Chapter 34
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Kieran
A week ago, I was single and ready to mingle.
Fine, I wasn’t ready to mingle. I hated mingling. That’s not the point. The point is that I could if I wanted to.
I could eat dinner and enjoy a glass of wine while hearing my own thoughts. Pick up and leave town at the drop of a hat. I answered to no one. My condo was spotless.
If I had the urge to fuck, I’d do it and then go back home to the bed I had all to myself.
And now?
Now the me from a week ago would be horrified at myself.
No longer single. Completely attached. A father to fish, for chrissakes! I couldn’t simply make a nice meal to enjoy in silence. Now I had to worry if it was nutritionally sound enough to keep someone alive. And forget silence. Hazard talked so much even his echo got tired.
I couldn’t even leave the house without someone snooping around and giving their finds ridiculous names.
Who called an artillery supply a murder cabinet?
There was a barstool in my living room. Dirt and water on the floor.
All my shirts needed washed, and his underwear was loud.
Not to mention the vile habits of chewing his own nails and kicking me in his sleep.
Even worse?
I was now in bed with the mob.
Remember what I said about not shitting where you sleep?
I should be embarrassed.
“Do you think Ghost is okay?” Haz asked as we approached the condo door.
“He’s fine.”
I felt his attention from the corners of his eyes. “Aren’t you even worried about him at all?”
I grunted. Truth was I wasn’t worried about Ghost. I knew he was fine. He’d survived a hell of a lot worse.
After unlocking the door, I pushed it open, and Haz raced forward. I caught him by the neck and pulled him back. He let out a strangled sound and twisted to look up at me.
“I’ll go in first,” I said.
“It’s literally our house,” he retorted, but his face fell immediately. “Isn’t it?”
He really was a hazard. A hazard to my heart.
My grip on his neck softened, turning into a four-finger caress. “Of course it’s our house, baby doll.” I assured him. “Yours and mine. But we just left a meeting with the mob. I’ll go in first in case there is trouble.”
“But Uncle Enzo and Uncle Gio said we were safe!”
My patience was strained. “You can’t trust someone you just met.”
“But I just met you.”
The devil is testing my murderous inclinations. “I’m your exception,” I told him, more aggressive than I intended.
“Am I yours?”
The devil has nothing on you. “You are,” I admitted softly. “The exception to my very existence.”
Puckering his lips, he rose on tiptoes. Unable to resist, I met him halfway.
What was supposed to be a simple peck turned into more as our lips rubbed and parted, my tongue sweeping in to lazily explore his mouth.
Peace I hadn’t known since the last time we’d kissed smoothed out the worst of my edges, and the way his tongue pushed back against mine gave the me from last week the middle finger.
The loud clearing of a throat interrupted the little escape from reality when Haz lifted his head. Irritated, my lips chased his. My greed for him knew no bounds.
Haz came back, and I kissed his smile, but then he was gone again.
“Doc, thank you so much for coming. How’s Ghost?”
He started forward, and I anchored my arm around his waist.
“If it wasn’t safe in there, I think we would know,” he said.
I still wasn’t letting go. I didn’t want to. He couldn’t make me.
Even though I said none of that, Haz smiled faintly and laid his hand over mine where I grasped him before turning back to Doc.
“Ghost is stable,” he told us as we entered the apartment.
The doctor continued speaking, likely updating us on Ghost’s condition, but I didn’t hear. My attention instantly veered to the stuff all over the island.
A bloody shirt, a few water bottles, and the keys to the SUV. An ice tray. A bottle of pain reliever and a bloody towel. There were shoes scattered on the floor with Ghost’s bloody leather jacket.
A shrill whistle pierced the room, and I followed the sound into the kitchen where the kettle was boiling angrily, steam shooting out of the spout.
I gazed around for the person who put it on the burner and then walked away, but of course the kitchen was empty.
My eye twitched as it continued to whistle. Just as I reached for it, Rett appeared, bare feet slapping over the floor.
“I got it!” he said, sliding it to another burner. Turning to me, he explained, “I was going to make tea, but then I wasn’t sure if you had any. And then doc said I could go see Ghost. I forgot about the water…” His words trailed off, but I continued to stare.
Hazard rushed in, opening and closing cabinets. When he found the one with mugs, he made a sound and then hoisted himself onto the counter so he could reach one.
I glanced back at the front door. Surely, this wasn’t my home. This was a fucking zoo.
“Doc, do you want tea?” Hazard yelled.
“Tea would be nice,” he called from somewhere in the condo.
Glass clanked, and I shot forward, grabbing Haz around the waist and lifting him off the counter. “Stop acting like a heathen.”
“I’m making tea for our guests.”
“I’m telling them to leave.”
Hazard’s eyes narrowed. “Doc dropped everything to come over here and save our best friend’s life. We are making him tea.”
“Ghost was nowhere near death.”
“You’re about to be,” he quipped.
I arched my brow. “Is that a threat?”
“Yes.” Hazard was cheeky, wrapping his arms around my neck. “My boyfriend is a hitman. I’ve learned things.”
Damn my marshmallow spine.
“How many cups?” I asked.
“Are you having some?”
I gave him a look.
“Three, then.”
I got down three identical ceramic mugs and lined them up on the counter. Then I found some tea bags.
“Honey?”
“Do you put sugar in everything?” I wanted to know.
“Only stuff that’s bitter,” he said, grabbing the honey out of my hand to uncap it. I watched him drizzle the golden stuff over his finger.
“You’re making a mess,” I scolded, watching the thick syrup drip toward his knuckle.
“You’re very bitter, Kieran,” Hazard said, pushing the finger to my lips. “You better have some.”
Heat shot through me.
“Don’t you want a taste?” Haz asked.
His breath caught when I snatched his wrist and slid my lips over his finger, humming when the sweetness hit my tastebuds. I sucked it deeper, twisting my tongue until I licked all the honey away. Even when it was gone, I continued to suck, enjoying the blush spreading over Haz’s cheeks.
I dragged back slowly, giving him back his finger inch by inch, and when I was done, I whispered, “It’s not as sweet as you.”
Haz’s teeth sank into his lip, and he swayed forward.
“I’ll just make it,” Rett said. I’d forgotten he was even there.
Haz pulled back to wash his hands and help. “How is he?” he asked Rett.
“Finally asleep. Doc tried to give him something when he first got here, but he refused, said he needed to stay alert. When you called and said you were on your way, he finally agreed.”
I nodded to myself because it was exactly what I would have done.
“I’m so glad he’s going to be okay,” Haz said.
See? I didn’t even need to listen to everything Doc said because I already knew.
“I’m going to see him. I won’t wake him. I just want to check on him,” Haz said.
Rett nodded.
“Is it okay if I stay tonight?” he asked, eyes lifting to me. “I just… I can’t leave him yet.”
“Of course you can,” Haz said instantly. “Stay as long as you like.”
This was not a bed and breakfast.
“Right, Kieran?” Haz questioned, giving me a look.
I noted Rett staring at me hopefully, obviously wanting my permission too. I don’t know why. No one in this place listened to me anyway.
“Ahh…” I started. Haz’s eyes narrowed. “Of course. Stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you,” Rett said, and I noticed for the first time just how exhausted he looked. He was almost frail.
“You should eat something,” I blurted.
Both Haz and Rett seemed surprised. Hell, I was too.
“You missed dinner,” I said, gruff. “If you pass out, that’s on you.”
I left the kitchen, heading toward the living room where I expected to find Ghost on the couch… except he wasn’t.
Oh, hell no.
“Where’s Ghost?” Haz said, coming up behind me.
“Doc thought the bed would be better…” Rett said, eyes straying to me.
“Ghost is in my bed?” I asked, the words nearly strangling me.
“He lost a lot of blood,” Rett explained, fidgeting.
I glanced at the plants perched on the barstool that belonged at the island. Both eyes twitched.
“The bed is way more comfortable than the couch. You made the right decision,” Hazard told his friend.
This was why I didn’t have friends.
Too much work.
“Let’s go see Ghost and take Doc his tea.”
I watched the pair go down the hall, tea splashing from a mug and splattering on the floor.
I could just move. Start over in a new house. Burn this place down.
I trailed back to the bedroom, my bedroom, where another man was rolling around in my bed—which was surprisingly a better option than staying out in the kitchen that looked like a pack of hoarders had moved in—to find Haz and Rett standing beside the king-sized bed while Doc packed up his bag.
“He better be wearing pants,” I intoned, gazing at Ghost who was shirtless.
Haz picked up the blankets to look, and I grabbed them from his hands. “Don’t look,” I snarled.
“You asked,” Haz pointed out.
“He’s wearing pants,” Rett confirmed. “I got them from your closet.”
Ever wonder if you can actually feel your blood pressure rise? Well, you can.
New house and new clothes.
“He should rest comfortably the rest of the night,” Doc said, sipping the tea he was given.
“I was able to remove the bullet, and I’ve given him some antibiotics as well as pain medication.
He’s to keep the IV in until I come back tomorrow to check on him.
It will have to be the afternoon because I have patients in the morning. ”
“Thank you,” Hazard said.
“You can change the fluid bag?” Doc asked me.
I nodded.