He wraps a hand around her throat and pulls her head back to look at him upside down. “Is that true?”
“I would never,” she says, clutching her chest like she’s clutching pearls.
He lays a smacking kiss on her lips. “Uh-huh,” he comments, letting her go.
She sits up and winks, making me laugh again.
“So, this whole thing really works?” Evander asks, looking between us. He seems genuinely curious.
“It’s not easy,” Les says. “You have to want it to work.”
“You guys make it look easy,” Mateo says, cocking his head to the side.
Ryder laughs. “We’re still working it out.” He looks at Les. “She’s the one who makes it work.”
Doc walks back into the room. “You can see him now.” He looks at Ryder. “You want to move him somewhere else?”
Ryder nods and follows Doc out of the room. Almost losing Leo showed Ryder how much he really means to Les. The only person I’ve ever seen him soft with was us; now, he is accepting Leo. Ryder is protective of us all, and so is Dex. I saw the worry in the big guy’s eyes too. Leo is family; Les and I will do everything we can to make sure he stays around.
After Ryder gets him situated in his room upstairs, Evander and Mateo go to check on him. When they return, Les stands up from the couch and gives Ryder and Holden a kiss before reaching her hand out to me and pulling me to my feet. She also stops at Dex, kissing him before leading me up the stairs.
She gently pushes open Leo’s door, and I almost don’t walk all the way in. She tugs my hand. “He’s fine,” she reminds me.
He’s lying in the middle of the bed, pale as a ghost, a white bandage lying in stark contrast to his tan skin over the wound. Someone slid a pair of loose ball shorts on him, and I smile, knowing it was Ryder. We go to each side and gently slide onto the bed with him. He doesn’t even stir, his breathing staying even.
We each grab one of his hands and lock our other hands together over his head, forming a protective bubble around him.
We almost lost him, and there’s one thing I know for sure.
Viktor Orlov fucked with the wrong person when he fucked with Leo.
Chapter 39
Leo
Islowly peel my eyes open, confused as to why it’s so hard. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. The shooting. The searing hot pain slicing through my stomach. The yelling and screaming. The rush back to the house. Ryder carrying me into the house. It got really blurry after that. The last thing I remember is Alessa’s ex-boyfriend saying he was my blood type.
I turn my head to the side, and I’m met with Gage’s sleeping face, his arm awkwardly over his head, his other hand tucked securely into mine. When I look the other way, Les is lying the exact same way.
They both stayed with me.
I remember Les whispering she loved me last night and the instant relief it brought from the pain for a split second.
“You’re awake,” Gage says sleepily, pulling my eyes back to him.
“Yeah,” I croak and then wince. What the fuck did they give me? I feel like I can fall back asleep, but other things are screaming urgently at me. “I have to piss.”
Alessa giggles, and I realize she’s awake too. I look over and take in her beautiful face. “You can’t get up, so it’s Gage or me helping. Take your pick.”
Gage rolls smoothly off the side of the bed onto his feet andsnatches a urinal bottle off the dresser, wiggling it in his hand. “Gage,” I say without hesitation. No way she’s holding my dick while I take a piss. I don’t want Gage to do it, but I’ll take him over her. “No offense,” I tell Alessa.
She kisses my cheek. “None taken.” She rubs her hand down my face. “It’s so good to see your eyes,” she says softly before gently sliding off the bed and padding out of the room.
Gage professionally helps me take care of business while I’m dying of embarrassment. He walks to the bathroom; I hear the toilet flush a minute later, then the water running. He walks back empty-handed and stretches out on the bed beside me with his head propped up in his hand. I can see the worry lining his eyes, something I’ve never seen on him.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “How bad is it?” Thankfully I was knocked out the whole time; Doc pumped some serious pain meds into my veins.
“Man,” he sighs, “It was bad. There was all this blood.” He swallows like he’s seeing it all over again. “We thought you were going to die,” he whispers.
