“You have his men here and Cade’s. How many more do you think it will have to take? How many more lives will be on the line because of me?” she asks, her voice weak and quiet. I almost have to strain to hear the question.
I sigh deeply. I knew it would come to this. I hope I have the right words to tackle her worries. There’s nothing she can do about it now; I’m never letting her go.
“Querida,” I start, but she waves me off.
“You know I’m right, Skull. If not for me, none of this would be happening.”
I throw my clothes to the floor and join her in the bed. Getting settled under the covers, I pull her body next to mine.
“We didn’t start this, mi cielo. The only person to blame here is Colin and Redmond.” Her body tenses in my arms and I stroke her arm tenderly.
“Redmond?” she asks.
“Si. He’s Edmund’s brother. Word has it that he’s the one pulling the strings, not Colin. There’s a pull for power going on in the Donahues’ camp, querida. I think we’re just getting caught in the crossfire.”
“What will you do?”
“Keep attacking until the main target slips up. He will; they always do.”
She doesn’t say anything else, so I just continue to stroke her skin, letting my touch calm her.
“No matter what happens, Skull, I want you to know that the day you walked into that small coffee shop and sat down at my table was the best day of my life.”
Something in her tone worries me. I pull back and lift her face up to talk to me. “We’re going to be okay, querida. This will pass and things will get better. I need you to believe that. I need you to believe in me.”
Her eyes seem to bore into mine, and I see a million questions, but she asks me none of them. Instead, she buries her head into my chest and places a kiss above my heart.
“I know you’re extending the lockdown and tightening security, but do you think you could let me go to the hospital to spend the day with Beast? They’re removing his bandages tomorrow and checking out the results from the first surgery.”
“Is he talking to anyone yet?” I ask. They brought Beast out slowly, but he’s not talking to anyone. The doctors are starting to worry his voice has been affected.
“No. He ignores everyone. I just don’t want him to be alone. You have the place surrounded. I’d be okay.”
“I don’t know, mi cielo. I don’t like the idea of you being away from the compound.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise to keep at least one of your men with me at all times.”
I smile. She doesn’t know it yet, but she won’t have a choice. I don’t feel right letting her go, but Latch spent the evening telling me how she cleaned the place from top to bottom. If I don’t give her something to do, she’s going to work herself to death.
“Okay, mi cielo. But you will come home early. Tomorrow, I will be busy early on setting up our next attack, but after that, I want you in my arms for the remainder of the day.”
“I’m pretty sure that can be arranged,” she says with a smile, but the smile doesn’t touch her eyes. Gone is that playful front she had before I left. I know it’s because I was shot. I just don’t know how to fix it.
“It better be. I’m practically wasting away from lack of attention here,” I tell her, trying to lighten up the somber mood.
“Is that so?”
“Complete truth,” I sigh.
“I’ll have to see if I can fix that then,” she says, sliding under the covers. My baby does like sucking on my cock. When I feel her hand wrap around it, I groan.
“I like a woman who takes matters into her own… hands,” I whisper, my fingers combing through her hair as she loves on my cock, my shaft disappearing into her mouth. I don’t even mind the sting of pain that comes with using my arm.
It’s more than worth it.
“You’re looking beautiful, sunshine,” my father tells me when I walk into the kitchen. Of course, Pistol is by my side. If Skull had any idea, the man would be dead—and he really needs to be. I thought about bringing a gun with me and doing the job myself. I didn’t, though. One thing stopped me: he told me Katie was alive.
“Please cut the crap,” I say tiredly. “I’ve cried all night and morning. You caused those tears and I look like hell. I’m here because I don’t have a choice and we both know that. You didn’t give me a choice.”
“Elizabeth—”
“I want to know about Katie. You said she was alive. Where is she? Does she know what a bastard our father is? Why hasn’t she ever reached out to me?”
“You need to watch yourself, Elizabeth.”
“You have five minutes and then I’m walking out of here. All thoughts of a bargain is off the table.”
“What makes you think I would let you walk away?”