Chapter Twelve
Skip
“So, what about your lifespan? Does having Reflex Syncope make it shorter?”
The girls have been interrogating Eli for the past hour about his condition.
How often does it happen?
Can you tell when it’s coming?
Is there medication?
Is it genetic?
Question after question after question.
Eli answers every one of them with that patient, soft voice of his. And the entire time, I sit across the room pretending not to hover.
Not that I mind the interrogation. After Eli fell asleep on my chest last night, I couldn’t follow him no matter how hard I tried. So, staying as still as possible so he wouldn’t wake up or move, I grabbed my phone and researched everything I could think of about Reflex Syncope.
Symptoms. Triggers. Treatment. Emergency precautions.
But I never once thought to look up lifespan.
And now my lungs won’t fucking work because what if this thing is a ticking clock I didn’t know about?
Eli breathes in. Soft. Steady. Completely unaware he’s strangling me with silence.
“Only if I have an episode while doing something that could result in my death,” he says finally. “Like driving, for example. Legally, I’m not allowed to drive because I could pass out in the middle of the freeway.”
All the women nod sympathetically.
I’m trying not to punch a hole in the concrete wall.
“What about swimming?” Sunny asks gently.
“I don’t,” Eli says with that small, sad smile that cuts me open. “It’s too risky. I don’t even take baths. If I passed out like I did the other day… even if I was lying down, once my body went limp, my head could slip under, and I’d drown.”
Fuck!
I don’t even realize I’ve stood up until every head turns toward me.
“You’re never taking a bath without me in the room,” I say, voice rougher than gravel. “Or a shower. Fuck.”
Eli looks over at me slowly, brows scrunching together like he’s trying to figure out why I sound like someone just told me the world is ending.
He holds my stare for a few seconds before Sunny asks another question, dragging his attention away like my heart wasn’t just hanging out of my damn chest.
My pulse is thundering behind my lungs, too loud, too violent, like my ribs are trying to cage a fucking earthquake. I drag a breath in through my nose, then another, trying to shove all these wild, unfamiliar emotions back where men like me usually keep them.
But they don’t go.
They won’t go.
Never in my life have I been worried about someone’s life and well-being the way I am with him. And I’ve only known him three fucking weeks.
Three weeks…and somehow this man has wormed himself under my skin, behind my ribs, straight into the spot I didn’t even know was empty.
Eli doesn’t know it…but he has the power to fucking destroy me.
“Listen up, everyone,” Spike says as he reenters the bunker from the main door.
“The compound is about to be home to a lot of fucking guests. Riley, Sunny, Lila, Abigail, and Eli…I need you five to stay down here with the children until I give the all-clear. I’ll have guards posted both inside and outside all entry points.
Under no circumstances are you to go topside until myself or one of my officers comes to retrieve you. ”
“What’s going on?” Riley asks immediately, moving closer to Spike.
“Maverick’s men will be arriving within the hour,” Spike says, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head. “His estate isn’t an option right now, so I’ve offered the compound as a meeting place for today.”
“They’re Maverick’s people,” Sunny says quietly. “Aren’t we safe from them? He’s our friend.”
“I’m not taking any chances, baby sister,” Spike says gently. “I trust Maverick with my life…with all of your lives…but some of his people might not agree with our friendship. It’s best if my most precious people stay where I know they’re safe.”
“Aww,” I pout. “I thought I was on your list of most precious people. You’re just going to throw me in the middle of danger?”
“Like you don’t live for it,” Spike snorts. “War room in ten. We need to discuss shit before they arrive.”
He turns and leaves. I turn straight toward Eli, whose face is white as a damn sheet.
Shit.
“Baby,” I say quietly, cupping his cute, round face. “Are you with me?”
“Will you actually be in danger up there?” he whispers. “Can’t you just… stay down here? With me?”
Oh, my sweet boy.
“I’ll be okay,” I promise, pressing a slow kiss to his forehead.
“Spike’s right. I live for these moments.
But I’m really fucking smart. I don’t do stupid shit that puts my life or my brothers’ lives in danger.
Everything I do is calculated. And I swear to you, Eli…
I’ll always do everything in my power to come back to you. ”
His breathing hitches. Too fast. Too shallow.
He’s panicking.
I can’t let that spiral go any further.
So I lean in and take his mouth…slow, deep, claiming him like he’s already claimed my fucking heart. It takes barely a brush of my tongue before he melts and opens for me. His fingers curl into my shirt like he’s drowning and I’m his lifeline.
When I finally pull back, he’s breathless.
“Not sure this is helping my racing heart,” he pants.
“I imagine not,” I chuckle, brushing my thumb across his lower lip. “Now it’s racing for a whole other reason.”
“Eli,” Abby says gently.
I step aside and let her in.
“I know you’re scared,” she tells him. “But I have something that might help. It helps me.”
With a little nudge, Eli follows her to the couch.
Abby taps a few buttons, and suddenly the security feed fills the screen…hallways, gates, open spaces of the compound.
“We can’t hear them,” she explains, “but we’ll be able to see them. We’ll know they’re safe.”
“No matter where they go?” he asks quietly.
Abby shakes her head. “Inside the war room isn’t monitored. Neither are the bathrooms. But everywhere else is.”
“Except the homes,” Riley adds. “There aren’t cameras inside the houses. But every porch has one. You’ll be able to see where Skip is, no matter where he goes. Even if you lose sight of him for a minute.”
Eli nods, but his eyes keep darting to me like he thinks I might disappear if he looks away too long.
My chest squeezes almost painfully.
Yeah.
This boy is going to fucking wreck me.
***Eli***
“There are so many of them,” Lila says as we watch Maverick’s men swarm the compound on the security screens. Black suits, guns, stern faces…everywhere. “They outnumber our guys ten to one.”
“If Maverick turns on us,” Riley whispers, voice shaking, “he could take us down with a flick of his wrist. There are hundreds of them out there. Hundreds. And we have what? Maybe thirty men up there?”
“Oh no. Eli.”
I can’t focus. The edges of my vision shimmer, a slow, dangerous pulse. I’m trying every breathing technique known to mankind, but it’s like my lungs forgot how to work.
My heart is galloping. My body is buzzing. My legs feel like they’ve been unplugged.
Someone speaks near me…Sunny, I think…but her voice is muffled, far away, like she’s talking to me from the bottom of a pool.
“Skip said if he passes out, it won’t last long,” someone murmurs. “We just need to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself when he falls.”
I feel hands guiding me downward.
“Easy, Eli,” Sunny says softly, lowering me onto the couch. “We’ve got you. Just breathe, honey. You’re okay.”
“I…I can’t…” My throat tightens. My fingers go numb. “There’s… there’s so many.”
Terrifying. Overwhelming. Too much.
Abby kneels right beside me, gripping my hand tight.
“Look at me,” she says, voice steady, eyes determined. “Skip is up there. Spike is up there. Bones is up there. Max. Foster. Knuckles. Crusher. Those men would let the world burn before they let anything happen to us.”
“But they’re outnumbered,” I whisper. “So badly. What if…What if someone turns a gun on Skip? What if…”
“Eli,” Abby says, cupping my cheek gently, “listen to me. You’re spiraling.”
My breath stutters.
She presses her forehead gently against mine.
“You’re safe. You’re not alone. And Skip isn’t stupid enough to leave you without coming back.”
“But he might not be able to.”
“He will,” Abby says fiercely. “I’ve never seen a man so obsessed with another person in my life. Skip is coming back.”
My eyes burn. My lips tremble. My hands are ice-cold.
“I don’t think this is a spell,” Riley says softly. “I think he’s having a panic attack.”
“Which will turn into one of his spells if we don’t calm him down,” Lila adds, pressing a cool cloth gently against my forehead. “Eli, sweetheart, breathe with me. In… two… out… four…”
It takes several long, shaky minutes before the roaring in my ears finally quiets. My lungs still feel tight, but I’m not drowning anymore.
Just exhausted. Embarrassed. Like all my insides are trembling.
“I feel like such a wuss,” I mumble, staring down at my hands. “You’re all strong women, and here I am…a man who had to be pulled back from the edge of a freaking cliff.”
My voice cracks at the last word. Perfect. Let’s add that to my growing list of humiliations.
Sunny sits beside me and gently nudges my knee with hers.
“Hey,” she says softly, “don’t talk about our friend like that.”
I blink at her. “Your… what?”
“Our friend,” she repeats, smiling.
“Eli, look at the screen,” Abby rushes to say.
She’s pointing at one of the many rooms on the screen.
And there he is…Skip. He’s looking right at the camera…right at me…and winks.
“It’s like he knows you’re watching,” Sunny smiles. “He’s telling you that everything is okay.”
“That is so romantic,” Abby sighs. “Alright, let’s make lunch and distract ourselves.”
So, that’s what we do. These beautiful women didn’t make me feel less because I was freaking out. I know I’m not the type of man they’re used to having around, but they don’t make me feel bad because of it.