Chapter 14 Paper Cuts #2
“Do you want my fucking help or not?” I shouted back. “You’re running low on resources, Matt. I can give you what you need to find her.”
He scoffed, his lips turning into a sneer. “I don’t need your goddamn help. I’ll find her on my own!”
I glared back, his final warning. “Not if I find her first.”
His brow rose, fury washing over his face. “Now you wanna go after what’s mine?” he snarled. “Then I’ll add yours to my list. Lying whores don’t deserve to breathe!”
Big. Fucking. Mistake.
I didn’t even reply. I just pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through his stomach. He could spend the rest of those precious minutes he had left of his miserable life bleeding out in fucking agony. You didn’t threaten what was mine and expect to live afterward.
Matt fell against the back of the bar while all hell broke loose. Scott suddenly burst through the door of the club with another six of our men piling in beside him, guns blazing in all directions.
I crouched back down to check on Daniel, who was barely conscious, while Scott handled the remaining gunmen. The gunfire didn’t last more than a few seconds.
“Medic!” I called as soon as it was clear.
“He was never going to go for that,” Daniel groaned, his eyelids dropping as I lifted him to stand.
“No shit. Stalling is an art form. You’ll master it one day.”
Two soldiers then rushed over and took Daniel from me, hurrying him out of the club with me close on their heels.
“I have no idea what the fucking drama is right now, but I want it the fuck out of my club!” Luis called after me as I followed my men out.
I tried not to roll my eyes. “I’ll pay for the damages.”
“You’re goddamn right if you want this contract to sta—”
I stopped to turn and glare at him, my gaze hard enough for him to step back and shut his mouth.
“I’ll be in touch,” I said and moved back to the exit.
Daniel was rushed into the far back of the SUV as they worked to stop the bleeding while I quickly moved into the seat in front of them. Another soldier got behind the wheel while Scott climbed into the front passenger seat.
“Drive!” I ordered, not even waiting for the car doors to close.
The car sped off back to the estate, and all I could do was fucking fume over the fact that if my brother died, I would kill Matt all over again.
“Sid is prepping now,” Scott said as he turned around from the passenger seat.
“Good,” I replied, some relief finally sinking in.
His eyes then shot to my torso.
“You catch one too?” he asked, nodding at me.
Looking down, I noticed the left side of my shirt was soaked with blood. Lifting it up, I found one hell of a bloody graze had ripped right through my skin. Seeing it now brought back the searing fucking sting of being shot.
“Ah, just a paper cut,” Scott commented and turned back around.
Rolling my eyes, I lowered my shirt and tried to relax in my seat. Daniel would be fine. He was tough, and Sid was good at his job. There was no reason for me to panic now that we were on our way back.
Even with my ears still ringing, and my head pounding, all I wanted to do was collapse in bed with Jaden in my arms. Blood and grime be damned.
It was after one in the morning, so she would be fast asleep, which was probably for the best. It would give me enough time to clean and sew myself back up before Jaden could annoy me with questions she had no business asking but would do so anyway.
I could just avoid her entirely if I wanted to.
Keeping her bedridden certainly had its advantages.
Scott pulled out his ringing phone and brought it to his ear, listening intently for a few seconds.
“You’re sure?” he asked as he turned back to look at me.
“What the fuck now?” I growled.
“They haven’t found Matt’s body yet.”
Oh, come the fuck on.
I groaned internally and pinched the bridge of my nose to relieve some of the tension pulsing in my head.
“Have them check the security footage. Find out where he went. The fucker is bleeding out of his gut. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
Scott nodded, turning back around to relay my orders while I rubbed the stress from my eyes. Hopefully, Matt crawled out into an alley and died by a dumpster or something. That would be befitting for him.
When we were finally back at the house, I helped escort Daniel down to the infirmary and allowed Sid to take over.
When I knew my brother was in the clear an hour later, I stepped back out into the hall and headed upstairs for my bedroom.
I really needed to get out of these clothes before the blood dried.
Opening my bedroom door, I stopped short, surprised to see my wife sitting up in bed, wide-awake with her tablet in her hands and the bedside lamp on. Her narrowed eyes immediately shot to me, her body stiffening as she completed her assessment of my sudden appearance.
Goddammit.
“You’re supposed to be asleep,” I nearly growled, closing the door behind me.
She stared back at me for a second and then cocked a brow. “I’m supposed to do a lot of things,” she replied casually. “But we both know I’m not very good at it.”
I leveled her with a hard glare. “It’s nearly three o’clock in the fucking morning, Jaden. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
My ass was fucking exhausted, but I’d also just been in a serious gunfight not more than a few hours earlier, unlike her. Even still, her body needed rest, and by the looks of it, that clearly wasn’t happening.
Jaden just shrugged and turned her eyes back to her tablet.
I shook my head at her. “I’ll have Sid up your sleeping aids,” I mentioned as I crossed the room and removed my jacket.
I could feel Jaden’s eyes following me, her scrutiny burning a hole into my back as I unbuttoned my shirt.
“So,” she started, her voice laced with subtle amusement. “Who kicked your ass tonight?”
I shook my head, hiding my smirk from her. She was such a bold little brat, always ready to taunt me, always eager for a little confrontation. No one talks to me the way she does and lives long enough to take their next breath. Except maybe Scott.
Jaden had more courage in one little fist than all of my soldiers combined, and she was subjected to my fury more than any of them. After everything she had endured, it wouldn’t be surprising for her to shrink away into herself and become a meek little mouse afraid to voice even a whisper.
A mouse like Katherine.
But not my fiery little redhead. You could burn her over and over again, and she’d rise from the ashes every time, ready for another round.
And I fucking loved that about her.
“I’m not sure you can claim an ass-kicking if you didn’t survive the encounter,” I replied as I headed into the bathroom to shower quickly. I needed to wash away the blood and clean my wound before sewing it up.
When I was finished, I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and pulled out the suture kit from the closet. Looking back down at the wound, I noticed it was at an awkward angle, which would make holding the edges together more complicated.
Groaning, I turned toward the wall-length mirror to get a better look at what I was dealing with. I wish I’d just had one of Sid’s assistants handle it while I’d been down there.
And then I remembered I had my own little assistant sitting up in bed right now. Grabbing the kit, I left the closet and headed for my side of the bed. Jaden’s eyes instantly followed my every move.
“Here, since you’re awake, you can help me with this,” I said as I sat down and faced the headboard so she’d have better access to my left side.
She looked at me curiously, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the gaping wound and my face as I prepared the kit.
“What exactly do you want me to do? Kiss it better?” she snarked, a playful smile tugging at her lips.
I shook my head. “I want you to hold out those little paws of yours.”
The scowl on her face from my taunt was adorable as she begrudgingly complied. Grabbing the heavy-duty antiseptic spray, I gave each side of her hands a good spritz to disinfect them, then did the same to my own.
“Rub that in,” I told her.
She did while I secured the threaded curved needle between the teeth of the needle driver.
“Why didn’t you just have Sid stitch you up?” she asked as she inched closer to get a better look at the clear graze of a bullet through my side.
I considered whether I should tell her about tonight, about Daniel getting shot, but at some point, she would probably end up finding out anyway.
“Because he was busy removing a bullet from Daniel’s chest,” I answered.
She quickly glanced up at me, her eyes immediately searching for answers she had no right to.
“And how did that get there?” she asked, her voice taking on a hint of caution.
I cocked a brow. “The same way most bullets get there.”
She paused, her chin dipping into a slight nod as she mentally retreated from her line of questioning.
“Well, I’m glad for you that he’s okay.”
My gaze sharpened, catching her subtle remark about being happy for me.
“And what makes you think he’s okay?”
She shrugged. “Because the last time one of your brothers died, you completely destroyed the dining room,” she explained, eyeing me carefully. “And this room currently remains unscathed.”
I felt the corners of my mouth tug. “Maybe I already destroyed a room downstairs before I came up.”
She snickered, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure I would have heard it. Or even felt it.”
“Maybe,” I murmured and directed my attention back to my damn gunshot wound. “The only thing I need you to do is line the edges of the skin and hold them in place while I sew. Think you can handle that?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not very familiar with rocket science.”
Ignoring her sarcasm, I watched her tentatively reach out and gently press her fingers along the wound to lightly pinch it together. While her touch was something to be coveted, the slight pressure caused the wound to burn internally.