The doctor led him down a hall, past a hectic nurses’ station and people waiting on beds in the hallway. “The gash on her side needed stitches, and she'll need a tetanus shot since we're not sure what caused the laceration. She'll make a full recovery.”
A nurse called out to the doctor, distracting him. He pointed to the last cubicle. “Right there. Bed 15.” Then he was gone in a flutter of a lab coat.
Dawson weaved his way through people, his chest tight and his heart pounding. The beds were sectioned off with nothing but a curtain. Peyton’s was at the end, and as he rounded the corner, she came into view. He pulled up short at the sight.
Her hair was a tangled mess, half-fallen from its ponytail. Blood stained the front of her shirt in a dark, uneven bloom. A bruise was already deepening across her cheekbone where Cade had struck her. She was perched on the edge of the bed, struggling to feed her arm through the sleeve of her jacket, wincing with every movement.
Then she looked up. And smiled. Not a small, polite, I'm-fine smile. A full, radiant, light-up-the-room smile that hit him like a punch to the chest.
“There you are. I told them to go get you an hour ago, but they kept insisting on…”
He didn’t hear anything she said after that. Dawson closed the distance between them, cupped her face in his shaking hands, and kissed her.
His lips were warm, his touch gentle, and Peyton sank into the kiss. Warmth spread through her. She reached up and curled her fingers into the front of his shirt. Pulling him closer. Needing him closer. The sounds of the ER drifted away until there was nothing but them, cocooned in a world of their own making. Dawson’s hands trembled against her cheeks, and she felt everything he couldn't say in the pressure of his fingers, the way he held her as if she might disappear.
They’d shared hundreds of kisses throughout their courtship. Some had been tender, some passionate, some fun. But few had held the depth of feeling this one did. As if the near-death experiences over the last few days had burned through every wall, every excuse, every reason they'd told themselves this was over, and revealed what had been underneath the whole time.
Love.
She loved him. Always had. Probably always would. And Peyton believed deep down that Dawson still loved her. It was there, in his touch. In his kiss.
Where did that leave them? She didn’t know.
They couldn’t move forward until they left their old mistakes in the past.
Dawson brushed his lips against hers once more before lifting his head to look her in the eyes. “You are either the bravest woman I’ve ever met or the most reckless.” His mouth quirked up at the corner, making him seem both boyish and charming. “I’m thinking it’s a bit of both.”
She scowled, but there was no real heat behind it. “Look in a mirror, pal. You practically dared Cade to shoot you on the spot with that arrest talk.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t smart.” His thumb brushed across her bruised cheek. Soft. Gentle. “I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Cade, but it saved both our lives.”
“I promised to give whatever Lilia stole to him when I find it.”
Dawson stilled. “And he bought it?”
She shrugged, wincing as the movement pulled on her stitches. “He’s desperate. There’s a mutiny happening within his own ranks, and I sense he knows about the federal investigation into the Iron Serpents. He might be able to survive all of that, but only if he gets his hands on what Lilia stole.” She played with a button on Dawson’s shirt. “You didn’t put out an arrest warrant, did you?”
“No.” Dawson eased himself down next to Peyton on the bed. “Jax is outside in the waiting room. He’ll escort us back to Knoxville, make sure we don’t run into any more trouble. Chief Garcia has been advised of the situation, but as you requested, I asked him to hold off on arresting Cade until I talked to you.”
Peyton breathed out. “Thank you. If we arrest Cade now, his organization fragments. Marvis or someone else takes over, and we lose any chance of finding Lilia. Worse, we blow the ATF's undercover operation. Cade thinks I made a deal with him. Let him believe it. As long as he believes I'm going to deliver the evidence, he has a reason to keep us alive and stay visible. The moment we arrest him, we lose that leverage.” She paused. “I’m pretty sure Ricky is an undercover cop, by the way.”
“I came to the same conclusion. He pinged my internal sensors at Sidewinders, but I couldn’t place why. After we met with SSA Fallon, I started wondering if he was the undercover agent. Today’s search of your bag confirmed it. Street criminals dump and sift. Ricky’s technique was textbook law enforcement—systematic, thorough, every compartment. And then when Cade put a gun to your throat, Ricky reached for his own weapon. His instinct was to protect you. But he couldn’t blow hiscover, so he did the next best thing by trying to convince Cade to back off.”
Dawson’s assessment matched her own. “Cade confirmed Marvis is challenging him for power. He may not be the only one though, so we should be careful.” She grimaced. “I assume Marvis hasn’t been found yet?”
“You assume correctly.”
She tried to put her jacket on, but the sleeve wouldn’t cooperate and a shooting pain creased her side. Only five stitches at her waist, but they hurt with every move. “Everyone is searching for what Lilia stole. We have to find it. And her.”
“I agree, but where could she be?”
“I have an idea about that, but I’ll need your help to pull it off.”
“Anything you need.”
She grinned, abandoning her jacket to hook a finger in his shirt and pull him down for a kiss. Her heart tumbled as desire darkened his eyes. “Anything I need?” Peyton loved the way his breath hitched in response.
Then his gaze narrowed. “It’s not gonna require me to tangle with any more criminal bikers, is it?”
