Chapter 28 #3
Two more of the chief’s men have come down the stairs during all of this, silent and solid. They step in, take Daniel off the chief’s hands, and drag him toward the stairs without a word.
At the bottom step, the chief pauses and glances back at North. “I don’t want to see your face again anytime soon.”
North chortles loudly, breaking the silence. “Feeling’s mutual.”
The chief nods once. “I owe you another one.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” North says. “You came when I called. That was the deal.”
The chief grunts like he doesn’t agree, but he lets it stand.
Then he glances at his sister, who is still on her knees. “Up. You’re coming with me.”
Malia rises slowly. She stops when she reaches me.
She still can’t quite hold my gaze for more than a second at a time. “I don’t expect you to forgive me,” she says quietly. “I know better than that. But I’ll say it again—I’m sorry. Truly.” Her mouth trembles.
Then she steps back toward her brother, and this time when he takes her by the shoulder, there’s nothing gentle in it at all.
They go, and it finally feels like I can breathe again in this basement. And the four of us are alone.
North’s arms lock tighter around me from behind, as if he’s only just letting himself believe I’m still here.
Luca snuggles me from my side, and when he pulls back, Ace is there on my other side, kissing my temple, my cheek, the corner of my mouth as though he can’t decide where to start and can’t bear to stop touching me.
I’m smiling through the shaking without meaning to, my whole body feeling wrecked and weirdly light all at once.
“Are you okay?” Ace asks, voice ragged.
Luca’s thumb brushes under my eye, and North just buries his face for one second against my hair and breathes.
I cover his forearm with my hand and lean back into him. “I’m okay now,” I say. And then, because apparently I’m still me, even after all this, I add, “But let’s never do this again.”
That gets a broken huff of laughter out of all three of them.
“Brilliant plan,” Luca mutters. “Huge fan.”
I take a deep inhale and glance between them at the cuts, bruises, blood. The panic of the last hour is still in them, but so is relief.
“All the pieces are kind of making sense now,” I say quietly. “Not in a fun way. But in a way that explains what’s been going on since I arrived in Oahu.”
North’s chin brushes my hair. “Yeah.”
“The chief,” I whisper. “Will he hurt Malia?”
“No,” North says. “She’s blood, and he doesn’t hurt blood. He’ll pull her out of the gang business probably.”
“And Daniel?”
North is silent for half a second before he answers. “Angel, we won’t know. The chief takes him off the island, and after that, it stops being ours. That’s how this works.” His arms tighten once around me. “Are you with me?”
I nod against his chest. “I don’t want to know.”
“Good.”
Luca lifts my hand and turns it over carefully, kissing my knuckles with a tenderness that nearly undoes me more than the fight did. He closes his eyes for a second. “You’re bleeding.”
“So are all of you.”
“Yeah,” Ace says, exhaling loudly. “Can we please just rest for a minute before anyone has another life-changing revelation?”
A laugh slips out of me.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’d love that. But first, let’s get out of this basement.”
“Best idea you’ve had all night,” Luca says softly.
“And I’ll bandage everyone up.”
Ace glances down at the blood on his shirt and gives me a tired, wicked little smile. “Well, that’s nice. Almost get murdered and end up with a private nurse. There’s a silver lining.”
Luca huffs a laugh and wipes at his split lip with the back of his hand. “Knew she’d keep us.”
North presses a kiss to the side of my head, his mouth still warm against my skin. “We adore you too, angel.”
I stare between the three of them, and my throat tightens for one quick second before I manage to say, “Someone has to keep you all functional.”
Ace offers me his hand. “Can we change first, Nurse Adelaide, or are you planning to stitch us up exactly like this? Or do you need us naked?”
I’m laughing at his fake serious expression. “Maybe down to boxers, then I’m checking all of you.”
Luca groans as he straightens his back. “God, I love it when she gets bossy.”
“You would,” I mutter.
North’s hand settles at the small of my back as we head for the stairs. “Be nice. She’s about to save your life.”
“My life?” Ace says as we start upstairs together. “I’m hoping for a lot more tenderness than that. Maybe a cool cloth on the forehead. Soft words. A strong grip on my growing—”
“Ace!” I cut him off. I laugh, and the three of them keep watching me, grinning as if they can’t believe I’m still here. Me too.
“Keep talking,” I say as we climb. “It’ll make it easier to decide who gets the needle first.”
Ace clutches at his chest. “Threats from our nurse already. This relationship is moving fast.”
And with North warm at my back, Ace and Luca still sniping at each other in front of me, we head upstairs, bruised and bloodied and somehow still laughing. This is how I know I’m completely and madly in love with them.