68. Waverly
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
WAVERLY
T he steady beep drags me from sleep, but my eyes refuse to open. There’s a pressure in the base of my skull that throbs, but I push past the pain, desperate to find the source of the annoying as fuck beeping.
It doesn’t take long for me to give up on my eyes and take stock of the other things around me. There are voices in the distance, but they’re too far away to make sense of what they’re saying.
The sharp stench of disinfectant touches my nose, which begins to put the pieces together in my scattered mind. I must be in the hospital. That explains the beeping and the smell, as well as the hard bed at my back.
My entire body is stiff as a board, making me think I likely haven’t moved in a while, which begs the question, how long have I been here?
But then I feel it. The hand in mine, the fingers brushing up and down my arm. The gentle kisses to my wrist every so often, and I realize I’m not alone.
Memories rush at me all at once. Being taken. Emmett and Kade’s cool indifference. Being shot. The sharp agony and my inability to remain conscious.
“I think she’s waking up.” Kade’s voice is soft, but close, meaning he’s the one holding my hand, and the thought makes the corners of my lips twitch. The big bad assassin at my bedside is amusing to me for some reason. Painkillers maybe? That would make sense seeing as I’ve never taken anything stronger than an aspirin in my life.
There’s creaking from the other side of the room, and then another hand engulfs my free one. “At last,” Emmett murmurs. “Open those pretty eyes for us, baby girl.”
I suck in a breath and try to do as he asked, but the pain in my head seems to worsen the more I try.
“It’s okay, Waverly.” Kade brushes a hand across my cheek. “Take your time. We’ve got you.”
I swallow and realize my mouth and throat are basically the Sahara, but as if they can read my mind, a straw presses to my lips.
“Have a drink for me, baby,” Emmett says softly as a hand brushes through my hair.
I’m not exactly surprised his caretaker side has come out, but I am that Kade seems to have one at all. Who would have thought?
But then I think back to all the little things he’s done to show me he cares. Maybe I did know. Maybe I always knew.
I drink down the cool liquid, the relief to my dry mouth almost immediate. Has water always tasted so damn good?
The straw is pulled away from my lips, and the faint sound of the cup hitting a table fills the quiet room.
A soft sigh falls from me, and I sink into the uncomfortable hospital bed. I’d do just about anything to be home on my lumpy mattress right now, so long as the two men beside me are there with me as well.
This time when I try to force my eyes open, I manage to crack one, and I’m immediately met with Emmett’s face hovering above mine. The lights are dim, thank God, and when I turn my head, I find Kade sitting in the chair beside me.
“There she is.” Emmett smiles down at me. “God, I’ve missed your eyes so much.”
“How long was I asleep?” I croak.
“Three days,” Kade tells me.
My eyes widen in surprise, and I turn my attention back to his twin. “Are you okay? You were shot.”
“We were both shot, baby. But we’re both okay. The bullet went straight through me, didn’t hit anything, and just had to be patched up in surgery. It didn’t hit anything for you either, but your surgery was a little more complicated because they had to dig the bullet out and patch up some internal bleeding. They think that’s why you took longer to wake up.”
My brows tug together, but knowing we’re both okay settles some of the worry whirling around my mind.
“Your dad?”
“Dead,” Kade replies, his voice void of emotion. “We also had a chat with Salvatore Draper, and he’s not going to come for you anymore.”
“His other option was dying, so I guess he chose right.” Emmett chuckles, but there’s no humor in the sound.
“And Elias and Wyatt are okay?”
Kade nods. “Those two fuckers seem to love getting out in the field every now and then, but I don’t think Leighton was too happy about it.”
I wince as guilt hits me, but it’s quickly soothed away when Emmett rests a palm against my cheek, forcing me to look up into his eyes.
“It’s not your fault, baby girl. None of this is your fault, and I don’t want you blaming yourself,” he says sternly.
“Wouldn’t want to start racking up punishments for when you’re all healed, would you?” Kade asks.
I shake my head. “No, definitely not.”
Both men chuckle, and I lean into the sound. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to have anyone care about me, let alone two men who look at me like I’m their own personal sun. It’s probably going to take some getting used to, but I’m more than ready to start a new life, one where I’m not scared of every bump in the night, and I don’t have to make every decision by myself.
I nibble at my lower lip, looking between them. “I love you,” I murmur, not trusting my voice under the weight of emotion belting down on me. “I know it’s too soon. You don’t have to say anything back. But I just wanted you both to know.”
Kade’s smile is so wide my stomach clenches. He’s so handsome when he grins that I can barely handle it, but I’m probably a while away from any kind of sex. “I love you too, Waverly. I have for a long time, and I’m just glad I didn’t have to pretend I didn’t, so I didn’t scare you away.”
Emmett grasps my chin and drags my attention to him. His smile is softer, but no less beautiful, and I don’t need him to say the words to know he feels the same. It’s written all over his face how he feels about me, and I don’t know how I possibly got lucky enough to have not one, but two men who feel so strongly about me.
“I think I loved you the minute I saw you that night in your father’s house. The way you looked at me like your savior.” He pauses, overcome by his own emotions. “Maybe that’s why I’ve spent the last decade trying to live up to that. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, a life the three of us are going to build together.”
Tears fall against my cheeks, but they’re quickly wiped away by Kade. “You’re stuck with us now, baby.”
“Good,” I whisper. “Nowhere else I’d want to be.”