Page 26 of Love Above Law

Fuck!

This is awkward.

I can feel my lungs begin to burn from lack of oxygen.

"Breathe, baby," Lex commands, his tone husky. I take in some much-needed air, but it does nothing to alleviate my embarrassment. The grin Lex rewards me with confirms my suspicions. Luckily, he takes pity on me and doesn't call me out. He does, however, reach down with his right hand and adjusts himself.

Deciding to abandon the current awkward situation, I ask, "what time is it?"

Lex peers down at his watch. "Just after midnight."

"Has my brother been back since I fell asleep?" Lex doesn't have to open his mouth to answer, the look on his face says it all.

"Give your brother some time, beautiful. He's had a lot of shit dumped on his head in the past twenty-four hours. He'll come around."

"I know he will. I can't get the look he had on his face out of my head. I hurt him, Lex. Keeping secrets is not something we do."

"I'm sorry, Leyna. You have to know I didn't intend for your brother to find out about you moving like that."

"I know you didn't. I don't blame you, Lex."

Mine and Lex's conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Gabriel, and in his arms, he's holding his son. "I thought you might like to meet your sobrino."

"Si," I nod bringing my hand up to my mouth to keep a sob from escaping. This moment means so much to me. It tells me, even though my brother is angry with me, he has not given up on us. Pressing the button on the bed, it rises, bringing me to a sitting position. Without a word, Lex stands and quietly leaves the room giving me a few moments alone with my brother. At this moment, my pain along with mine and Gabriel's fight is placed aside. With tears in my eyes, I allow my brother to place my nephew into my waiting arms. "Oh, hermano, he's perfect."

"Si, he is. Alba and I named him Gabriel."

"He does look like you," I giggle.

Minutes tick by, and we both sit in comfortable silence. Neither of us wants to ruin the moment by bringing up what happened earlier. It's not forgotten; only put on hold.

About thirty minutes later I kiss baby Gabe on the top of his head then gently hand him back over to his papi. "Thanks for bringing him." When the only response I get from my brother is a nod, I sigh. "Gabriel."

"Not now, Leyna," he cuts me off. Dropping my chin to my chest, I do my best to hide my tears.

Using his finger, Gabriel tilts my face and levels me with his dark eyes. "It's going to take some time for me to come to terms with the shit you laid out on me today. Right now, I can't forgive you. But you are my sister, Leyna. Nothing and no one will ever change that. I love you."

"I love you too, hermano. Always."

Once my brother leaves my room, I cry. I cry and pray he can one day forgive me.

* * *

The next couple of days move at a snail's pace. I want nothing more than to get the hell out of this hospital. I've become a grouch and a massive pain in the ass due to my lack of sleep—caused by nurses coming into my room all hours of the night checking on me. Once the nurses had finished their tasks poking and prodding at me, they'd encourage me to get some sleep. How the hell did they expect me to get any rest when they were barging into my hospital room every hour on the hour. Granted I can't be mad at the staff for merely doing their job.

Poor Lex has taken my lousy attitude in stride. As promised, he's not left my side. From the moment I woke up from surgery until today; the day I'm finally getting out of here.

Alba and baby Gabe were released last week. She and the baby are resting at home. I'm thankful Alba made it through the whole ordeal with only a few bumps and bruises. After I had surgery the surgeon explained when I was brought into the emergency room I had already lost a good bit of blood. From there I was taken to the operating room where the surgeon had to remove my kidney. It had been too badly damaged by the bullet and couldn't be saved. Honestly, I can't believe I was shot only ten days ago. I'm sore but other than that I feel good. Gabriel also hasn't been back to see me. I've officially been given the cold shoulder. My brother is punishing me.

Alba and Bella have been a daily presence. Alba was kind enough to inform me my brother grills her for information on how I'm doing when she returns home from visiting me. That little piece of knowledge gives me a tiny shred a peace. That damn Martinez stubborn streak is a curse at times.

With the drastic turn of events, I have decided to ride back to Seattle with Lex. Two weeks ago, the manager of an apartment building I had looked into called and informed me he would have a unit available at the beginning of the month. I've already paid my deposit and first month's rent. My only problem is I have three weeks before the first of the month. On the drive to Seattle I'm going to google a hotel I can afford to stay in for the next few weeks. When I agreed to Lex's offer to catch a ride with him back to Seattle, we were interrupted by the doctor before we could discuss my arrangements in further detail. I was hoping to tell him I've already made my living arrangements, so he wouldn't feel obligated to offer me a place to stay. Surely by now, he's ready to get rid of me.

"Alright, beautiful," Lex says striding into the hospital room with a piece of paper in his hand. "You have officially been discharged."

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Lex