Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
brONWYN
Ifeel the weight of someone staring at me as my eyes flutter open. Everything around me feels soft and light. I almost feel like I’m floating.
“Welcome back, cara.”
My hand feels like ice as Gio grabs it, his thumb lightly stroking my skin.
It takes a minute for me to blink away the fuzziness and focus on Gio. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed. His signature suit is nowhere in sight, and in its place is a pair of gray sweatpants and a tight white tee.
I’ve never seen him in comfy clothes before. Something about it feels intimate seeing him in clothing that no one else does. There’s a new layer of trust.
“Hi,” I croak.
I wince at the sound of my voice. My throat is dry, but for some reason it doesn’t hurt.
Gio reaches over and grabs a glass of water off the nightstand and brings the bendy straw to my lips.
I try to laugh at the purple umbrella he stuck in the glass, but it turns into a coughing fit.
“Drink slowly,” Gio orders as he helps me sit up just enough so the water doesn’t spill out of the cup.
“Thank you,” I answer softly as I release the straw and lay back down.
The room is spinning slightly from the small movement. But even with all that, I need to touch him. I need to hug him. Holding my hand isn’t enough. I lift my arm, but something tugs on the top of my hand, making me hiss out.
“Shit, be careful,” Gio says as I watch him untangle the tiny clear tubes from the blankets.
“Aldo put you on a morphine drip so you would be comfortable when you woke up. You had a pretty decent-sized welt on your head, a bullet graze on your cheek, and lacerations on your wrists and ankles from being tied up.”
I wish so badly I could take away what he’s feeling, but I can’t.
I can tell he’s trying to act like nothing is wrong for my sake, but his body is wound tight.
His jaw is tense. His eyes are hard. And to anyone else, his tone sounds like normal Gio.
But to me it sounds like he’s covering up the monster.
“So that’s why nothing hurts and I feel like I’m riding a fluffy cloud.”
“Yeah, baby, that’s why nothing hurts.”
“I’m okay, Gio.”
Gio sighs heavily. “Yeah, thank fuck you’re okay.”
“Come here,” I tell him. I want him lying beside me. Not sitting beside me like I’m fragile and he’s scared to touch me.
“I’m right here.”
“No, here.” I pat the bed. “Lie down.”
“Bronwyn…” Gio trails off. He looks conflicted. “You need to rest. I need to call Aldo in to check on you now that you’re awake.”
“Just lie with me for a minute.”
“This doesn’t bode well for my future,” Gio grumbles as he moves to carefully lie down.
“What doesn’t?”
“The ability to not say no to you.”
I laugh lightly. “You say no to me all the time.”
Gio carefully settles in next to me but doesn’t place his arm around me. It’s then that I notice a bandage around his bicep that has me tensing.
“What happened to your arm?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Gio brushes me off.
“Gio,” I say, my tone sounding tired with a hint of desperation for him to just spit it out.
His eyes find mine. “Just a small graze. Nothing I haven’t experienced before, and it probably won’t be the last. I’ll live.”
Great.
Because that sounds good.
The meds Aldo has pumping through my IV have me floating on my own fluffy cloud because I can’t find it in me to argue with him.
“Is he gone?” I ask after a moment of silence. I can barely hear my own voice.
“Yeah, cara, he’s gone.” Gio answers like he’s delivering me a blow he doesn’t want to.
I’m sure he’s expecting me to break down and be mad to the point I’ll never forgive him for what he did, but all I feel is relief.
Relief because I’ll never have to worry about what’s coming next with dad.
It might have taken my entire life to realize he never gave a shit about me, but I’m glad I did before he died.
In a weird way, it gave me a sense of closure.
“Good,” I tell him, my tone firm.
Gio’s mouth opens and closes as he second-guesses how he’s going to respond.
“You say that now, cara, but there’s going to come a time when it hits you and it won’t be a good thing.
It might not be today or tomorrow, but it’s going to happen.
But when it hits you, I’ll be by your side every step of the way.
You need to know that I’m the man who has your father’s blood on their hands.
You need to know who is going to be sleeping in your bed every night.
I won’t have that cloud of darkness lingering over us the rest of our lives.
This is the only time I’m going to give you an out, so if you think you won’t be able to live with knowing that, you need to let me know now. ”
The drugs are making it hard to wrap my head around what he’s saying, but there’s one thing I know.
I’m not leaving him.
Why would I leave a man who will kill for me if someone so much as looks at me the wrong way?
I turn my head to the side so I’m facing Gio. This might be the drugs talking, but he looks scared that I actually might leave him.
What a silly man.
I could never.
“Will you believe me if I tell you I find it incredibly fucking sexy that you killed my dad for me?” I ask.
A small smile spreads across my face as I watch his eyes go alert as they search my face for any signs of me not telling the truth.
I move my hand to cover his in reassurance.
“I don’t want anyone else. I want the man who will stop at nothing to make sure I breathe easy. I just want you.”
Gio sharply inhales as he brings his other hand to my face. His thumb lightly caressing it. “I’ll live the rest of my life making sure you never regret me.” He leans in and kisses me gently.
He meant it to be closed mouth but I’m over him treating me like I’m two seconds away from cracking. If anything hurts, the drugs will fix it.
I open my mouth and touch my tongue to his lips, applying enough pressure until he lets me inside. He doesn’t fight me for dominance. This kiss isn’t about that. It’s about us sealing our fate.
Someone coughs in the room, making Gio and I break apart.
“Looks like I’m interrupting something,” a man I’ve never seen before but I would recognize his voice from anywhere says with a small smirk on his lips.
“Wiz?” I ask in shock.
Aldo must have given me some damn good drugs if I’m seeing Wiz standing in front of me.
Does morphine make you hallucinate?
“In the flesh.” Wiz tucks his hands into his pockets as he raises his shoulders. “I wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing and if you needed anything.”
I’m staring at him like an idiot.
I never thought I would meet him in person.
“How did you know something happened to me?” I ask, completely dumbfounded. “How did you know where to find me?”
Wiz shifts on his feet, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I’m friends with your man.”
My eyes slide to Gio, who doesn’t look ashamed in the slightest for not telling me he knew who Wiz was.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Gio says to me. “I was going to tell you when I felt like the time was right.”
I roll my eyes. “You mean after you threw your dick around and asserted your dominance.”
“Yeah,” Gio says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“I’m sorry, Wiz.” I sigh.
“It ain’t no thing,” Wiz tells me, waving a hand.
“He’s a member of the Dirty Devils MC, cara. He knows the score,” Gio adds.
Oh shit.
I’ve been gaming with a man for years who is in a motorcycle club, and I never knew?
That’s honestly fucking insane.
I laugh in disbelief. It’s almost like all of this was meant to be.
“They got you on the good drugs, huh?” Wiz smiles.
“Uh huh,” I answer once I settle down.
“Well, I’ll head out so you can rest. I just needed to see with my own two eyes that you’re okay. Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
“I’m good. Thank you. Maybe we can play later once I get Aldo to get me off these drugs.” I yawn.
My small burst of energy is gone and the lulling feeling is trying to suck me back into sleep.
“Sure thing. I’ll let you rest.” Wiz lightly squeezes my foot as he leaves, earning a growl out of Gio.
“Oh stop. You know he’s my friend,” I sleepily tell him.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Gio grumbles.
“Mhm,” I mumble, my eyes drifting shut.
“Sleep, baby.” Gio kisses my temple. “This is the start of the rest of our lives.”
“Mmkay,” I continue to mumble. “Love you.”
I faintly hear him suck in a breath before whispering those same two words back to me. My eyes close as sleep sucks me in. Except this time I do it knowing I have my monster at my back, ready to slay any demons that may come my way.