I frown. “What?”
“Your leg. It got cut,” he reminds me, slowly standing up. My eyes light on all the blood on his arms where he rolled up his shirtsleeves in the car, all of it from Leo, and it all slams into me again.
“I’m fine.” I wave my hand and start pacing again.
What the fuck was Zane doing there? He saved our asses, nodoubt, but why? Now he’s saving Leo by giving him blood? I’ve never been more confused and pissed off in my life.
“Pretty girl,” Gage says, stepping in front of me, holding up his hands when I glare. “There isn’t anything we can do right now. Let Ryder take care of you.”
I finally let my eyes focus on his face, which is lined with worry. “This is Leo,” I whisper, knowing he’ll know what I’m trying to say without saying it.
“I know,” he whispers back, leaning his forehead on mine. “I’ll be right here. Take care of the leg, and you can come right back.”
I nod and can hear everyone in the room take a breath of relief. Ryder gently places his hand on the small of my back and leads me toward the stairs, where he swoops me up in his arms.
“I can walk,” I say much harsher than I mean to.
He closes his eyes, and when he opens them, I can see how fucked up he is over this. “Please let me have this,Il mio sole. I could have lost you.” He swallows. “Give me this.”
I nod because I don’t know what else to say. What can I say? That I don’t care that I almost died? That I only care thattheyalmost died?
He shoulders his way into my room, goes straight to the bathroom, and sits me on the vanity beside the sink. I look at his arms again and have to swallow back bile. I’m not squeamish about blood; I’ve seen it more times than I should have, but it’s Leo’s blood.
“Please get rid of that.” I gesture weakly to his arms. He looks down like he forgot it was there.
He unbuttons and shrugs off his shirt, then starts scrubbing his arms of the dried blood. I watch it wash down the drain, remembering him being so gentle and apologetic to Leo when he was getting him out of the car. The same guy he hated a week ago; he just dropped all of that and helped him. He takes a washcloth, wets it, and starts scrubbing at his stomach, where the blood soaked through to his skin. He dries himself off and digs underneath the vanity for the first aid kit that’s in all rooms. He stands up and lays it in front of him, taking out what he needs. Gently propping my foot onto his leg, he looks over the cuts. They don’t look bad on closer inspection, not that I care anyway.
He cleans the dried blood off, and gently pushes around the cuts to ensure there isn’t any glass stuck there. I watch the top of his head the whole time he’s working, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what?” he asks without looking up from spreading alcohol over the cuts; I don’t even feel it.
“For being so good with Leo.” I can hear tears clogging my voice again.
He looks up finally, and I see the worry in his eyes too. “As much as I didn’t want it,Il mio sole,” he sighs and looks back down, continuing his cleaning. “He’s a part of this family now. He saved my ass. This means he’s mine to protect, just like all the others.” He slathers antibiotic ointment on my leg, then covers it with a big gauze, taping it on. “Get changed, and you can go back to wait for Leo.” He places his hands on my waist, helping me down from the vanity. He kisses my forehead. “I’ll be downstairs.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I love you,” I whisper. The same thing I whispered to Leo downstairs. It seems so stupid now to hide our love. If anything, it makes me want to announce to them that I love them.
“I love you too,Il mio sole.” He pecks my lips, disappearing from the room.
I go to my walk-in closet in search of clean clothes. I reach every way, trying to unzip my dress, but I can’t reach the zipper. On the fourth try, that’s when I lose it. Busting into tears, all emotion slamming into me like a freight train just because I can’t get my fucking dress unzipped. I collapse to the floor on my knees, big sobs racking my body and no way to stop them, crying so hard I can’t catch my breath.
“Les!” Gage busts into the closet, dropping to his knees beside me. “Les,” he says, worried, pulling my face up to him.
“I can’t get my dress off,” I sob.
“Pretty girl,” he murmurs, tears gathering in his eyes. He sits on the floor, gathering me on his lap, rocking me back and forth against his chest. “He will be okay.” I know he’s saying that for his sake too. Gage might not want to admit it yet, but he has more than sexualfeelings for Leo. I knew it when I saw him protecting Leo with his own body.
“He has to be,” I sob, tears soaking Gage’s shirt.
“He will,” he says adamantly. He pulls my face up with a finger under my chin. “He will,” he says again, tears spilling down his cheeks.
We stay like that until my sobs are just hiccups. “Let me help you out of your dress,” he offers, and I nod.
He helps me to my feet before jumping to his. He gently turns me around, unzipping the dress. “You know this is not how I wanted to see what was underneath this.”
I laugh despite myself. “I’ll wear it again,” I promise. This isn’t how I wanted him to see it, either. I had plans for tonight that involved all of them in my bed.
