He’d been devastated at seeing me hurt, and he hadn’t smiled all night. I could see the relief in his eyes that my challenging him caused. Seeing me act like my normal, difficult self was obviously alleviating at least some of his worry.
“Because if I have to look at that scar for the rest of my life, I’m going to murder Elais Beckett in cold blood, then re-fucking-vive him and do it all over again. I might take nursing classes just so I can keep him alive.” His smile was mean. “I’ve got basic field trauma training, but not what I’d need to be able to kill and resuscitate him on daily basis while also keeping him alive during subsequent murder attempts.”
I blinked.
Randi snickered.
Marnie sighed and got up.
“You need to see someone about all that pent-up anger,” she said. “Have you heard from Dad?”
Truth’s eyes narrowed on his sister.
“He’s in the waiting room,” he answered. “He’s been asking for you. Trent’s been kind enough to deal with him so I didn’t have to.”
Trent had been in and out of here a few times, but he kept disappearing. Now I knew why.
“I’ll go talk to him. Maybe he’ll go away,” Marnie grunted a word I couldn’t quite hear, and disappeared into the sea of bikers I could still see through my hospital room door.
That left Randi, me and Truth alone, and I didn’t have to wait long for the fireworks to continue.
“So what are you going to do about this shit, Truth?” Randi snapped. “You’re not protecting her. In fact, if I had to say anything about your job so far, I’d give you a big fat F.”
I groaned.
“Randi, you’re not helping,” I murmured softly. “Please, just let us…or them…fix this. Figure it out. I’m going to do whatever the hell they tell me to do, and if that’s stay inside for the next three months and eat ice cream all day long, then I’m going to do it.”
Truth’s hand found my cheek—the only spot that didn’t have a cut on it—causing me to open my eyes and stare at him.
“What?” my voice cracked.
“I’m not going to make you stay inside for three months and eat ice cream all day…but you’re going to be heavily guarded, and I rented a car for you to use. And you’ll also be shadowed by someone you haven’t met yet.”
“Who is it?” I asked warily.
He smiled.
“His name is Rafe, and he was trained by one of my grandpa’s best men.”
That brought a thought to the forefront of my mind.
“When you took me to your grandpa’s pub for the first time, there was this man in black.”
“Ronan,” he answered instantly. “He’s an…enforcer.”
“An enforcer of what?” I asked.
“Justice.”
“And is this same man that trained Rafe?” I put voice to my suspicion.
Truth’s mouth grinning, and I could tell I wouldn’t like the answer.
“Ronan trained a lot of people, but yes, he trained Rafe as well.”
“He trained you, too, didn’t he?”
Truth nodded.
“Who is he an enforcer for?”
I didn’t know why I was pushing this. I hadn’t broached this subject because I could sense that it was a tough one for him. Something he hadn’t wanted me to know.
But I was pushing it, and I felt like there was more to the story…something more that I hadn’t quite caught on to yet.
He looked over at Randi, and she silently left, somehow sensing that there was something more to the story here, and that she didn’t want to stop the flow of data that Truth was willing to share.
And I was grateful.
“A long time ago, my pop was a part of an organization.”
That was all he said, and I growled in frustration.
“Truth…”
He grinned.
“Pop was part of a club of Irish bikers, a club that originated out of Ireland. When he moved here with my grandmother, he left that all behind…but Ronan decided to come with him. He, for some reason, thought he owed my grandfather a debt for saving him when he was a young teen, and never left him. Ronan was my grandfather’s best friend. He raised my mother right alongside my grandparents. There’s literally nothing that Ronan wouldn’t do for my grandfather.”
“Where is Ronan?” I asked, a thought dawning as he started to explain.
Truth grimaced.
“Ronan’s looking for Beckett.”
My eyes widened.
“Is he going to kill him?” I asked hoarsely.
Truth shrugged.
“Honestly?” He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t give a flying fuck if he does. As long as he’s not around to bother you, harass you, or put you—or anyone else I know—in danger any more, I don’t give a shit what happens to him. Sure, I’d rather him suffer the rest of his days in prison—I know enough cops, wardens and security guards to make his life inside a living hell—but at this point, I just want to be rid of him, and I’d do damn near anything for it.”
The words, although harsh, made my heart swell.
This was going to be bad, I just knew it. But I couldn’t find it in me to care at that moment in time. Truth was here, his hand resting gently on my head, and my headache was dissipating.
And with the headache no longer hammering out a staccato in my brain, I found myself extremely tired.
“You pressed my button,” I accused.
Truth didn’t even look the least bit sorry.
“You need to rest.”
“I need to talk to you,” I countered.
My eyes were drifting closed of their own volition, but the moment his mouth pressed against mine, they peeled open.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” he whispered, pushing back a stray strand of hair.
“For loving me.”
“How do you know I love you?” His grin was warm.
I lifted my good hand—the one that wasn’t throbbing in time with the beat of my heart—and placed it on his cheek.
“I saw your face today,” I told him.
His grin disappeared.
“Only a man who loves a woman looks that devastated at the sight you saw today.”
I didn’t actually see what he saw, but I could imagine.
At first, I’d thought his dismay had been about the car, but I quickly realized differently the moment he bellowed my name.
And when his hand touched mine, I knew that I loved him just as much as he loved me.
And even now, I could see the love shining in his eyes.
“I love you back, you know,” I told him. “Have for a while now.”
He placed a single kiss on the tip of my nose, and I let my eyes fall closed once again.
Then I was dead to the world and missing all the good stuff.
Chapter 22
‘Cause Satan told me so isn’t a good excuse when you have to explain to your partner why you did something.
-Fact of Life
Truth
The moment she fell asleep, I studied her face, wondering if I was making the wrong decision by staying with her.
I was fairly sure, however, that it wouldn’t matter if I left her for her protection at this point. Elais Beckett knew what she meant to me, and he’d do whatever he had to do to kill her.
He may have missed her today, but he’d gotten me anyway. He now knew my weakness, and I’d given that to him without even realizing I’d done it.