Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
ADAM
The fire blazed in front of us, and even as I lit it, I knew for sure that this was going to have a shit ton of consequences. I should have stopped then, should have turned and walked away. But I didn't. I wanted to see his world burn like my world had. I wanted the things he cared about the most taken from him. I wanted his pain to match my own.
How did he feel when we took his son?
Would he fall to his knees at his brother's feet? Wear his blood like my wife's had covered my skin?
It was reckless, I'd admit.
But I wouldn't make the same mistakes that I had made in the past. I wouldn't risk Belle. Not when she had Mercer, Ace, and me protecting her. She was safe.
"Everyone made it out just fine." I sat on the step outside of my home next to Ace. "You guys good?"
"Mercer was shot." My heart stopped, and he stared straight ahead, like delivering that news didn't affect him at all. I rose to my feet, needing confirmation that he was okay, but Ace grabbed my arm, pulling me to the step. "He's fine. It was a graze to the arm. But I was fucking terrified, Adam. I thought for sure for a moment he would die right there at my feet and I'd live through another nightmare. My heart wouldn't survive something like that again."
I plopped back down, burying my face in my palms. "That's too fucking close. It should have been an easy job. He was a frail old man, for Christ’s sake."
"Yes, but the part you forgot to mention, he created their organization. He was the original crime boss before he handed it over to his brother."
"I… fuck. I didn't know."
"We were careless with our need for revenge, and it almost cost us. This can't happen again. We're about to be a family, for fuck's sake. What are we doing?" He turned his eyes on me, the heat in them burning, and I couldn't tell if it was still adrenaline or anger.
"No more," I promised. "We kill him off and we stop this life."
"Is it that easy?"
I glanced at his hand, coated in dried blood. He hadn't even been inside to clean up. Had he waited out here for me this whole time? "It's going to have to be. We can't raise children in this life."
He shook his head and sighed. "You know, when you brought her here, you were trying to save her."
"I was." There was no doubt about that in my mind. She would have been in a much worse position had she remained with her father or married into the Accardo family.
"No, she saved us. Look at us. Look at how fucked up we were. We slaughtered a church full of people just to make a point of power. And now? Now we're thinking of leaving the life of crime because of her. A fucking girl with the enemy's child in her belly."
I turned so fast I could have gotten whiplash. "Watch your fucking mouth when you talk about my wife, Ace. I'd hate to pick between you and her."
"That wasn't what I meant, and you know it. I love Belle. You know that. I was only saying, who would have thought that a single girl, despite the circumstances, was what we needed to grow and become whole again?"
Love.
A pit formed in my stomach at the word my best friend used so freely, but I'd yet to say. I should tell her. I knew in my heart that I felt nothing but love for her, but my mind was afraid to let that admission slip.
"I didn't realize how much we needed her," I admitted before I knocked my knee to the side, hitting his. "Come inside; get cleaned up. You reek of blood."
"I've smelled of worse," he grumbled, but still, he stood, following me into the house that smelled faintly of chocolate chip cookies and comfort.
We found them in our bathroom upstairs, with their bodies submerged into the oversized jet tub. Belle's body was nestled between Mercer's thighs and his head was leaned back, eyes closed. Her head was resting against his chest, and they just looked so fucking peaceful that for a swift moment, I was jealous that it wasn't me with her in the tub. I let the jealousy pass, knowing that Mercer in this moment needed it more.
That was how this had to work, how sharing her needed to be. A compromise and to recognize that there was no room for jealousy or favoritism among us. She cared for us all the same. She made that clear every damn day. She looked toward each of us for various reasons. Each of us were special in her beautiful green eyes.
I kept my steps quiet, not wanting to disturb Mercer. Still, Belle's slitted eyes opened wider, falling on me. I pointed to Mercer, while whispering, "I just- I wanted to check on him."
And I did. I needed to see with my own eyes that he was okay. That if Ace was this torn up over what happened, that he was at least whole. Belle made a motion like she was throwing back pills and chasing it with water and I nodded my understanding. She probably forced him to down some painkillers. I could kiss her for that alone. We weren't known for taking care of ourselves. Hell, we could barely take care of each other either. We needed her in our lives to keep us on track.
I grabbed a fluffy towel from the shelf, looking long and hard at the plate of half-eaten cookies that laid on the floor. I met her gaze, and she smirked. "We were hungry."
"Yeah, I can only imagine why." I sighed before reaching into the water and wetting my fingers. I brought my wet hand up to her cheek, wiping away the smear of blood that I knew had been from Mercer's arm. "Bet you got this playing doctor, didn't you?" Her whole body turned a pretty shade of pink. Yeah, it was exactly as I thought. I knew how the adrenaline crash worked, knew the desire to sink into anything you could to relieve some of that pressure you felt inside. "Let me help you up, baby. Then I'll get him to bed."
He really was out cold. He rarely slept this soundly, but I was glad she got him to take the potent stuff. I reached my hand out, offering it to her. She took it, pulling herself up, and I was there, stabilizing her as she stood in the water before lifting her leg and stepping out.
Fuck.
Her body was mesmerizing. The curve of her stomach was so fucking enticing that I wanted to forget about my best friend and take my wife to bed, show her every way I appreciated the curves she so effortlessly flaunted.
"Pregnancy looks good on you."
Her soft voice floated over me. "Nothing seems to fit lately."
"We'll buy you anything you want; you know that, baby. Just ask." I opened the oversized towel, and she stepped into it before I closed the material, cocooning her body.
"I don't want to bother you."
"I'll get you a card," I promised, unsure why I hadn't thought about that until now. Probably because we'd do anything she asked us. She didn't need to lift a finger. "You can order whatever you need online. For you or the baby."
"Is that too much? I don't want to be a burden." She was toying with that bottom lip again.
"Baby." I crouched so my eyes were locked on hers. "My girls are never a burden. And we've got more money than we could ever spend ourselves in this lifetime." When she was still unsure, I added, "I'm sure Hannah will help you."
"She does like to shop," she agreed.
"Buy her whatever she wants, too," I offered.
Was that weird? I just wanted her to be happy, and if her happiness depended on her best friend, I'd do whatever I could to please them both.
"Just because you can doesn't mean you need to." Her hand patted my cheek affectionately. "I appreciate all you've done for my friend. She needed out of her job, and she didn't realize how awful it was until she finally left it. You gave her a safe place. You're practically a hero."
My cheeks heated, which was new. But I'd never been called a hero before. A man like me couldn't be a hero when my hands were coated in so much blood that water washed from my body always ran red. I swallowed past the knot in my throat, my voice hoarse. "I need to get you dressed."
Wordlessly, I placed her by the end of the bed, then I went to my dresser and pulled out my shirt. Walking back to her, I finished toweling her off before I slipped it over her head. "Look at that. This shirt fits you just fine."
She looked down. The shirt that fit me like a glove still hung over her tiny frame, ending at an inch above her knee. Her eyes met mine again. "Thank you."
I leaned in, burying my fingers in her hair before gently brushing my lips against hers. "You never have to thank me for a damn thing."
"I do," she whispered.
I sighed, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Time for bed, baby." I scooped her up and used my free hand to pull back the bedding before laying her on the mattress. One last kiss before I pulled back. "Get some rest."
Walking away from her in our bed was the hardest thing I'd done all night. That was saying a lot, since I led to so much destruction. But by her side was the only place I wanted to be. Except my best friend had a total adrenaline crash while bathing with our girl, and I couldn't leave him out cold in the bath all night.
I grabbed him a pair of boxers and a towel before I approached. Ace was leaning against the sink with freshly washed hands, watching him while I was dealing with Belle, so I turned to him. "Was he fine after? How was the blood loss?"
"He seemed to do well after the initial hit. Refused to let me check up on it."
"But?" I prompted.
"There was a lot of blood. Sprayed against the wall and smeared when he hit. No choice but to torch the place with all that blood he left behind."
I stepped closer to Mercer. "The water is clear. He must have rinsed it off prior or drained the tub."
"We'll bandage up his arm before putting him to bed," Ace confirmed. The angle of Mercer's body made it hard to see the damage.
"Help me wake him." Mercer was shit to wake on the best of days, but on a day where he tossed back some pain meds, which never really sat the best with him anyway, well... I just hoped we could wake the big lug.
I leaned down, keeping my face at a distance in case he woke up swinging, and pressed into his shoulder. "Merc." When he didn't stir, I pushed into his shoulder harder. "Mercer."
Ace leaned over, pulling the plug of the bathtub up so the water drained before patting his legs. "Mercer. Get the fuck up or I'm taking the spot next to Bellamy in bed."
The mention of her name had his eyes fluttering a little. Oh yeah, our girl got us all going. "Maybe we should leave him here and fuck her instead."
I knew I was goading him, but damn, we all had a jealous, greedy streak. It didn't matter that he probably already fucked her the minute he got home. He wanted her again because she was something we wanted to have. Men were jealous creatures at their core.
He squinted his eyes tightly. "Fuck off and leave our girl out of this."
"There he is." Ace smirked. "Knew we'd get through to him."
I knelt at the side of the tub. "You fell asleep taking a bath with our girl."
"I fucking didn't," he argued, but his words were slightly slurred, spoken with no passion behind them.
"Where she at now?" I asked, and it was in that moment he realized she was gone, and he had slept through the whole fucking thing.
He sat up, his eyes popping open in a panic, the blue so much more intense under the weight of the pain meds. "Where's Belle?"
"In bed, waiting for your lazy ass," Ace offered. He thrummed his fingers over the edge of the tub and stood up. "Need help standing?"
Mercer placed his palm on each side of the tub. "I've got it. I'm not fucking wasted; I was just tired is all."
Ace and I met each other's eyes knowingly, but backed up. "Alright then, get your ass out of the empty tub. I'd like to shower and get to bed, too."
Mercer's brows furrowed. "Where did the water go?"
I shook my head. I couldn’t believe him sometimes. He's the definition of do not operate a vehicle while under the influence of this medication. "Up you go, big boy."
"Don't ever fucking call me that."
He was so fucking testy.
He pushed himself up, his arms shaking, and when he got to full standing, he swayed. He was lucky he wasn't alone with Belle for long in this state. He could have really fucking hurt her. I grabbed his arm, viewing the damage for the first time. It was really fucking deep.
"You should have gotten this looked at," I barked.
"Surface wound," he muttered.
"It needs stitches. No wonder you're so loopy. You probably lost a lot of blood on top of the pain meds you popped." My grip tightened on his arm as he tilted his whole body, trying to get a look at the damage.
"So stitch it."
Not what I planned to do with my fucking night, but here we were. It took another ten minutes before Ace and I had gathered the supplies we needed. We didn't want to wake Belle, who had practically fallen to sleep instantly, so we had placed Mercer in our sitting lounge to wait for us. Not shockingly, he was asleep again by the time we were ready.
A pour of disinfectant on the wound woke him up quick enough, nearly ending in Ace getting a black eye. Ace grinned, not bothered by the fact that he was almost murdered. "Worth it. That's what you fucking get for scaring me at that house."
"I didn't know he'd be waiting for us," Mercer muttered, his skin looking a little green after that dose of disinfectant.
"If you're going to be sick, let us know."
"I'm fine. Just do it," he growled.
So I plunged the needle into his skin, watching as he gritted his teeth through the pain as I stitched up the gaping wound that could have cost him his life.