“Okay, so …” I peter off, realizing how much I was hoping the Lunds were gone after what they did to Maddox, assuming the occupants in that warehouse were Lund’s crew.
“That’s true,” Ryker adds with a grin, reading me perfectly. “But they’re really gone. No innocents.”
No innocents. So, the men bracketing me knew exactly who was inside.
Liam crosses his arms, snicking his Zippo open and closed in a mindless ritual. “It’s the story that’s scripted. Not the explosion.”
With that cryptic explanation, I tune back in to the news reporter’s voice as inky palls of smoke billow into the sky and the warehouse is decimated to an inferno of ash.
“Investigators have released possible suspects, all who belong to the well-known Makarov crime family. Niko Makarovwent missing two and a half years ago, and sources suggest this is related …”
“Is there more to this plan?” I ask them.
“Yes,” Ryker says, kicking his chin toward Hunter. “Let’s get this finished first.”
He shuts off the TV, and the entire room receives the message, immediately quieting.
Cash arches an eyebrow at the guest of honor. “So, you lied to Maddox and me to protect Tessa and her sister?”
He must be referring to the day I saw the two of them driving out of Hunter’s neighborhood.
Hunter pales, staring at Cash for a long beat, but he manages to own his decision. “You two showed up on Tessa’s behalf. I only had one more trip to take for Shane. I figured the best thing to do was to let him walk away with the money. You were protecting her, but I still didn’t want her to be a target. And I didn’t want him to go after Violet. If I opened my mouth, I risked all of us ending up dead.”
“Noble,” Ryker sneers.
His contempt makes me feel like I’m missing something because that does sound noble, but my gut stirs with the need to check on Maddox, so I don’t press for more.
“If Shane knew it was Tessa”—Jax flicks a match and glares at Hunter through the flame, letting the second half of his thought linger with the sparks and his wild eyes—“why didn’the… tell the Makarovs?”
Hunter swallows, his face pasty. Jax seems harmless to us, but to people outside our circle, he probably appears a bit like a madman.
Gage is about to respond, but I quickly excuse myself.
“I’m sorry. I’m happy we have answers, and I want to know what’s going on. But none of it matters to me, unless …” I glide my hand over my stomach, feeling it twist from even the thoughtof Maddox still not awake. “Thank you for looking out for Violet, Hunter. I still don’t love all your choices, but I can’t say I would have made different ones in your place.”
His features soften. I can tell he’s hoping for a goodbye hug, but I just don’t have it in me, so I turn and exit, and Mercy stays in step with me.
As we near Maddox’s room, I hear him. So do Cash and Jax, who followed us out. For half a second, the hall freezes for confirmation, but then we all dash that way.
“She’s okay.” Axel’s reassuring tenor breaches the threshold. “She’s been by your side since you got here. She just went to get cleaned up.”
“Wanna fucking see her now,” Maddox husks out. It sounds as though he swallowed glass.
“I’m here, Drac,” I call, racing into the room before I cast a leer at Axel and the medical staff. “Why didn’t you come find me?”
“He was agitated and confused,” Axel explains as I reach Maddox’s bedside. “I was just about to get you”—he heeds an exasperated huff from one of his brothers—“and everyone else because he was starting to make sense.”
“You took your good old time waking up, didn’t you?” I cradle Maddox’s jaw, planting a gentle kiss on his lips. “I missed you so much.”
It’s evident in every line of his face that he’s still in an enormous amount of pain, but his gorgeous gray eyes caper over me with so much adoration that a tear trails down my cheek.
“Did you”—he swallows, trying to strengthen his voice—“play ‘Every Breath You Take’ when I got shot in the lung? Or did I dream that?”
I roll my lips in and bob my head.
A stilted laugh floats out of him, one that obviously hurts. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you back, more than anything,” I rasp with another peck on his lips, a horde of butterflies imparting an aggressive stampede on my insides.
