“You guys just slept for twelve hours,” Jacob groans from across the room.
Dante hums in indifference. “Fuck off. We’re alive. Wake us up in a few more hours.”
I keep my eyes on Dante as the sounds of people leaving the room reaches me. Once we’re alone, I press my forehead to Dante’s, breathing him in despite the smell of sweat and the metallic tang of blood.
“You saved me,” I murmur against the shadow of a beard on his chin.
“Can’t let anyone else hurt you, huh? Only I get to make you cry.”
I don’t laugh, don’t argue. Instead, I lie back down beside him, head tucked against his bicep, his hand hot on the small of my back. Despite not being very sleepy, I fall asleep fast in the comfort of Dante’s arms.
The next timeI wake up, it’s to Dante’s hands gently carding through my hair. That feeling when you nap too long during the day, when you wake up sweaty, disoriented, and like you’ve missed a few years, washes over me. I press tighter against Dante, hissing when pain flares through my abdomen. Ugh.
“We’re both fucked up,” Dante says with a gentle laugh.
“In many ways,” I agree.
He hums gently, but keeps sifting through my hair, making me want to purr and push closer despite the pain both of our bodies are steeped in. The urge to pee takes precedence though. When I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, the door opens quickly to reveal a harried-looking Jacob.
“Wait, Jesus Christ.” Then his strong hands are there to help me up.
We shuffle awkwardly to the bathroom. The IV is gone now, so it must’ve been removed while I slept beside Dante. It’s the longest piss of my life, and I usually count, so I’d definitely know. Once done, Jacob gently holds my elbow while I wash my hands and look longingly at the shower.
“Not for a few more days. Doctor's orders. Sponge baths only,” Jacob reprimands as if I’m a child.
I wiggle my eyebrows at him. “Are you volunteering?”
Jacob visibly retches. “No.”
Alright, then. Once I’m back in the bed, Jacob repeats the process with Dante. It would be comical watching Dante, who looms over Jacob, be helped to the bathroom, if it wasn’t for the clear pain on Dante’s face. They bicker back and forth in the bathroom because Dante probably isn’t any better than me when it comes to being helped, then they’re shuffling back toward the bed. Dante lies down beside me with a relieved sigh.
Jacob slaps his hands together and promptly disappears back into the other room. A second later the boys and my still harried-looking brother join us in our room. I don’t have the energy to care about how I look, not when my body feels like it’s been sliced like a deli ham. I curl against Dante, letting the warmth of his palm against my hip steady me.
“So, that was crazy,” Jacob says with a whistle.
“And our only lead is dead,” Parker notes wryly.
Hayden chuckles darkly. “Look, Reid, you’ve got to tell us what the big Russian told you.”
“He just kept asking who you guys answered to,” I tell them honestly, wrung out and tired. “Wanted to know what I knew… why I meant something to you.”
Dante’s hand squeezes my hip tight. “I’ll kill him.”
“Settle down, big guy. I’m here now.” I smile against Dante’s chest when his fingers dip down to possessively curve over my ass. “He didn’t seemthatexcited to be torturing me.”
I lift my head to watch Hayden sit down on the corner of the bed as he flicks through an iPad. He flips it over to show me a picture of Claude, maybe a little younger, but it’s definitely the same guy that spent a few hours making my life hell the other day.
“The Carver,” Hayden supplies as the other boys look over his shoulder. “Russian hired killer for more people than I can count. He was expensive, so whoever hired him definitely wanted to know whatever it is that you know.”
“But I don’t know anything and that’s what I told him.”
“That’s not true,” Parker argues, eyebrows furrowed. “You know we answer to Robin. You know we steal from the evil to give back to those that deserve it.”
I shrug and lift my head to rest it over Dante’s chest. “Didn’t need to tell him that. He seemed to already know.”
“Oh?” Hayden says, blinking quickly.
“Hmmm. He knew. He just wanted to know if there weremoreof you. He said the local drug kingpin hired him, but he was there for his own answers.”I shrug as well as I can despite the pain. “He was getting paid to fuck with me, but wanted answers for himself.”
