Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Promise
His words hit me like a blow as my gaze scans down him, and that’s when I see it. The right side of his dark jacket is wet…soaked in blood.
I cry out, vaulting off Gunner’s lap as I reach for Angel. “You’re hurt,” I cry, my hands tugging at the coat.
“That fucker Vinnie shot me,” he says, sounding tired. “Hurts like a bitch.”
“Fuck,” Knox growls.
“Why didn’t you say something?” I start as I tug at the buttons of his shirt.
“Because…” He opens his eyes again, looking at me. “I was playing a role in there, trying to get us all out safe.”
I draw in a shuddering breath and then slowly lower my forehead to his. I can feel that he’s telling the truth and that my anger is because…I believed the fiction.
It hit me exactly where I hurt. Afraid that my father didn’t love me because I’m not loveable, which meant Angel didn’t really care about me either.
I get his shirt unbuttoned even as Knox pulls out, simultaneously pushing several buttons on the console.
“Hello?” A voice comes through the speakers as I pull Angel’s shirt away to find a perfect hole in his shoulder.
Nausea rises up my throat, but I push it back down as I start to unwrap the blanket. I need something to stop the bleeding.
“Don’t you dare,” Angel growls. “Keep that blanket on.”
“Hank?” Knox’s gaze flits into the mirror. “Angel’s been shot.”
“Club?” Hank asks.
“Fifteen,” Knox replies, hanging up.
Gunner shrugs off his shirt, handing to me. I twist it up, wrapping it around Angel’s shoulder. He’s got a second hole in his back, which I think is a good sign. “The bullet went through.”
“You got any medical training?” Knox asks.
“Not really,” I say. “Just CPR training.”
Knox presses the accelerator. “Just keep pressure on it. Both sides.”
Gunner reaches for Angel, pressing on the front and back of Angel’s shoulder with his palms as I murmur words of comfort into his ear.
I’m barely listening as Knox makes several more calls.
Placing my left hand over Gunners to try to stop the bleeding, my breath coming out in trembling puffs.
I know I’m not helping. I just need to do something.
“Settle, love, it’s going to be all right,” Angel whispers.
“Are you sure? Because I’m not.”
“Will you be able to forgive me?” he asks.
My brow furrows. “For what?”
“Killing your father, for one.”
“Forgiven,” I say, shaking my head. He can’t be serious. If I ever loved my father, all I can feel is relief at his death.
“For pretending I was going to kill you?”
I let out the smallest sigh. “I should have trusted you. It’s just so easy to believe that you wouldn’t love me. My own father didn’t.”
He leans his head close to me. “I know. I’ve had this thing my whole life about keeping my word, like that would make me a better man than my father. But that’s just one symptom of the disease.”
Gunner looks over at us, Knox’s gaze landing on us in the rearview.
Angel doesn’t notice either of them, his eyes are closed.
“What’s the disease?”
“Selfishness,” he answers quietly. “Making decisions for yourself instead of the people who rely on you.”
I kiss his cheek, wishing I could hold him in my arms.
“But I’ll never be that man again. I made a vow to you, Promise. Deeper than any word I’ve ever given. And for my brothers…” His eyes open again. “What I do, I do for us.”
Knox pulls into the club.
I have to be honest, I love Angel, but I think I hate this club. Or maybe it’s just the parking lot.
But the moment we arrive, the doors burst open, people pouring out of the doors.
We’re rushed inside where Hank is already set up with supplies spread out on the conference room table.
Candy stands in the corner. She takes one look at me and runs over. “I’ll get you clothes.”
“Thank you.”
Gunner, now shirtless, comes up behind me. My eyes are fixed on Angel, but I give him the briefest glance. “Are you all right?”
“I didn’t die,” he answers grimly. “But the two men who touched me might.”
Not information I need to know. “Thank you for protecting me today, Gunner.”
“You’re welcome,” he answers far more softly.
I don’t say more as I watch Hank check Angel’s wounds. “Bullet went straight through.” He pulls out this small handheld device. “Portable ultrasound.”
“Who is Hank?” I ask Gunner, keeping my voice quiet.
“Former doctor,” is Gunner’s answer. I nod like that makes any kind of sense.
Candy comes back with clothes, and I step out for a minute to put them on. By the time I come back in, Angel is being stitched up, while Knox holds a bag of blood that is being given to Angel via an IV.
Gunner nods at me. “Angel’s lucky. Only tore through muscle.”
I draw in a deep shaking breath. “He’s going to be all right?”
“He’ll be fine,” Hank answers. “Just keep him quiet for a few days, Mrs. Sinclair.”
Mrs. Sinclair…
“Are you almost done?” Angel grouses. “I want to take my wife home.”
But I shake my head. “No more driving tonight. We’re staying here.”
Angel looks like he might argue but then he gives a single nod and lays his head back down.
I’m in a long flowing skirt of Candy’s with a fitted T-shirt.
I don’t look like myself, but I’ve never felt more like I fit into my own skin than I do when I cross to Angel and touch his face.
“Good. Because you need to get better.” Then I lean close, kissing his forehead. “We’ve got an empire to build.”
He smiles at me. “I always knew you were a queen.”
I’m not much for muscle. And strategy is all Angel. But I’ve got enough knowledge of how the system works and which strings to pull that I really think I can help him.
Together, we’re going to build amazing things.
But most of all…I’m going to love him with my whole heart. And then trust that he loves me in return.