Oh…yes. I cringed as the memories came flooding back. Reaching for the glass of water someone had left out on my bedside table, I moistened my parched throat as I tried to make sense of everything. “What happened? How did you find me?”
“That’s a story I think you should hear from someone else. I only know bits of it, and I also know that there’s someone who’s been dying to talk to you about it. I sent him out to make me a coffee, but he should be back any minute. He’s been here every second he was able to.” She climbed to her feet. “Before he gets back, I’ll remove the drip, and I’ve already set you up with a prescription for heavy-duty painkillers. I’ll save you the boring medical speak, but you’re looking at bruising, a sore throat, and a bump on your head that should disappear in the next week. It’s already a lot less swollen than it was, and if you keep applying cold packs for short, regular intervals over the next day or so, it’ll help to reduce the swelling even more. But the most important thing you need is rest. Lots of rest.”
When she’d finished removing the IV drip and cleaned everything up, I placed my hand on her arm. “Thank you. It means a lot, and I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”
“Don’t even worry about it. It’s no problem. I’m happy to help you anytime.” She crossed the room to the door and paused with her hand on the handle. “I’m especially happy to help out the woman my brother seems to have fallen head over heels for.” At my squeak, she laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “He kept that one quiet. Understandably so, given your situation, but…maybe I’ll see you at one of our family meals sometime.”
I stared at the door as it closed behind her, my heart racing. When it opened again a few seconds later and a beautiful man stepped inside, tousled raven hair falling over his eyes and a relieved smile curving over his mouth as he took me in, goosebumps erupted all over my skin, and butterflies took flight in my belly.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Nova.Nova.” Jay crossed the room in seconds, leaning down to carefully gather me into his arms. He pressed kisses to my hair, and tears filled my eyes.
“I have to tell you. W-when I thought I was going to die, I wanted to tell you?—”
“Fuck, princess. Please don’t talk about you dying.” His voice cracked. “I can’t stand it. You’re not going anywhere.”
I gently grasped his chin, stroking across the stubble on his jaw, and manoeuvred his head back so I could meet his gaze. “I’m not going anywhere. I survived this, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.” He sucked in a shaky breath, his fingertips brushing over the bruises on my throat with the lightest, softest touch. “It was far too close, though. Fucking hell, when I saw you there, I thought I was already too late. And Ryker— It would’ve killed him.”
“I would’ve taken Igor down with me.”
The corners of his lips kicked up. “That’s true. My dad had to perform emergency surgery to stop him bleeding out right there in the bunker.”
He did?“See? Nothing to worry about,” I said, trying to keep my tone light.
His fingers stroked through my hair, caressing the lengths slowly and deliberately. It made me shiver, and I caught a flash of satisfaction in his expression before his gaze darkened. “Igor Volkov is going to pay a hundred times over for what he did to you. For every mark he left on yourbody, he’s going to receive a hundred more. He’s going to be begging for death by the time the Volkovs have finished with him.”
“The Volkovs?” My brows flew up.
“Mmhmm. We—uh, me, Ry, and Dan wanted to pay him back, but there’s a new deal.” He shifted on the bed. “Ryker will probably be here in a minute. He had to meet with your dad and the Volkovs, but last I heard, he was on his way back here.”
“Okay.” I pushed aside the thoughts of the deal for a moment because there was something far more important I needed to do. “Jay?”
“Yeah?” he said softly.
“When I thought I was going to die, all I could think was that I wanted to tell you…” Meeting his gorgeous dark eyes, so warm as he stared down at me, I smiled. “I wanted to tell you that I loved you. I love you, Jay. I know I shouldn’t say it, that it’s selfish of me when?—”
“Stop it,” he rasped, bringing his mouth down on mine. “I love you too, so much. I never thought it was possible to feel the way I feel about you.”
Then we were kissing, and I never wanted it to end.Jayesh Attwood loves me. I loved him, and he loved me back. No matter what the future brought, I would hold on to this moment. I might never have a chance to say it again. I might never hear him say it again. But right now, we had this, and no one could take it away from us.
When my brother entered the room, I was sitting propped up against Jay’s chest while he leaned back against the headboard, his arms encircling my waist as he told me how much he loved me between soft kisses.
“I guess I’ll have to get used to that,” Ryker muttered as he took our position in. But then, shocking me completely,he strode across my bedroom, his expression so raw and open that my jaw dropped. I shifted forwards just in time for him to wrap his arms tightly around me. “Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again,” he ground out. “Ever.”
I rubbed my hands up and down his back, making the most of the unprecedented moment where Ryker Thorpe freely showed his emotions. Tears filled my eyes, knowing just how difficult this was for my brother, but I blinked them back. “I didn’t exactly have a choice, but I’ll stay as safe as I can. You can keep teaching me your moves too. I wouldn’t have been prepared with the knife if it wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah.” He pulled away from me, giving me a small but genuine smile. “Proud of you, Nov.”
I returned his smile. “Thanks. I’m proud of you too.” Tilting my head back to rest on Jay’s shoulder, I threaded my fingers through his. “Now, who wants to tell me what happened?”
45
JAY
When I glanced at Ryker, he nodded, which I guess meant it was down to me to explain what had happened. I didn’t mind—my only reluctance was that I might hurt Nova.
