My name still counts for a lot, and my father risks a great deal if he wants to smear my name. Not to mention, there are trusts, things he can’t touch, that go straight to me. I no longer have the family I thought I had before, and I don’t have quite the expense account I did, but I have something infinitely better.”
“You have us,” whispered hoarsely.
“If you’ll have me,” Nate said.
bent down without hesitation, kissing Nate soundly. It was hard to put everything he felt swelling in his chest, threatening to choke him, into that kiss, but he tried. He held tight to Nate’s hand, pressing their foreheads together once the kiss was done.
“I’ll always have you, always,” promised.
“Then I’m in capable hands,” Nate told him.