Thirty
Hale
A sharp pain shot through my entire upper body, and I winced as my eyes snapped open. I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom for a moment as last night’s events replayed in my head.
Rich would be indebted to me for the rest of his goddamn life.
If I hadn’t moved in front of him when I did, the damn bullet would have gone right between his eyes.
Instead, the fucker who had pulled the gun was dead, along with his brother and cousin, and I managed to escape with a simple through-and-through.
It had, for the most part, been successful.
Not nearly the bloodbath we had been prepared for.
Another breathtaking throb, and I sucked in a breath.
Turning my head, I looked over to see if I was on a drip but found Bay, curled up on my sofa.
Asleep. I’d forgotten about that. In my drugged state last night, I’d told Ransom to go get her.
I’d wanted her to stay with me instead of some nurse Burl was going to send.
The corner of my mouth curled up as I thought about her reaction to this.
She wouldn’t have taken it well. I wished I’d been awake for that.
I should probably call Burl and get a nurse here.
Bay wasn’t going to want to change my bandages or help me go piss.
I squeezed my hand to make sure I could still use it.
I might not need help going to the toilet.
Lifting my arm wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon though.
She was nice to look at though. Maybe that was what I’d been thinking last night.
Wanting to have her to distract me from the pain.
I hadn’t been wrong about it. She was a distraction.
Before I’d had to leave last night, I’d enjoyed her company.
It wasn’t weird, having her in my room either.
Which surprised me. I would have thought having a woman in my personal space would bother me.
I never brought women in here. I had another room for the ones who had been vetted and I allowed into my home.
Complete with a theater screen for the porn and a stripper pole for my entertainment.
It had been a while since I’d used it though.
Normally, when I needed a fuck, I just went to the club and picked out a girl to take to a private room.
Her dark hair fell over the side of the sofa, and I wondered if it felt as silky as it looked.
I also wondered just how tight her little pink cunt was, but I wasn’t going to go there.
At least, I didn’t think I was. She was living under my roof, and that was never a good idea.
But then for how much longer? She’d be released soon.
What was I thinking? How the hell would I fuck her like this? I couldn’t even raise my arm.
She began to stir, and I watched as the pale beauty started to wake.
It was a captivating sight. I wished it weren’t, but what the fuck?
I might as well enjoy it. I didn’t have to worry about her not wanting to leave or getting clingy.
She was the first female I’d ever had in my house who wanted to run away.
When it was time for her to go, she would do so happily.
Instead of feeling relieved, a tightness in my chest, not caused by my wound, started to form.
Slash, who had been sleeping on his bed beside me, was now up and making his way around the bed toward her. I was surprised he hadn’t slept on the floor by her. My injury must had trumped his infatuation with her.
Dark lashes fluttered, and then there they were. Blue eyes staring right at me. First, she was confused, and then she blinked, her focus clearing as she sat up a little too quickly.
“Oh!” she said, as if surprised to find me here.
“Morning,” I drawled, then grunted from the pain getting worse as the meds wore off.
“That wasn’t a dream then,” she said, her brows puckering.
“Nope.”
She looked at my bandaged shoulder, then pushed the blanket off her and stood up. She was dressed in a large pink flannel pajama top and matching bottoms that stopped mid-thigh, showcasing her long legs.
“I, uh…are you okay?”
I slowly raised my focus from those legs to meet her eyes. “Not really. Bullet hole and all.”
“You really got shot then?” she asked.
Slash was in front of her then, and she began to rub his head in greeting without taking her eyes off me.
I smirked, then winced. “Didn’t you get this info last night from Burl?”
She nodded her head slowly. “Yes, but I thought it was a wine-induced dream.” She waved at the sofa. “Until I woke up here and…” She was looking at my shoulder again. “You are there, and I’m definitely awake.”
“I am, and this hurts like a son of a bitch. Did he leave anything for the pain, as I don’t seem to be hooked up to a drip?”
Her eyes widened, and she hurried over to me. “Yes, he did, um…” She began scanning the items on the bedside table furthest from me. “Here, this is the pill he said to give you.”
She brought it around to my side, and I held out my good arm so she could put it in my hand.
“Water?” I asked.
“Right.” She nodded and picked up the bottle beside me, opening it and holding it out. “I’m supposed to call him if you need something.”
I swallowed the pill and then took a long drink of the water before handing it back to her. “Thought he left you to deal with my needs,” I told her.
She frowned again. “About that—shouldn’t you have a nurse here? I-I’m not trained to deal with things like this.”
That caused me to chuckle, and, fuck, it hurt. “Don’t need a nurse,” I told her. “You’ll do just fine.”
Although she was right. I liked having her in here. Couldn’t say that was a good thing, but I’d been shot, saving a man’s life, so why not indulge? Treat myself to the eye candy and company.
My phone started ringing on the nightstand.
“Can you hand me that?” I asked, knowing I couldn’t turn over to get it just yet.
She picked it up and handed it to me without glancing at the screen. Had to say, I respected that. She wasn’t nosy.
Opal’s name, however, only caused me to sigh deeply.
“Hello,” I said, holding the phone to my ear.
“What the hell happened? You don’t go on runs anymore! Why were you there?” She sounded frantic.
One of her brothers must have told her. Dammit.
“Had to. It was Rich. My employee, my problem. And I’m fine. It was a through-and-through. No serious damage.”
“What happened with Rich? He’s not a cokehead now, is he?”
“No, but he has a gambling problem—or had one. Don’t think that will be an issue again.”
“Why couldn’t Ransom have taken Bane and Oz? They could have dealt with it.”
“I dealt with it just fine. I was the one who blocked the bullet meant for Rich’s head.”
She was silent for a moment, and I lifted my gaze back up to see Bay biting her bottom lip as she stared at me. Slash was back at her side. This was probably more information than she needed to hear, but she was in this now. She knew enough.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” she asked.
“Nah, Doc has me fixed up. Stop worrying about me. I’m fine,” I assured her.
“And you have a nurse there? Ransom said he didn’t leave you alone. That you were being seen after.”
I bit back a smile. “Yeah, I got a nurse. Real good one.”
Bay’s eyes narrowed at my words, and I winked. If I told Opal that Bay wasn’t a nurse but a female I had abducted and was holding here, she’d call Burl and demand he get a nurse here. I didn’t want one of those.
“All right. Keep me updated. I’ll let you rest. Don’t try and start doing things too soon. Let it heal properly.”
“I will,” I replied.
“Love you,” she told me.
“Love you too.”
She ended the call, and I handed the phone back to Bay. As she took it, she licked the bottom lip she’d been biting, then met my gaze.
“Guess you do have a daughter after all.”
“Told you I didn’t lie.”
One of her eyebrows shot up. “You just told your daughter that I was a nurse.”
That got another chuckle out of me, and I hissed from the reminder of my injury, which lit me up.
“Yeah, well, I lie about things that will keep my little girl from worrying. You’d think I was fucking elderly, the way she worries about me.”
“What? She wouldn’t have been okay with your prisoner taking care of you?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice as she took my phone and placed it back on the nightstand.
“Doubt it,” I replied.
“Shocking,” Bay said with a mocking glint in her eyes.
Yeah, I wasn’t going to mind this at all. Blaise could take his time searching Bay’s apartment and making a sweep through her personal life. I wanted to keep her a little bit longer. Just until this shoulder was better. Then she could go.