Chapter 18 #2
“Remember who you’re talking to, brother,” he warned but all his warning did was make me angrier. “We did what we could, Tex. We got two of ‘em, and now two of ‘em ain’t breathing after I set the boys on them.”
“They fuckin’ shot her, prez,” I replied abruptly, barely able to contain my anger. “We used her as bait and she nearly died.”
“I know,” he said with a shake of his head.
“How did they get through?”
JD sighed heavily. “We lost some men last night. She wasn’t the only one who got shot.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, giving myself a second to breathe through my anger. When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me, waiting patiently.
“I know you need to stay with her, but I’m also having some men posted on the ranch too. I’m guessing she ain’t going to want to stay at the clubhouse.”
I shook my head. “Ain’t no way. Even after all this.”
It would have been a hell of a lot easier if she did, but I wasn’t about to ask her. She’d been shot and nearly killed and her ranch set fire to. There was no way she was going to leave it. I cracked my knuckles wanting to take my rage out on something or someone.
“I need to get back in there to her,” I said,
JD scowled at me. “Who the fuck are you and what have you done with Tex? I leave you alone with a woman for two days and you’re already pussy-whipped and setting up home?”
“It’s not like that,” I argued.
“Yeah? Well tell that to your raging hard-on because it sure seems like it’s like that.”
“I said,” I began, but Moose slapped me on the shoulder.
“She got a magical pussy, brother?” Moose asked, a slow grin rising on his face. “Does it smell like cotton candy?”
“Cotton candy?”
“Yeah, I figured if it’s magical it probably smells magical too—and what’s more magical than cotton candy?” Moose laughed.
I turned to glare at him. “Don’t talk about her pussy.”
He held up his hands. “All right, all right, but I bet it tastes sweet like it too, right?”
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pressing my face close to his. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t even think about pussy in her vicinity. Not even a fucking pussy cat, you feel me?”
Moose looked taken aback, but not in the least bit worried. He held up his hands in surrender and I let go of him. “Fuck me, I didn’t realize it was like that.”
“Yeah? Well now you do,” I replied.
I wasn’t sure what I was saying or what I was agreeing to—not really—but I also knew that what I was saying I was meaning with every fiber of my body. I would go to war for this woman and I hadn’t even kissed her yet.
Damn, maybe I was pussy-whipped.
“All right, brother, calm the fuck down.” JD glowered, finding this whole thing anything but funny. “We’ve got men out looking for the cartel base, because they have to be around somewhere. They’ll have a base of operations, and when we find it, we’re going in all guns blazing. In the meantime—”
“I want to be there when it goes down,” I practically growled.
“Yeah, well I’ll tell you when we find it. But in the meantime, you stay with her and you keep her safe.” JD pulled out his cigarettes and popped one in his mouth.
A nurse passing by stopped in her steps. “Sir, you can’t smoke in here, this is a hospital.”
“Is it fucking lit?” he replied around the unlit cigarette. “No, it’s not, so back the fuck off, lady.”
The nurse’s eyes widened and her forehead puckered in irritation. “You don’t need to be so rude.” She continued walking, and despite everything that had happened I couldn’t help but let the corner of my mouth rise a little.
“I need to get back to the clubhouse. I have two prospects stationed outside and I have two men back at the ranch. I’ll be in touch.” JD held out his hand and I shook it before doing the same with Moose. “I fuckin’ hate hospitals.”
Moose lifted his hand to his nose afterwards, taking a deep inhale of his fingers. “She smells good, brother,” he laughed, and started backing away.
“I will end you,” I growled out and turned away, heading back inside Rowan’s room.
Inside, she sat in bed, her head resting against the pillow. She looked exhausted, her skin pale. She watched me as I stalked toward the bed and sat down beside it.
“Well? What’s the verdict?” she asked, her voice sleepy.
“The cartel took a shot at you last night,” I began, “and they’re not gonna stop until they get what they want.”
“Well what do they want?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“They want your land,” I said simply. “And if you won’t give it up…”
I didn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t need to.
She understood. “So let them have it,” she said with a shake of her head. “I don’t want it if it means dying for it. I just need a few months. I can sell the horses and the house and then—”
“I wish it was that simple. They’re not going to wait for you to close up shop—not when they can just take what they want,” I said.
I put my head in my hands, hating how deep she was in all of this.
“We’ve got men everywhere. They’re looking for them, and when we find them, let’s just say you won’t need to worry ever again. ”
A deep silence fell over the room, both of us getting lost in our own thoughts.
I hadn’t realized that I had reached out and taken her hand in mine, but when I looked down, there it was.
Her small hand, wrapped up in mine. My tattoos skimmed across my knuckles, and her slender fingers peeked out between my fingers.
Our hands were complete opposites and yet they looked perfect together.
Rowan cleared her throat slightly before speaking again. “Tex?”
“Yeah?”
She hesitated before speaking. “I remember what I said to you last night.”
I continued to stare down at the bed, not daring to look up at her. I knew what she was talking about.
The parking lot.
Her voice shaking. I think I’m falling for you.
The memory hit like a punch to the chest.
“I was in a lot of pain,” she said quietly.
“I know,” I replied.
“I wasn’t really making much sense. I was scared and—”
“I get it,” I interjected, my tone harder than I meant for it to be. “You don’t need to explain anything. It’s okay, I didn’t take it for anything. You don’t need to worry.”
But it wasn’t okay.
The moment stretched out awkwardly between us, neither of us quite sure what to say next. The silence continued and I tried not to think about how much those words had meant to me.
How much I had replayed them over and over in my head while I had watched her sleeping.
And how much I wanted to hear them again.
Because if I was ever certain of anything in my whole rotten existence, it was this: I was falling in love with Rowan Hale, and I knew she was falling in love with me too.
Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it yet.