Chapter 71
When he opened his eyes there was a beautiful face looking down at him. With blue eyes so perfect he would never forget them. Would probably keep dreaming about them, too. “Hi, beautiful. Would you like to keep me as breeding stock?”
A sexy laugh came out as she dabbed a wet cloth against his lips lightly. He appreciated it. His mouth was seriously dry here.
“I would unequivocally say yes to that. More, I’ll keep you as the man I want to spend forever with. If you are ready. And when they are ready.”
“Excellent. But…you cannot share me with Em and Junie. Just saying.”
“Noted. You will definitely make gorgeous babies, if and when the time comes.”
He smirked. “While I don’t think this is hell, exactly. I don’t really remember the trip to get here. That keeps happening to me lately.”
“You rode on the chopper. Cloe and Gabe Masterson accompanied you. Jack Masterson brought me. That man came in handy. So did his brother.”
“No kidding. You look beautiful. How badly were you hurt?”
“Not that bad. Three-inch graze. Stitches. A few pulled muscles. You were the one who really scared me.”
“So how much damage did that asshole do to me?”
“Not as much as you did to him when you were after that gun. He took one straight to the stomach, I heard. It hit his spine just enough… He’s not going to ever walk again, Cal.
He’s paralyzed from about the ribs down.
He’ll…pay…for what he did for the rest of his life.
He’s been down the hall, yelling at his father that it was all Kameron’s fault.
That it was because his father loved Kameron more.
He’ll never accept responsibility for what he did.
He just won’t. Playing the poor martyr, the victim. ”
“Kam? Is he—”
“He is down the hall. I’m not entirely certain his condition, though. I do know he was upgraded from critical to stable late last night. I don’t know if he’s awake yet, though.”
“I want to know, when you can…he’s my best friend. I want him to know…I love him and am not going anywhere. I’m here if he needs me.” Cal grimaced. He was hurting, no denying that. But at least he hadn’t lost his best friend right now. “Once I stop hurting, anyway.”
“I know how you feel. We…have matching scars now. You could have been killed. I knew what you were going to do and I didn’t know how to stop you.”
“I have you. That was worth any risk. You are here with me. Kam is alive, Cloe and Clancy could have walked right into that. He’d have killed them too, to cover up what he’d done to Kameron.
It would have just spiraled. Or that moron could have killed both of us and found Markie and Maeya.
I don’t know what he would have done if he thought Markie could identify him.
Or if he had taken them. I don’t even want to think about it.
I just want to think about what happens after I get out of here.
I want to think of what we have to do to get the girls okay with me being around.
Me being there with them, when I am with you.
Because I promise you, I am not going anywhere. ”
“I am going to hold you to that, Calloway Ellis. I spoke with the girls. I told them how I feel about you. And what I would like to happen. And I promised them that we would take our time, until they are ready. That we would never do anything to hurt them.”
“How did they take it?”
“Jules thinks it’s very romantic. She heard someone say how you pushed me out of the way and now she thinks you are a hero from a romance novel.
Avril does whatever Jules does—but she did tell me that she likes you because you don’t yell and you take good care of Markie.
Markie already adores you—that’s hard to miss.
But she did say you have to teach her what comes after ‘furrteen’ and take her to see the kittens.
When asked, Mae-Mae just babbled, but I think she’ll love having you around. ”
“Tobi and Jan will struggle the most.” Because they had been the ones hurt the most. He understood.
“Tobi says I’m only allowed to be with you. Because you are Claudia’s big brother and you saved me and Markie and Maeya from the bad guy. She trusts you.”
“That’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given. How do we help Jan?”
“Just time. She is so hurt still. She will be for a long time, I think. She just needs to see that you will be there, be a man of your word. She needs to see a good man more than anything.”
“I’ll show up. Every time they need me to. Until the day I die. However they want me to—brother-in-law, that’s my first plan. Maybe even dad when they are ready. I’ll keep showing up. For all of you. You have my word.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
She leaned forward, and pressed her lips to his.
He couldn’t handle all three of those evil she-devil-creatures, but he could handle this one.
Forever.
Cal was more than good with that.