I nodded, not saying a word as I opened my door and slid out. Vail met me around the other side, while Cillian and Rowen were already at the door that led into the house from the garage, unlocking it and leaving it open for us after they went inside. I sighed, kneading my fingers into my eye sockets, and followed Vail.
He grabbed my hand as though he expected me to wander off and led me up the gray oak stairs. We went to the big shared bathroom, and he tugged me inside, closing the door behind us. The white tiles gleamed, simple and clean. I stood there, letting him undress me one piece of clothing at a time, too tired to argue with him. It felt like my eyes were falling out of my head, and by the time he had me naked I didn’t want to shower anymore. I would have preferred to sleep, but Vail wasn’t going to have any of it. He shoved me toward the white porcelain tub and I had no choice but to step inside. He closed the white shower curtain and twisted the knobs on, letting steaming hot water pour over me.
While Vail got undressed, I leaned my head under the showerhead, closing my eyes as the heat pounded on my sore shoulders and back. He opened the curtain and slid in behind me, and to my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me and leaned against my back. He didn’t do anything except hold me, and it was one of the best feelings I’d ever experienced. There wasn’t any need in the way he cuddled close, this was solely for me, and a tenseness in my body unraveled.
“We’re in here alone,” he whispered, placing a kiss in the middle of my shoulders. “Talk to me?”
I swallowed and clenched my eyes closed, then reached out to touch my hand against the shower tiles and shook my head, beads of water flicking from my short hair. “What do you want from me? There’s nothing to say.”
“You care about him.” Vail’s hold tightened and he pressed more kisses across my shoulders. “I care about him, too.”
“He’s a brat,” I grumbled, then smiled to myself at the thought of what Fallon would say to that. He’d own up to it, of course, and then find a way to flirt with me.
“Yeah, but he’s our brat.” Vail sighed and laid his cheek against my skin. “He’ll be fine. He’s been beaten before and came out on the other side, right?”
I didn’t answer because it sounded a lot like he was trying to keep his own spirits up and I didn’t want to wreck his mood. Instead I turned around in his arms, grabbed his wrists, and dragged him closer. The hard kiss I laid on his lips didn’t satisfy the need to own him that flooded my body. He groaned, leaning up into the pressure of my mouth against his. He tasted sweet and I couldn’t get enough. I wanted so much more, but the worry felt like a baseball bat to the gut and I didn’t think I could get it up. Not yet, not until Fallon was awake and okay.
“I’m sorry,” I said, when I broke the kiss. “I’m fucking exhausted.”
“I know.” Vail ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “Don’t apologize.” He smoothed his hands over my shoulders and gripped my upper arms. “I love you, and I’m only in here to support you, not make you feel like you have to fuck me. Let me wash you.”
I didn’t argue. Once I’d turned back around, he grabbed a loofah and squirted his favorite bodywash on it. I let him take his time scrubbing my limbs gently, and the more he worked my muscles, the more my shoulders relaxed, until I was nearly falling asleep standing up. Vail must have noticed because he reached around me to turn off the water and guided me out of the tub. I stood there as he dried me off, and if I’d been more rested, I might have taken the towel from him and smacked his ass with it, but I didn’t know if I could dry myself without curling up on the floor and falling asleep.
“Go get dressed and meet me in Rowen’s room.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he slapped his hand over my lips with a playful grin.
“Rowen’s room.” He nodded in reassurance before he knotted the towel at my waist and stepped back.
I laughed lightly and walked past him out into the hallway. Cillian was there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. I stared, and he returned the look until his mouth lifted in the corner in a half smile.
“Ye okay, mate?”
I shrugged. “I’m not in a drugged-up coma.”
He winced and straightened, clearing his throat. He’d taken off his jeans, leaving him in a pair of black boxers and a gray T-shirt he sometimes liked to sleep in. He looked sexy, but that was no surprise—Cillian could wear a clown outfit and still be a masculine kind of attractive.
“He’ll be all right.” His confidence made me jealous. I was good at hiding my insecurities, but if Cillian had any, I’d never know. He’d perfected his acting. “The kid’s like a gnat. No matter how many times he gets swatted, he always comes back to take the piss, don’t he?”
I chuckled. “Yeah.”
He slapped me once on the shoulder. “Just do what Vail says and we’ll get ye back to the hospital before eight. I’ll join ye for the first shift, if ye want. Sloan’s got us on break while Fallon’s in the coma. Says we did good and he’s proud of the kid.”
“And Ilya? I didn’t ask if you caught him.” I’d been so preoccupied with Fallon I hadn’t even had the chance to think about my revenge. If anyone gave me a choice, I’d make that bastard hurt bad. Just the thought had me clenching my teeth, and the tension in my shoulders returned until it was painful.
Cillian smirked and it was more like the man I knew. “Yeah, we caught him. The wee twat can’t run as fast as he thought he could. Sloan’s got him cooling his heels at Mount Pleasure.”
I closed my eyes as I imagined everything I wanted to do to him, starting with my knives. I would make him regret ever taking a breath near Fallon.
“Don’t get too excited,” Cillian said, dragging me out of my imagination. “Sloan said no one’s allowed to touch him. Not yet. Don’t know what he’s waiting for, but Ilya’s been sitting in his own filth since we caught him. No torture, though.”
“Why not?” I hissed, madder than I’d ever been at Sloan. He’d always let us get our justified revenge. My hands curled into fists.
“Calm down, mate.” He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “Sloan’s got his reasons. He won’t let Ilya go, not after hurting one of our men. Padraig and Grady are already asking for Ilya’s head, but Sloan’s told them no, too.”
“That’s fucking bullshit.” I shoved his hand off and glared. “Fuck, we deserve to beat his ass.”
Cillian shrugged. “Maybe, and we’ll get that chance.”
