Chapter Fifteen
I n the four days since she’d last seen Trouble, while recovering from her Russian goon beat down, Liz rode one emotional roller coaster after another—high then low, then toppling, rolling, spinning, before crashing. She didn’t know which way was up, what to think, how to feel—she only knew that the asshole had fucked up, betraying her for no good reason other than he wanted her gone and was too fucking weak to tell her to her face.
He took the coward’s way out.
And now the fucker was invading her space without even being in the same damn building.
Her hospital room was filled to overflowing with bouquets of wildflowers, tulips and daisies, and red and lavender roses. When she asked what the lavender roses meant, Nurse Janine smiled and said, “Unique love. They’re the roses you give to someone who changes you.”
Liz couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that, even though she secretly loved the look and scent of them. None of the bouquets came with a note, but she didn’t need a note to know they’d come from Trouble. The man was being ridiculous, and she had no idea why. She just wanted him to leave her the hell alone…at least until she’d recovered enough to deal with whatever the next steps were. She knew that, now he was aware of Erika, things would never go back to the way they once were.
And what’s wrong with that? Plenty. Trouble hadn’t wanted to be father, and his words that night at the bar had been clear enough on that subject.
But he seemed genuinely heartbroken about Erika….
He was probably angry about Liz keeping her a secret and not really about Erika at all. A man like Trouble, who thrived on being in control in all things, would hate that someone had dared keep something from him, even a kid he never wanted.
But the look on his face when he asked about her….
Sighing, Liz dropped her head back against the super uncomfortable chair Nurse Janine had deposited her in fifteen minutes ago, when she’d said Liz had spent enough time in the bed. After taking five laps around the ward floor, Liz had returned to her room to catch her breath. Damn, not only was she in pain, she was weak as hell. She’d hoped to be further along in her recovery so she could go home. She missed Erika so much, she was dreaming about her. They’d never been apart this long before, and it was killing her. Fae and Skathi were good about sending updates throughout the day, including videos and pictures of Erika. Thankfully, the women were good about making sure Erika’s usual daily routine was being disrupted as little as possible; she was still going to school and then daycare, but she was sleeping at Fae and Hawk’s house—at least until Liz got out of the hospital.
But what then? With her broken arm and bruised ribs, Liz was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, so how was she supposed to take care of herself, let alone Erika? And…what about her house? Those men had come to her home, beat her, and she knew she’d bled all over the kitchen floor. She’d have a nasty mess to clean up before she’d let Erika back in there…and was it even safe to go home with those Russians looking to make an example of her?
Her head pounding with her thoughts, Liz almost groaned at the newcomer entering the room.
“Hey Doc,” Tessa greeted her, her smile a little wobbly. The woman was tough as nails and could beat anyone’s ass, but she was a real softy when it came to people she cared about. It was one of the things Liz loved most about Tessa. “At least you don’t look like shit anymore; the bruises are fading.”
Liz snorted, grinning lopsidedly at Tessa. “Right? I used to look like I went ten rounds with you in the octagon.” Tessa was a former MMA fighter who had to prematurely retire after she was kidnapped by cartel psychos and shot in the knee. After surgeries and PT, she was able to walk again, but she’d never be able to fight professionally again.
Tessa chuckled, rolling her eyes. “I’m glad you’re doing better. You ready to get out of here?”
Liz nodded. “Hell yeah. Doctors always make the worst patients, and I am definitely tired of being here.”
Tessa sat on the side of the bed and crossed one leg over the other.
“Any word on when you’ll be discharged?”
“Dr. Faison is saying tomorrow, so I am hoping to be home by tomorrow night.”
At Liz’s reply, Tessa’s brow furrowed.
“Liz, I know you’re Super Doc, but you can’t go home. Not only is that place unsafe, but what are you going to do with that arm?”
The same questions Liz had been asking herself.
She sighed. “I know that, Tessa. I told Odin and Trouble about the Russians because I know they can deal with that, but… you’re right. That house isn’t safe for Erika. Or me. Not when the threat is still out there.”
Tessa smirked. “At least you’re being logical about everything.”
“What would be the point of arguing? I want Erika safe, and I want her with me, and I know my own limitations. But what are my options? It isn’t like I have another house to stay in, or a maid or nanny on-call to help with Erika.”
Tessa sighed heavily, shaking her head at Liz.
“Doc, we got you covered, girl. We took care of everything, don’t you worry.”
At Tessa’s words…and the weird gleam in her eyes, Liz suddenly felt wary.
“What do you mean?” she asked, unable to keep the suspicion from her voice.
Snickering, Tessa replied, “We got you a place to stay and all the help you need until you fully recover.”
Liz arched a single eyebrow, disbelief and apprehension coiling in her gut.
“Oh? And why do I feel like I am going to hate this?”
Tess shrugged. “Because you probably will, but what choice to you have?”
Good question. Not only did she need to keep herself and Erika safe until the mess with the Bratva was cleared up, she also needed help with things as simple as putting on her shirt, pulling up her pants, and even showering. You didn’t know how much you needed your arm until you couldn’t use it, and hers was out of commission for at least four weeks.
Liz sighed, rolling her eyes at the softly smiling Tessa.
“Fine,” Liz relented. “Are we staying with you?”
Tessa snorted. “Uh, no. Fang and I just bought that fixer-upper. It has three bedrooms, but two of them have had the drywall ripped out. The place is a construction zone. A no-go for a kid and a lady who can’t get around that easily.”
Liz huffed. Tessa and Fang had a not so easy beginning, because the man had previously lived in a mansion with five women who were all his girlfriends. He called them his Bee Hive. Once he met Tessa, however, he realized that one woman—the right woman—was all he needed. As soon as they made things official, he put his mansion on the market, and he moved in with Tessa. Now, they bought a place together, and Liz had hoped to stay with them…even if she was a little icked about living with two people who made PDA look like soft-core porn.
“Well, I know we can’t stay with Fae and Hawk, or Skathi and Odin.” While Erika had been staying with Fae and Hawk, it wasn’t an ideal situation for a recovering woman and her kid. Currently, Erika was sleeping on a pull-out couch in the living room, but that definitely wouldn’t be comfortable for someone who had to sleep with their arm elevated—and Erika kicked in her sleep. The last thing Liz needed was for her daughter to kick her injured, still healing arm while she was sleeping. Odin and Skathi had a large home he’d built with his woman and their unborn son in mind. However, Skathi was only three weeks from giving birth, and she didn’t need the added headache of a nine-year-old and a convalescing woman in her home once the baby arrived.
“So, who does that leave?” Liz knew the clubhouse was out because her kid didn’t need to be exposed to whatever the hell those bikers got up to at night—and she especially didn’t need to see her own father fucking Amelia out in the open. How could she ever explain that behavior to Erika when she finally got around to introducing father and daughter?
Tessa opened her mouth to answer, but the door behind her opened, and Trouble strode through, all loose hips, swagger, and smirk. His eyes were dark with unspoken words, words Liz never wanted to hear. Nothing he had to say was worth hearing.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked, her voice cold and yet blazing with anger. How dare the asshole swan in like he hadn’t cut her heart out of her chest for the second time in her life?
He didn’t answer, but he did stare, as if her face was more important than the question she’d asked. His gaze drifted over her features, probably taking in the faint yellow bruising on her cheek and chin. His jaw clenched before his gaze slammed into hers once more.
Her heart lurched. Caught. She was caught in a deep, green forest that teemed with life…and fire. There, in those depths, she saw raw hunger tempered with anger, seasoned with guilt, and something else he quickly hid behind hooded eyelids.
In the back of her mind, she could hear someone clearing their throat, but it took Trouble’s deep laugh to break the spell she’d put her own self under as she’d gazed into those fucking eyes of his. How did he do it? How could he still enthrall her even after all he’d done to her?
“Liz,” Tessa intruded. “He’s, uh…sorta your…only option.” Tessa pushed away from the bed, raising her hands as if to ward off an explosion, and Trouble stood there, behind Tessa, gaze pinned to Liz over Tessa’s shoulder…waiting.
She held her breath, waiting for Tessa to get to the punchline of the very obvious and seriously unfunny joke, but when Tessa pinched her lips shut and stared at Liz apologetically, Liz knew she was the joke.
Closing her eyes against the rising burn of frustrated tears, Liz sucked in a deep but wobbly breath, then blew it out slowly. She did this twice more before she opened her eyes. During her deep breathing, Tessa had moved closer to Liz’s injured side, and Trouble and moved further into the room until he was standing only feet from her. His arms were loose by his sides, but his hands were in tight fists against his thighs. The veins in his hands and forearms were pronounced, as if he were fighting to keep himself still. Under control.
Her gaze, caught on those arms, lifted with his movement as he rubbed at his beard. And his beard…it was trimmed once more, not at scraggly looking as it had been when she’d first seen him upon waking up four days ago. But the trimmed, dark blond beard had nothing on those lips. The top was plumper than the bottom, so he looked graced with a perpetual pout, one that combined with hooded eyes that darkened with desire had always melted her. And those lips…they were a drug, one she’d been addicted to from the moment he’d kissed her in Tipped, devouring her—heart and soul. Those lips that were even now curving into a wicked grin…because she’d been caught staring. At his mouth. Like a needy slut.
Ugh. She grunted, dropped her gaze, and huffed at herself and how easily she’d let those thoughts invade her mind. She was over him—had been for nearly nine years, so why was she even letting a sliver of those old feelings to return?
Refusing to be overwhelmed by the urge to stand up and kiss the hell out of him, Liz leaned back in the chair and met his gaze head on, this time ignoring his beautiful, succulent lips altogether. Men shouldn’t have such lush lips, dammit!
“Explain, because I’m about ten seconds from losing my ever-lovin’ mind.”
Amusement danced in Trouble’s eyes, and Tessa sighed, shaking her head.
“We know you can’t stay with any of the others because none of us have accommodations for a kid and a woman recovering from surgery. The other men in the club basically live at the clubhouse, and I doubt you want Erika to deal with their brand of living anyway.”
“You got that right,” Liz interjected.
“So that leaves Trouble,” Tessa concluded, shrugging, as if no other explanation was needed.
“That leaves Trouble?” Liz asked, incredulous, her gaze once more snapping to the man who was much too sexy to be in a building with cardiac patients. “But you live at the clubhouse, which means you are most certainly not an option. I know you don’t give a shit about me and what I need, but you should at least give a fuck about a kid— my kid.”
There was a beat of silence, and then, “Are you going to stop being a bitch long enough for me to say something, or are we going to spend the rest of our lives with you giving me bullshit every time I enter a room?”
She gasped, her eyes widening in affront. Who the hell did he think he was, calling her a bitch?
“If I’m a bitch, it’s only because I’m dealing with an asshole,” Liz sneered, making Tessa snort. She tried covering her laugh with her hand, but Liz saw the humor on her friend’s face. But this was no laughing matter—they were actually talking like she and Erika staying with Trouble was a foregone conclusion, and it wasn’t. Staying with Trouble was a fucking nuke in a freight train, headed for a collapsed bridge over a deep canyon. Could she be suck it up and maybe deal with having him around for a few days? Probably, as long as he never opened his mouth. But to stay with him for however long it would take the Raiders to deal with Danil Oblek…while also fielding the shit storm that was Trouble and Erika together….
But Erika…she’d be safer staying with the MC, and since none of the other members had a place for them….
“Come on, Skizzy,” Trouble rasped, moving closer. The utter size of him taking up all the space and air in the room. She’d always loved how large he was, how easily he’d engulfed her curvy, soft body in his hard, thick arms. And she absolutely adored looking up at him—all those times he’d come into a room, stride right over to her, wrap his arms around her, and stare down at her with his beautiful green eyes sparkling.
How had that all been a lie?
Her heart squeezing, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from cursing at him—for now and for then.
“I know that you and I have our history, but we can put that aside for now. Now, we need to focus on getting you recovered, and keeping Erika safe.”
Letting his words and her own fears swirl around in her head, she closed her eyes against the rising terror. She could do this. She could put aside her own anger and hatred of Trouble to make sure her little girl was safe.
Clearing her throat, she opened her eyes and met his intense gaze. He looked almost…anxious, as if he were waiting on pins and needles her for her answer.
“If not at the clubhouse, where will be stay?” she finally asked, and watched as Trouble’s shoulders seemed to release a smidgeon of the tension in his body as they relaxed slightly.
“I have a house. It isn’t much, but it is three bedrooms. There’s a small, fenced yard in the back where Erika can play, and the house has all the bells and whistles Savage Protection Inc. can provide. I know it’ll be an adjustment, having us all together, but we can make do.”
God, why did he have to sound so sensible? Where did the arrogant asshole from that morning in the club med clinic go? Back then he was all sensual ignorance that stank of sex and cheap perfume, and now he was…what? Trying to be a good man?
And speaking of sex and cheap perfume….
“What about Amelia? I’m telling you right now, Trouble, if that fucking skank comes anywhere near me or Erika, I will rip off her tits and shove them up her loose as fuck cooch. So keep her and your fuckfests to the clubhouse.”
Trouble’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open in shock. Beside her, Tessa’s head was thrown back, and she was roaring with laughter into the ceiling.
“O-oh my God,” Tessa wheezed. “That’s funny as shit, Doc. I never knew you were so bloodthirsty.”
Liz couldn’t help but laugh, too. “I will do whatever I have to do to make sure my daughter is safe and happy.” She lifted her gaze to a now smirking Trouble. The asshole.
“I can promise you that Amelia will never come within fifty feet of Erika. You can obviously handle yourself, Skizzy.”
God, she hated that nickname, but she ignored it, refusing to rise to the obvious bait.
Sucking in a breath scented with hospital disinfectant, and the heady aroma of leather, oil, bergamot, and man, Liz fisted her good hand, and said, “Fine. We’ll stay with you.”