"Calamity," I croak. "You came..."
His smile is bleak. "Of course I did. You're mine, remember? No one steals what's mine. This shouldn't have happened in the first place. I should have been better at protecting you."
I press my finger to his lips. I don't want him to talk and ruin the moment. I'm sure I will black out before too much longer, and I want answers before I do.
"How'd you get Cruz to come?"
"I told the truth. He doesn't believe me, but he was willing to put the fight aside to save you. That was part of our agreement."
"So...where'd you get the snipers? I didn't know you had those."
He chuckled. "I don't. That was a last-minute idea of mine. They had the advantage of numbers, even after we joined forces. So we bought a dozen laser pointers and had several non-combative club members stand on the rooftops."
A bubbling laugh scrapes its way up my throat and bursts from me. He'd had what, twenty or thirty minutes to think of a plan? He is brilliant. It is a wonder he hasn’t crushed us all flat in the years leading up to this.
"I fucking love you, you know that?"
Calamity eases his hands beneath me and lifts me from the pavement. He cradles me to his chest and kisses my forehead reverently. I shut my eyes, and tears squeeze out of the corners as he walks us back toward the van. I'm so glad he's here.
"Go to sleep, Penelope."
"Kiss me goodnight," I counter.
He rumbles out a laugh, though there's a bitter undercurrent to it. He's careful of my split lip and injured jaw, barely brushing his lips along mine. It's tender and sweet and over in seconds. Then we are back where it all began. At least a dozen Hellions are dead. The rest have scattered. Cruz is waiting with the real Ryker, who doffs Calamity's jacket quickly like he's just been waiting to get rid of it.
Cruz's eyes fix on me. "Is she hurt?"
He steps forward, arms going out in a wordless command that Calamity surrender me to him. I curl closer to Calamity. I'm not ready to let go yet.
"Split lip. Bruises and maybe a dislocated jaw."
"Knocked a tooth loose," I add with a grunt of pain as Calamity lowers me to Cruz's outstretched arms. I don't want to let go.
He has to pry me loose. Cruz's arms tighten like iron bands around me as soon as I'm secure in his arms.
"Our deal, Gardel," Cruz mutters.
"I know. Consider me gone."
And, with one last wistful look over his shoulder, Calamity strides toward the Fat Boy waiting for him in an alleyway. He slings a leg over the seat, twists the keys into the ignition, and takes off down the long, slick stretch of pavement, ready to start a new life.
Without me.
20
Calamity
"Idon't understand how you can live with him," I hiss. "He's a fucking slob."
Brooklyn giggles and continues to stir the boiling pot. Spaghetti again, mostly because it's cheap, and it's one of the few things that her morning sickness will allow her to eat with little trouble. She's a lot like her mother that way. Sick most of the way through the pregnancy.
"I can't blame him. His hours stink, and neither of us really feel like cleaning when we're both home."
Which was why I clean the studio apartment while trying desperately to sort out the shambles that my life has become. It's dizzying to go from the king of an empire to a glorified janitor in only a few short weeks. Living with Kase Cruz and my daughter in an apartment with the dimensions of a sardine can is not my idea of a good time. Now that I've gained some work, I intend to get the hell out of dodge when I can.
It's hard to stay annoyed when I'm with Brooklyn, though. She's reveling in her new domestic bliss. Kase Cruz may not be good enough for my little girl, but he makes her happy. So I'll overlook his slovenly ways for now. But when I have enough money, I'm hiring them a maid. This is just fucking ridiculous.
It's almost the weekend, and she'll be kicking me out soon on the pretext of getting her a mango smoothie from an all-night juice bar. The journey is about a half-hour there and back on foot, and it's her go-to excuse to get me out of the house when Kase gets home. She's trying to be sneaky, as though I don't know that she plans to use the hour to fuck her husband when I'm not forced to be in the same room.
