“I… I can do it.” I needed to stand, needed to prove to myself I could still do it and that my leg wasn’t completely fucked. “I just need…”
“A blood transfusion?” Tap supplied helpfully. “A week of sleep? More ibuprofen? What?”
I snorted. “A minute. I just need a minute to regain my strength. It’s been kind of a rough night.”
“Looks like it,” Julia replied. “Just sit there and let us help you. Where’s the wound?”
“I’m Sasha. It’s nice to meet you both.” I tugged up the bottom of my borrowed shorts to reveal the gash across my leg. It wasn’t actively bleeding, but the red smudge on the shorts told me it hadn’t exactly stopped, either. “Here’s this one, but how are you with out-of-socket shoulders?”
Havoc looked down at my leg and swore. “The Serpents did this to you?”
There was no need to go into the full story, so I nodded.
“Did you kill him?” Julia asked as her gaze drifted over the rest of my wounds.
Surprised by the bluntness of her question, I took a beat. “It wasn’t a ‘him.’ I got jumped by a bunch of women.”
“Hm. Last time a bunch of women turned on me, a man was behind it. I don’t know who did this to you, but he should be stripped naked and have his cock lathered in peanut butter before he gets tossed into a room of starving, rabid rats.”
I liked Julia immediately. She was intuitive and slightly vicious, but she’d hit the nail on the head. Impressed, I replied, “I’d rather get his ass locked up for life, but things don’t always work out the way we want them to.”
Julia smiled, catching my drift. Her gaze locked with mine. “I get it. But a word of advice, the worst ones are like cockroaches and one bullet’s never enough. When you finally get the chance to put an end to this douchebag, don’t forget to double-tap. It’ll save a lot of time and stress.”
Tap shook his head again. “Sasha, meet Havoc and Julia. They’re almost as insane as you are.”
“I believe the word you’re looking for is practical,” Julia replied. “We see problems, and we handle them. Now, shoo. Both of you. I need a minute alone with the patient before Havoc gets started.”
“Where are we supposed to go?” Tap asked.
Julia waved him off. “I don’t care. It’s your house.”
Tap stared her down. “Give me your phone first.”
Havoc darkened and seemed to grow as he stepped between Tap and Julia. “You better fix your tone and check yourself, brother. You’re talkin’ to my wife, and she deserves more respect than that. What the hell do you need her phone for?”
“I don’t want her making any calls from this room.”
“Okay.” Havoc faced Julia. “Please don’t make any calls from this room.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied.
“Problem solved.” Havoc shrugged. “Behold the power of communication.”
“But…” Tap’s gaze bounced from Havoc to Julia. “What if she forgets and makes a call accidentally?”
“You do realize I’m standing right here?” Julia asked. “And that I’m not stupid?”
“Yes. I just—”
“It’s called trust,” Havoc said, grabbing Tap by the shoulder and turning him toward the door. “I know it’s a foreign concept, but I trust my woman, and that’s gonna have to be enough for you.”
Tap looked like he wanted to argue, but the darkness in Havoc’s expression snapped his jaw closed.
Once the guys were gone, Julia sat beside me on the sofa. “Please tell me why I’m meeting you in Tap’s basement, and not in a hospital. My husband is a capable man, but he’s not a doctor and that’s what you need.”
“I know, but it’s complicated.” I liked Julia, but I didn’t know her. Not enough to share all the details I’d given to Tap. “A hospital isn’t a safe option for me right now.”
She nodded, seeming to accept my explanation. “Do you need a morning after pill? A rape kit? What can I help you with?”
