The door is wide open when we get there, and I let Isla walk ahead of me, before guiding Garrett to the chair next to the fireplace. “Let’s sit you down here for a little bit. A change of scenery.”
He stoically grunts as we get him comfortable.
“Can you run upstairs and get him a pillow off the bed, sweetheart?” I ask Isla as she removes her coat. “One of the soft ones.” I wait until she’s gone, then crouch by the chair. “On a scale of one to ten, where one is you’re miraculously cured, and ten feels like you fell off your bike all over again, what are you at?”
He glances to the stairs. “A solid thirteen, but if you ask me in front of Isla, I’m gonna say five. I don’t want her to feel guilty.”
“Pretty sure she’d prefer the truth.”
Garrett shrugs. “AndI’dprefer to not feel like a thirteen, but here we are.”
I brush my lips over his bicep. “Always being the hero.”
“Do you know who it was?” Isla asks when she arrives with the pillow and a container of food with the fork still in it, which she hands to Garrett. He puts it down on the side table and I curse that I haven’t yet unpacked coasters.
Isla has also pulled on one of my hoodies, and I get a perverse thrill at the sight. “Was it my uncle? I bet it was Kevin.”
I take the pillow from her and help Garrett get comfortable. “I already told you. It wasn’t your uncle.”
“But it must have been. He’s the one who?—”
“Isla, he was the wrong build. Plus…I went and had a word with Kevin.”
“You did?” Isla says at the exact same time as Garrett.
I start to button Garrett’s shirt, but Isla bats my hands out of the way to do it for him. “Don’t worry,” I say. “I went with Grudge, Wraith, and Atom. Kevin understands to stay the fuck away. Might be a while before he can scoop himself up off the floor, so it definitely wasn’t him sprinting along the tree line.”
Isla stands and wraps her arms around me. “Thank you.”
I smooth my hand over her hair and kiss the top of her head. “My pleasure. I’m just gonna call Grudge. See if he can spare some prospects for tonight to keep watch, just for peace of mind.”
Isla touches my arm. “I brought you some chili for dinner. Do you want me to reheat it for you?”
“Love that you thought of me, sweetheart. Yes, please.” I step back into the hallway, then dial Grudge.
“What’s up, brother?” he asks when he answers.
“Some guy was casing around Isla’s house. Could do with some backup for security for the night.”
“At Isla’s?” Grudge asks. “She okay?”
When I first arrived at the club, I thought Isla was gonna be Grudge’s old lady one day. Now that I’ve seen him with Lucy, I know that was never true. But, deep down, I think Grudge might always have a soft spot for her. Not in the having sexual thoughts about her kind of way, but with the kind of fondness you remember a first love.
“She’s shook up. Shade, however, decided to be a fucking action hero and tried to run out onto the street to shoot the asshole. Got him back inside, but he might have undone all the rest he’s supposed to be getting.”
“On our way,” he says, and before I can tell him we just need a few prospects, he hangs up.
The microwave pings just as I step back into the room. Isla is on her knees in front of the fireplace, striking a match. Garrett is watching her ass with an amused smile on his face. And I grabmy dinner, a happy feeling in my gut. Despite the night’s events, this is where we’re all meant to be.
I shift the container between hands because it’s so hot. “This smells amazing.”
“Tastes good too,” Garrett says eating another spoonful.
Isla closes the glass door of the fireplace. “It was my nanna’s recipe.”
I take a bite and moan. “Good recipe. Did you eat?”
Isla nods. “I was just rinsing my dish when I heard you both outside.”
