Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
I’ve seen blood before. Mine and anonymous blood in vials, but I have never seen someone bleeding from a gunshot.
It’s terrifying.
Ryker demands from the front, “How bad?”
“I’m fine.” Justice’s tone brooks no argument. But he’s grimacing, more blood seeping between his index and middle fingers.
I grab his wrist. “Let me see it.”
“Rosalie—”
“Now.” I tug on his gigantic arm, not really standing a chance of pulling it away if he doesn’t want me to.
But he relents, exhales roughly, peeling his hand away.
Eek. You can do this.
My mind clicks into analytical mode. Information from the anatomy classes I took coming back with force.
“The bullet tore through the outer edge of the deltoid muscle,” I say, unable to keep the tremble out of my voice.
“That’s not very much blood,” Justice says, peering down at the wound.
He’s right, it’s a graze. Just the outer layers of skin taken. But it’s still a gunshot wound.
Ryker tosses a first-aid kit back to us. With practiced efficiency, Justice immediately finds a packet of gauze.
“I’ll clean it up later,” he promises.
“Let me hold pressure, you can lean back and relax.” My hand is tingling, worry making me shiver, as I rest my palm against the cut. “I’m guessing you won’t go to the hospital, even if I wanted you to.”
“No hospitals.” His hand covers mine, holding it there. “It’s not serious. I’ve gotten worse riding my bicycle when I was a kid.”
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline, or the near catastrophe, but my eyes are blurry.
Blinking, I look away while keeping the pressure on his wound, his hand still over mine.
We’re okay.
We are okay.
He leans his head back against the seat, sighing. “Fuck, I’m glad that’s over. We are NEVER doing that again.”
“Never say never,” I tease, just because he’s going to look at me, and right now, even though I’m teary and emotional, I want those eyes on me more than anything else.
A ghost of a smile touches his lips as he turns his head to look at me. “You’re just provoking me.”
“You might be right,” I whisper.
His thumb makes a circle on my knuckles. “Great idea on the freezer, bought us a couple of minutes.”
I grin, but shake my head. “You’re the one who fought everyone.”
His free hand comes up, cupping my cheek. “We got the sample. We got out. And you were incredible.”
Tears burn behind my eyes, but I blink them back. “But they shot you. With a real bullet.”
“I promise, I’ve had worse.”
We sway as Ryker takes a turn and I brace my leg against the door. “That’s not comforting. Please tell me this doesn’t happen often.”
He chuckles tiredly. “I won’t tell you.”
I’m not sure how I’m going to survive being in love with this man.
That is if we make it out of this truck in one piece.
Ryker’s driving like a man possessed, weaving through traffic, putting distance between us and Westerly’s building.
“Wait!” I shoot upright. “We left the other vehicle.”
“We’ll get it later. It was more important to get out of there,” Justice says.
“What if…they find it?”
Ryker glances in the rearview. “Could happen. Wouldn’t be the first time we lost a vehicle, won’t be the last.”
“Where does all this money come from?” I ask, confused.
“Agile has an angel donor, technically a business partner to Marshall,” Justice explains. “Billionaire whose wife was rescued once upon a time.”
He’s watching me, something intense and unreadable in his gaze.
“What?” I whisper.
“Just thinking.”
“About?”
His thumb strokes across my knuckles where he’s covering my hand that’s holding pressure. “How amazing you are. How I never saw you coming. I’m terrified to lose you.”
My breath catches, the heaviness in his voice weighing down my body.
“Same here. But life is full of uncertainty, we just have to be the best we can for each other.”
“I just hope I’m up for the job,” he adds softly, “I let my sister down in the most important time in her life.”
The pain in his words hits me hard.
“I think you’ve already proven that you’re going to do everything you can to keep me safe.”
The silence that follows is heavy, the truck shifting and swaying, eating up the road.
There’s still more work to be completed. There’s still a hired killer looking for me.
But I can’t dwell on that. I lean my head against his shoulder, soaking up the closeness that grounds me. “One moment, one day at a time. That’s all I can think of right now.”
“Speaking of finishing this,” Ryker says, tersely from the driver’s seat. “The guy we need to grab just got to his house. His door camera just picked him up.”
Justice's expression shifts instantly, all business again. “How far are we out?”
“Ten minutes from here,” Ryker says, speeding up as he enters a highway.
“Last round for the night,” Justice says, worry creasing his brows as he says, “I guess I shouldn’t have said never. Because you’re coming with us into this guy’s home.
I lean in, whispering against his lips, “Let's finish this."