“Hey!” Collin said, trying to hide his laughter.
“I’ll be okay, Peyton,” I said, letting him pull me into a hug.
“Don’t be stupid, sis,” he whispered in my ear. “Promise me that you won’t try to kill yourself again.”
“I promise.” And I meant the words.
“She’ll be fine, man,” Dominic sighed. “We need to get going.”
A black bag of cash was handed over to Collin, who tossed it to Zevon, who stuffed it into the car. A bulletproof vest was slipped over my chest. An envelope that contained new ID’s, bankcards and car keys was passed between hands.
Hannah was ushered into a different car with Ace at the wheel; she had refused to go anywhere until she got to talk to me. Only a few men would be staying here. The others, to my understanding, would be out searching for not only Alan, but also other Cartel.
I had many questions that I’d be asking over the next few days, but first, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.
Once Collin was at the wheel, Zevon in the passenger seat and Dominic in the back with me beside him, the huge garage door opened and we were off.
We weren’t even out of the driveway before my head leaned on Dominic’s shoulder and I let my eyes slide closed. It was a good thing that Collin had given me something for the pain, because this long car ride would have sucked.
He leaned his head on top of mine.
“You two are sweet,” Collin said.
“Oh, shut up,” Dominic huffed.
“This will be fun,” Zevon muttered, his tone contradicting the words.
This would sonotbe fun.
Collin’s light laughter filled the car before he turned up the music and the city lights greeted us.
My body was stiff and I ground my teeth in pain as Dominic helped me out of the back of the SUV. I took a deep breath in, hoping everything would stop spinning and thumping. He was patient as I took time to get my footing.
Zevon and Collin went through the house, turning on nearly every light and checking for anyone who shouldn’t be there, as well as any bugs that may have been planted. They weren’t taking any chances.
By the time Dominic led me to the front door, the two others were already done, declaring the house safe. I could hardly keep my body standing, and I let Dominic take me to the couch, where I sat down heavily and jarred my wounds.
I whimpered, leaning forward as the air was knocked out of me. I was still as pathetic as I was before I was stabbed. The only difference now was that I had to count on someone else taking care of me. Still, the pain was nothing compared to what Alan had done to me for years. I could handle this. I had no other choice. I’d deal with it until I finally got to meet my end.
“Hold still,” Collin said, sitting down next to me before inserting a needle into my shoulder, pushing liquid pain reliever into my body. It merely took seconds to make the pain ebb away.
“Thanks,” I said, still bent over, afraid to move. My eyes felt heavy with sleep.
“I knew you’d be sore. That’s why I didn’t want to leave so soon. Let me know when you start to feel too much pain. A week is not nearly long enough for your body to heal from what you’ve gone through.”
“It’s okay,” I said, slowly sitting up and leaning against the back of the couch.
“No, it’s not,” Collin said, his voice lowering. “I hate seeing you pain, princess. I expect you to tell me when it gets to be too much. Got it?”
“Yeah,” I said, letting the pain meds work. I had gotten so used to hiding my pain from the world. Years of practice made me an amazing actress in that department.
“Come on,” Zevon said. “Let’s get you to bed. There are only three bedrooms, so someone will have to take the couch.”
“I’ll take it,” Collin said. “Better than the floor.”
I was about to argue, but then I thought better of it. Me against these three was a defeat waiting to happen.
Right as I stood up, Dominic was quick to lift me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck. My head had a mind of its own, leaning against his shoulder. I took a deep breath in, smelling his scent.
