Vengeance #2
Vengeance shot the older man a warning look, but Doc ignored it. "As I was saying—" He tied another stitch. "Savage called me about twenty years ago."
Chloe looked up. "You really knew my dad?"
"Knew him?" Doc smiled faintly. "I owed that man my life." Vengeance closed his eyes because he knew what was coming. "He showed up at my clinic one rainy night carrying this scrawny kid over his shoulder."
Chloe frowned. "Vengeance?"
Doc nodded. "He was sixteen."
"Sixteen?" she whispered.
"I weighed maybe a hundred and forty pounds soaking wet," Vengeance muttered.
"You looked like you'd gone twelve rounds with a freight train." Doc's expression darkened at the memory. “His ribs were broken, he had a concussion, a knife wound, and burns all over his arms. He also had bruises that were so old they were already changing colors.”
Chloe slowly turned toward Vengeance. "That’s awful,” she breathed.
He shrugged carefully. "It wasn't a big deal."
"The hell it wasn't." Doc looked between them. "Savage laid him on my exam table and said to patch him up and ask questions later.” The older man smiled as though he could still hear him. A lump formed in Vengeance's throat.
"He stayed with Vengeance?" Chloe asked.
Doc nodded. "All night."
"He never left,” Vengeance said. "He sat in the chair next to his bedside."
Doc pointed to an imaginary spot beside him. "With a shotgun across his lap."
Vengeance smiled despite himself. "Sounds like Savage."
"It was,” Chloe said.
Doc finished another stitch. "About three in the morning, I finally asked who the boy was."
Chloe leaned forward. "What did he say?"
Doc's smile faded. "He told me about Dante and everything that happened to you. But then, he looked me dead in the eye and said that it didn’t matter who his father was—it only matters who he chooses to become.” Chloe's breath caught, and Vengeance stared at the gravel around him because he couldn't look at either of them.
"He knew." Chloe barely whispered the words. "He knew who you were the entire time." Doc nodded once. She looked at Vengeance. "My dad knew you were Dante's son."
"Yeah,” Vengeance breathed.
"And—” She swallowed hard. "He still saved you."
Vengeance finally looked at her. "He never hesitated."
"But he hated Dante.” She struggled to understand.
"He did,” he said.
"So why did he help you?” she asked.
Vengeance smiled sadly. "Because Savage believed children shouldn't pay for their parents' sins." The words hung in the cool mountain air.
Chloe's eyes filled with unshed tears. "That sounds exactly like him. She laughed through her tears.
"It does." Doc packed away his instruments. "He came back every few days after that."
"You mean—” Chloe looked between them. "My dad kept checking on him?"
"For almost six months,” Doc said.
Vengeance nodded. "He taught me how to change a motorcycle tire."
A tear escaped before Chloe could stop it. "He what?"
"He said that every kid ought to know how to fix a flat." A small laugh escaped both of them. "He also taught me how to play poker."
Doc barked a laugh. "Oh Lord—he was terrible."
"He cheated,” Vengeance said.
"He absolutely cheated,” Doc agreed.
Vengeance smiled wider than he had in years. "He said it wasn't cheating if nobody caught you.”
Chloe laughed. "He said that to me once." Their eyes met, and for the first time since Lucius had exposed his last name, there wasn't hatred between them. There was shared grief, shared memories, and shared love for the same man.
Doc finished tying the last stitch. "There." He sat back. "You'll live."
"I was hoping you’d say that,” Vengeance grumbled.
Doc's expression grew serious. “Well, you'll live if Dante doesn’t find you first.” He looked at both of them, and the warmth vanished immediately from his eyes as reality came crashing back.
Chloe wiped away her tears. "What do we do now?"
Doc zipped his medical bag. "You two need to disappear."
Vengeance frowned. "The safe house is compromised now.”
"I know,” Doc said. "I've got another place where you two can lay low."
"You do?" he asked.
Doc nodded. "One nobody knows about."
Vengeance looked skeptical. "Nobody?"
The older man smiled. "Not even Savage knew about it."
That got his attention. "Where is it?"
Doc stood, slinging the medical bag over his shoulder.
"It’s my cabin." He looked directly at Chloe.
"It's forty miles from here. There’s no electricity, no cell service, no neighbors. And unless Dante's suddenly learned to read my mind, he’ll never think to look for you there.” A grim smile crossed his weathered face as he turned his back to Vengeance.
Vengeance slowly pushed himself to his feet, every muscle protesting the movement.
His side screamed, and his head spun, but as he looked at Chloe, she instinctively stepped closer, ready to steady him if he fell.
He realized something that scared him even more than Dante.
Somewhere between Huntsville and West Virginia, he'd stopped protecting Savage's daughter out of obligation.
Now, he was protecting the woman he was falling in love with, and Dante would use that against them the first chance he got.