“I guess.” Josie’s voice slurred with fatigue. “He really wants to know about the mystery man with you at the bar. I played dumb.”
“So long as we stick to the same story, we’re fine.” No way would he let Matt get caught up in the clusterfuck Shane had made of his own life. They’d finally positioned Matt in Seattle, a safe place for his older brother. For now. The commander wanted Matt bad, and they all knew it. A memory shifted behind the drug haze in Shane’s brain. Jory. Something there. He tensed.
“What’s wrong?” Josie murmured.
“Nothing.” He couldn’t catch the thought. But it was there. Maybe when the drugs cleared, the last two years would finally come clear. He’d need to get Josie to safety before he went after the people who’d killed his brother. But he’d hunt them, without question.
He shifted his thoughts to allow his subconscious to take over. “Remember that hat you knitted me for Christmas?” His first homemade Christmas present, just like the families gave on television. Black and gray, she’d interwoven the strands into something guaranteed to keep him warm when they vacationed on the ski slopes.
She giggled. “Yes. I had to sneak and knit at night when you slept.”
He’d felt her leave the bed each night and had known why. “I still have it.”
Her shoulders stilled. “You do?”
“Yes. My hat, your picture, they’re in a safety-deposit box in California. The most important items I own.” He wanted that hat. Now. Wanted to feel the love and care she’d put into making it for him.
“That’s sweet.” Her voice thickened. “The necklace you gave me of the silver angel—I need to get it from my house.”
“We will.” He shouldn’t ask. He really shouldn’t. “Where’s your wedding ring?” His was safely with the hat.
“Same jewelry box.”
Well, at least she’d kept the ring. He had time later to talk her into sliding the stunning solitaire back on her finger. “Have you kept up the knitting?”
“Yes.” She smiled against his skin. “I opened a store on eBay and sell stuff sometimes.”
Pride. She was something. “I remember that was your dream. To drop the numbers and sell your creations.”
“It’s just a dream. Numbers pay the bills.”
“I have money, Josie.” A lot more than he ever expected to have. Nate was a financial genius at investing the profits from Sins Security—probably because he didn’t give a shit and was happy taking risks. “You can do anything you want in life. Live your dream.” With him. God, please let her stay with him.
“What about you, Shane? What’s your dream to live?”
He sighed. “You’re my dream, angel. Just you.” Her scent of wild berries filled his nostrils while she filled his heart. His soul. If he had one, it was hers. Made in test tubes, taught to kill, he’d often doubted the possibility. But with Josie cuddled into his side, he felt like he had a soul. Even if it bore stains, his soul existed.
Her breathing evened out as she slipped into sleep.
He closed his eyes and listened to her steady breathing. In the dim recesses of his brain, he cataloged the noises outside the room, down the hall, and outside the building. But for this one moment in time, peace settled his heart rate.
Familiar footsteps echoed down the hallway into his room. He opened his eyes, smirking at his brother. Matt had dressed in faded surgical scrubs and somehow had found a mustache and thick copper-rimmed glasses. “Doctor.”
Matt’s eyes softened as he glanced at Josie before grabbing Shane’s chart for a quick read. “The bullet didn’t impact anything important. You’re fine.”
“I know that.”
The chart clanked against the end of the bed. “She’s something, Shane. Taking down those two men.” Matt rubbed his chin.
Yeah, she was. He understood the risk he was taking, and leaving his brothers would cut him in two. But the risk was his, and he had to keep them safe. But he had to choose Josie—she needed him more than they did. Any life he had wasn’t worth it without her. “I want to stay with her, Mattie.”
“I was afraid of that, little brother.” Matt sidled around the bed, dropping into a guest chair. “The whole happily ever after with a family… it’s impossible. Does she know, I mean, ah…”
“We can have kids, Matt.” If he couldn’t, and Josie wanted kids, they’d adopt. Maybe. Someday when he’d taken care of the danger.
Matt frowned. “They tried, Shane. The scientists tried to create little test-tube babies with our genetic material. You know that. They never once succeeded.”
“Maybe test tubes won’t work for our kids.”