“Listen to him, Costa. Know your place,” Del Moro warns, unaffected.
As Clay releases me, I shoot Del Moro a furious glare. He nonchalantly brushes lint off his shoulder, then turns and strolls away, whistling.
“What did he say?” Sophia asks, her eyes wide.
I’m too angry to speak, fists clenched and breathing hard to keep myself from running after him and scratching his eyes out. Even if he’s not involved in my parents’ car crash, he just admitted that he is responsible for my life being a living hell for the last five years.
“Whatever it was, we’ll make sure he pays for it,” Clay reassures, pulling me into a hug.
“We will,” Joshua agrees, taking my hand and intertwining our fingers.
FORTY-ONE
“Fuck,”I curse, pinching my finger on a lab instrument.
The sharp edge punctured my glove, and my finger is bleeding when I slip it off.
Fucking perfect.
“Stay away from the samples,” Sophia warns, and I quickly step back. “Are you okay?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder.
“Just a pinch, but it’s bleeding. Do we have a first-aid kit with a Band-Aid?” I ask.
“I believe there’s one in the supply closet,” she tells me, looking back down on her work.
I grab the kit from the closet and open it. The lab door swings open just then, and my guys come in.
My guys. I still can’t believe it.
Joshua’s face lights up when he spots me, but his grin fades as he notices the first-aid kit. He rushes over to me. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just a small pinch, but I can’t risk contaminating the samples,” I explain with a shrug.
“You sure it won’t turn you into Spider-Woman or something?” Clay teases from beside me, leaning in to plant a kiss on my temple.
I roll my eyes at his teasing. “Have you even seen the movie? It was a spider bite, not a lab instrument.” I huff, giving him a frown.
“Maybe you’ll transform into a microscope,” he jokes, grinning. My eyebrows rise nearly to my hairline. “Okay, okay, that was a bad one.”
Meanwhile, Joshua takes care of my finger, cleaning it gently and placing a Band-Aid over the wound. He lifts it to his lips and kisses the bandaged fingertip. “There, all better.”
My heart skips a beat at the sweet gesture, and he leans in to kiss me softly. “Thank you,” I murmur against his lips.
“Anything for you, my Carolina,” he whispers in return, making my stomach flip.
Clay turns to Sophia and asks, “Ready to go, sis? Xander just texted he’s waiting outside.”
“In a minute,” she mutters, carefully storing the samples in the refrigerator.
“Ready for what?” I ask, confused.
What did I miss?
Clay puts an arm around my shoulders and explains, “Last night, after you fell asleep in front of the TV after your shift, we all realized we were craving hotdogs. We’re going to grab some from the stand down the street for dinner. You like hotdogs, right?”
“I do,” I say, smiling at Clay’s enthusiasm.
Sophia and I quickly shed our lab coats, gloves, and goggles, and I slip into my jacket, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.
