“I need to see him,” he insisted.
I placed my hands on his chest, trying to calm him down. “Sugar, you can’t. Not right now.” He started to pull away fromme, swatting my hands away. A bit of anger started to boil. I reached out and grabbed his beard, bringing his face to mine. I heard Greene warn me, “Mia.” I shot him a look to trust me.
I focused on Shooter. There wasn’t fury in his eyes, there was a wall of sadness, worry, almost like devastation. The kid wasn’t an enemy, he truly meant something to Shooter.
“Look at me.” I demanded. Shooter tried to jerk away, “River, look at me.” I beckoned him. My hard, protective man turned into the cinnamon roll that was typically for me, melting into my touch, trying to ground himself to something real. “There you are.” I cupped his cheek. “Trust me like you did the first time you met me. I got you.”
“Amelia, I… can’t…” he started to growl out, his emotions rising to the surface.
I brought his forehead to mine. “I know, I know. I got you. I know you’re worried. I’m worried too. He was stable enough to get him to surgery. That’s a good thing.”
Shooter agreed with me. His body was tensed up, fighting between staying strong and crumbling to the floor.
“Trust me enough to know that I will watch over him. And when he’s able to, you’ll see him.”
Even the strongest men can show their true emotions, even their own walls crumble when the real world sees them.
“Fuck me sideways, can I get a man like that?” I heard Jennie almost fan herself.
“I feel like I missed a lot of information, more than just a chapter,” Greene responded.
Heavier footsteps fell behind Shooter, I glanced back to see B.B. and Stray looking concerned. B.B’s blond hair all out of place like he had been pulling it. Stray’s stance tensed like he was preparing for the worse news.
“Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Greene asked.
Before I could speak, Shooter chimed in, “Someone is playing with fire and I want to know why.”
It wasn’t long before Shooter and the guys were filling in Greene on what was happening. I gave them space, not just for them to talk it out, but my stomach was finally catching up to me from the stress and I needed to step away.
I found the closest bathroom, trying to catch my breath. The creaking of the door sparked my attention.
“I don’t know how you stood strong.” Jennie’s sweet voice kept me company.
I didn’t know it, either. She kept distracting me. “And girl, that man. Damn, it was like watching you tame a fucking beast. Like, sign me up.”
I chuckled. Some days it wasn’t like that, some days were filled with worry if he would walk back through his door, if the last kiss would really be the last kiss. I lived in the moment and at that time, my stomach was trying to toss up the leftover Chinese food from my lunch last week that I had for breakfast.
Chapter 37
Shooter
He wasn’t supposed to be caught up in our dealings. He wasn’t supposed to be attached to anything.
He was an innocent man, trying to make his way in this world.
It had been days since he came through the emergency room, days since I bolted through the reception, pushing past all the people trying to keep me at bay.
My mind went somewhere else, lost like I traveled back to my active duty days, worried which soldier would end up on our table. I don’t know what scared me more; the fact that it was Amelia who called me delivering the news or the fact that it was Dillon, worried about who was after us that led to his assault.
He was supposed to be strong and prove to everyone wrong that he would mentor and teach the newer generation.
And instead, his body was recovering from the surgeries that kept him alive. The doctors were worried that the wounds were nicked muscle that he needed to just walk. He wouldn’t ever be back to his fighting shape. That part of his life, once he woke up, would be over. The dreams he had would be put on hold.
The excessive beeping was the only sound in his room.
Guilt had ridden me.
How did it get this far?
