29. Lee
Lee
I sit between them in the back seat, Elliot on my left, his head tipped against the window.
It took thirty minutes for Julian to get him fixed enough to take him to his uncle’s for surgery.
Thankfully, he had the right blood type in his bag.
I’m sure it isn’t a coincidence that my doctor always is prepared.
Julian sits on my right with his hand locked around mine. If he notices I’m still shivering, he doesn’t call me on it.
Bash drives like the devil is chasing us, which he probably is.
Headlights flash through the back window as Christian and Riley follow in the second vehicle behind us.
My phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I ignore it. It stops then starts again. Finally, I let go of Julian and swipe it open when it doesn’t let up.
News alerts.
VINE PROJECT EXPOSED: FBI DIRECTOR IMPLICATED IN STUDENT DEATHS, ILLEGAL DRUG TRIALS, AND DISTRIBUTION.
Emily Leighlan’s final video logs are already trending. The clips I’d seen in the cabin were everywhere now. Her face, her voice, the moment she realized they weren’t saving anyone but were being used by a corrupt system.
I close the screen. I can’t handle hearing her voice while Elliot’s bleeding and Julian just killed someone for me.
“They’re out,” I say. My voice is flat. “The files dropped. Fuller’s name is all over them. So are Emily's and the other girls.”
Julian’s grip tightens. “Good.”
Elliot doesn’t open his eyes. “I knew my plan would work.”
I turn my head and look at him.
Elliot’s face is wrecked. He still gives me that half smirk with a bloodied lip and swollen eye. How it manages to piss me off and turn me on at the same time, I will never understand.
“You almost died in there,” my voice squeaks out.
“Yeah.” He turns to me. “But I didn’t.”
His hand finds my thigh again. His movements are so weak that even curling his fingers against me takes effort.
“You came anyway,” he mumbles. “Even after I left you that note not to.”
“Fuck you for telling me to stay put.”
He laughs then immediately hisses at the pain.
Julian shifts beside me. His free hand comes up, gentle, and brushes the hair out of my face with the back of his fingers.
I smack it away.
“You fucking drugged me.” The words tear out of me, loud and broken. “Again. And were you really going to make a deal with the Eligere?”
The truck goes quiet except for the low rumble of the engine and Bash’s music up front.
Julian doesn’t flinch.
“Babydoll, I know you’re mad.”
I scoff. “Mad doesn’t even begin to touch it.” Even as I’m yelling at him, I put my hand in his again. I’m still mad, but I could have lost him. So, for this moment, I’m going to hang on tight.
“I’m going to fucking kill you for that,” Elliot says.
His head jerks up from my shoulder too fast, and he immediately groans, one hand pressing to his side.
“What the fuck, Julian?” Cal says, twisting around in the front seat to look at him. “You did what?”
Julian’s jaw tightens.
“I gave you something to make you sleep,” he says quietly. “You would have stormed right into the warehouse, Ettie.”
“I did storm right into the warehouse,” I snap.
“And it could have been so much worse.” He looks at me with concern, and it makes my heart hurt. “I was trying to fix it the only way I knew how.”
“And how exactly was that?”
He blows out a breath.
I brace myself, because whatever he is about to say is really going to piss me off.
“In exchange for Fuller to be taken down, and you and Elliot to go free, I made a deal to become an unbound and full-time surgeon for the Eligere.”
No one in the car breathes for a few seconds.
“Aw, you included me in your deal?” His voice is faint. “Best brother husband ever. I’m less mad about the drugs, but I’m still going to kick your ass after you patch me up.”
“Fuck off, Elliot. I just saved your ass.”
“I said you were the best brother husband, didn’t I?”
The guys snicker in the front seat.
My jaw drops. The audacity of these men. Damn, I really do love them.
Julian keeps going. “It was the only way I could keep you both out of jail. And there was no guarantee I would have been chosen to wed one of the open houses.”
My hand flies to my chest. “Are you saying you offered to marry someone else?”
I’m so damn angry, and surprised, and touched. Both of them would have given up everything for me. For Emily.
My chest burns. Then warm tears fall, and they don’t stop.
Elliot squeezes my thigh before Julian pulls me in his lap. I sink my face into his neck.
“I love you, babydoll. You know I do.” Julian’s eyes are dark, devastated, but steady. His arm closes around me.
I sniffle. “I love you too,” I say with a hiccup.
Bash lets out a low whistle from the driver’s seat.
“I’m telling Mags Julian made you cry, Lee. He will wish he married someone else when she cuts off his balls.”
“Snitch,” Julian says then flips him off through the rearview mirror.
Cal grunts. “I’m with Bash. Mags is going to find out.” He turns to Julian and drags his thumb slowly across his neck in warning.
Elliot makes a rough sound that might’ve been a laugh or another groan. His head drops back against the seat, but his eyes stay on me and Julian.
“Still pissed at you,” he mutters, but it was aimed at Julian. “Don’t think I’m not. But… she’s here. We’re all here. So maybe don’t drug her again, yeah?”
He huffs. The asshole doesn’t seem that sorry.
“Seriously, Julian. You better not. I’m the one that will actually kill you next time.”
Elliot huffs. “Rude. My threat was working on its own.”
“This family is deeply unhealthy,” Cal whispers to Bash in the front seat.
“Fuck off,” Elliot tells them, no real heat behind it. “I told you, kid. No jail time for you. We’re in the clear.”
I look at Julian. His thumb is still pressed to my knuckles, but his face has gone doctor-still. “Tell me.”
“We’re clear for now.” Julian’s eyes flick to Elliot then back to me. “Val pulled me out of the meeting. Anything tied to you under the Eligere’s Justice house will vanish.”
I nod. I wait for my lungs to loosen. For my shoulders to drop. But nothing happens.
Emily’s justice is out there now. The world is finally seeing what they did to her and to the other kids. So why does the hole in my chest, that has been there since the night the cops showed, feel bigger? It’s hollowing me out.
The truck hits a pothole, and Elliot curses. I lean into him, careful of his shoulder, and press my lips to his temple.
“I’m still mad at both of you,” I whisper.
His fingers twitch against my thigh. “I still love you, kid.”
“Me too. Please get better. Please.”
The weight of the last few hours replays when I close my eyes. Fuller’s body hitting the floor, the blood on my boots, the way Elliot looked at me right before he was shot. Julian’s face, thinking I was hurt. God. My pulse picks up again.
The truck slows in front of a large, dark house with porch lights already on. Bash kills the engine. Riley and Christian follow right behind us.
Julian opens his door before the engine fully dies. His voice loses every soft edge. “Inside. Now. The table is ready for him.”
Calum gets one arm under Elliot, and Bash takes the other. Elliot tries to stand on his own, because apparently almost being full of bullets doesn’t seem to slow him down.
I make it through the door and into the living room before my legs decide they are done. I crash onto the couch hard enough to bounce the cushions.
Riley sits beside me, phone in hand, pretending he isn’t watching me out of the corner of his eye.
“Thanks for coming and for the whole organized-crime-filled rescue,” I tell him.
“I had a light afternoon.” He shrugs like killing a bunch of FBI agents isn’t a big deal. “What can I say except you’re welcome,” he sings out.
I throw the nearest pillow at his head. It bounces off before he even tries to stop it.
“Seriously, Moana. You’re at the kid's table next poker night,” I tell him with a smile.
He laughs, but his phone buzzes before he can answer. His smile thins when he looks down.
“Gotta go. Val needs me.”
I nod.
I sit up straighter. “Is she okay? Call if she needs anything.”
“She will be.” Riley pockets his phone. “And she’s going to need to call in a favor soon.” He says and walks out with a wave over his shoulder.