Chapter 38
38
H e was out of surgery and on his way to the surgical ICU, according to the doctor, who also said things looked good. Barring some unforeseen complications, Bo was expected to make a full recovery. He was on a ventilator, but they were looking to start weaning him off it. Motherfucker was too damn evil to die.
Good. If him dying wouldn’t be a worry, I’d have the bandwidth to kill Zaccai.
“So, he can have visitors?” Tavares asked.
I frowned, glancing at him to see concern in his eyes. Shit, maybe he did care about his father.
Nah.
“After they get him settled, they’ll come out to the ICU waiting area and let you all know,” the doctor replied.
I thanked him, and Ray and I made our way up to that waiting room.
My ass had barely hit the seat when Bo’s mother appeared before me…again. Ray was in the restroom, so I supposed she thought she was safe with just me.
That’s craaaaazy.
Without an invitation, she took the seat next to mine.
Sighing, I said, “Look?—”
With lifted hands, she declared, “I come in peace. I apologize for the way I behaved earlier. I was worried about my son, and you were sitting there looking nonchalant. I think I forgot what kind of woman you are.”
I looked at her. “And what kind of woman is that? Before you answer, just know I don’t need a gun to fuck you up, and yes, I will fight an old bitch.”
She blinked a few times before saying, “Tough. You’re tough. You’re also mean, and I suppose those attributes are what attracted my son to you. You are honestly a lot like me.”
“No…I’m a lot of things, but I’m not evil. Sorry.”
She smiled. “Neither am I. I’m merely a woman who believes in protecting what’s hers.”
“The only thing you care about protecting is your money, or rather, your access to my husband’s money. That, plus your little ego.”
“Touché. I do care about my family, too, you know? I love your husband, no matter what he might have told you.”
“Lady, he ain’t had to tell me a got damn thing. I’ve seen you in action, remember?”
“That…at the time, I believed his feelings for you would cloud his judgement. Bo was always so methodical. I’d never seen him like he was with you. I knew he’d give you anything.”
“And he did. Sucks for you.”
“No, I think you’re an excellent choice to run The Agency with him.”
“Mm-hmm.” I lowered my voice and added, “If I find out you had anything to do with this, I’ma fuck you all the way up, and then I’ll fuck Zaccai up for good measure. Get away from me and stay away from me. When they call for visitors, do not get your old ass up. You can see him when I leave.”
She blinked a few more times before leaving just as Ray returned.
“You good?” he asked as he reclaimed his seat.
“I’m fucking perfect.”
“Aw, shit. You ready for war for real.”
“Yep. I just need to see him, and then we can get to work. The first thing I need to know is where the fuck his security is. Their base is across the street from our house. The split level one with the gray door.”
“I can put the Gutierrez twins on that right now.”
“Good. I’ll get in touch with my team, too.”
An hour later, I was informed that Bo could have visitors. When I saw his family members stand and begin walking toward me, I shot them a look that made them stop in their tracks. Ray went with me but hung outside the room while I entered it.
Bo’s eyes were closed, and I took a minute to observe the monitors, IV poles, and IV bags. There was also a bag of blood. He was off the ventilator, but still, there were so many contraptions and tubes attached to him. I hated seeing his wicked ass like this. It would’ve broken my heart if I wasn’t so damn angry.
His eyes popped open and quickly found me as if he’d sensed my presence. Emotion filled them as he visually surveyed me.
“I wasn’t hit. I’m fine,” I assured him.
He nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. “Come here, baby,” he said, his voice weak and raspy.
I did, grasping his hand. In turn, he used his free hand to beckon me closer, and I lowered my head so that my lips nearly met his.
“You sure you okay?” he whispered.
“Physically, yes. Mentally? That’s another story.”
“You ready to fuck somebody up. I can see it on your face.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“My security?”
“I don’t know what happened to them…yet.”
He nodded.
“Hey, I don’t want you to worry about that. Just get better.”
“Look through the database. Get 75GL for backup. You can trust him. I don’t…” he stopped, shutting his eyes for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was weaker. “I don’t want you out there alone. Somebody gotta have your back.”
“Bo, I got this. You need to rest. Stop worrying about me.”
He nodded again, and when I pressed my lips to his, he moaned, his hand on the back of my head. My body tingled like it always did at his touch. It was a fucking shame how much I loved this man.
“I’ll be back,” I said. “Your family is outside. Do you want to see them?”
He slowly shook his head and said, “Hell no. Just you.”
I didn’t bother speaking to the Pierces when I left. I informed the nurses that they weren’t to see him, and that was that. I didn’t have time to argue with them.
“I could’ve driven myself,” I said, my eyes on the windshield as Ray drove us to my house.
“Nah, you’re fucked up, as you should be. I got it,” Ray replied.
“Well, thanks for helping me.”
“Aw, hell. Yeah, I made the right decision. If you being nice to me and shit, you definitely don’t need to be driving.”
“If my sister and nieces didn’t love you, I’d shoot you right now.”
He chuckled. “There she is…the real Memphis King.”
“Mm-hmm.”
His phone rang, and he answered it through the car’s stereo system with, “Hola! What you got for me, Bruno?”
“We found the guys in the house across from the crime scene. Dead. One shot to the head each,” came the heavily accented voice.
“Shit,” I muttered. “How many did they find?” I asked Ray.
“?Cuantos cuerpos?” Ray questioned the man.
“Dos,” Bruno quickly replied.
Bells and whistles went off in my head as he ended the call. “Should’ve been three,” I said more to myself than him. “All three were on duty last night. Either the third guy got away, or…”
“Or the third guy is the shooter,” Ray finished.
“Yeah.”