Page 27 of Love Above Law

I've been on the road with Leyna heading toward Seattle for almost three hours in complete silence. Turning my head, I take in the strong, beautiful woman asleep in the passenger seat. Leyna has been through hell physically and mentally. Not only is she recovering from being shot and losing a kidney, but she's leaving behind her family to chase her dreams. It tears me up inside knowing how much it crushed her when her stubborn ass brother didn't show up to say goodbye to her along with the other members of her family.

I want Leyna in Seattle; I won't deny that at all but being a brother—a big brother; the protector, I get where Gabriel is coming from. Right now, we are both judging a book by its cover. He doesn't know jack shit about me aside from the fact I wear a badge, and I want his sister. I get it. I have felt the same way about men my sisters have had come in and out of their lives. In my eyes, no dipshit could ever be good enough for any of them. I view Gabriel the same way he does me. I don't know a damn thing about the man aside from the club he is associated with, and some of the things I know them to have been a part of. The dislike between Leyna's brother and me may never change, but right now, not a damn bit of it matters. The only thing that matters is Leyna.

I continue to glance in her direction—checking on her.

"I can feel your eyes on me." Leyna pulls the shawl Alba gave her at the hospital around her shoulders tighter.

"Are you cold, beautiful?" Reaching over, I turn the seat warmer on for her.

"I still can't get used to the cold, but I can get used to this warm seat," she squirms a little readjusting herself. "How long have I been asleep?" Leyna peers through the window.

"A few hours."

"I feel more rested in those few hours than I have all week," she says the same moment her stomach growls loudly causing me to chuckle. "I'm also hungry," she smiles for the first time since holding her new nephew. Reaching behind her, I grab a pink box from the back seat and set it on her lap.

"Perfect. The Cookie Jar makes the best pastries. The cinnamon rolls should be illegal." Leyna opens the box going straight for one. She hums the moment she pops a bite into her mouth. "Have you tried any yet?" Leyna asks.

"I haven't."

"Here," she pulls a bite-sized chunk off the roll, leans toward me holding the offered piece between her fingers and waits for me to open my mouth. Parting my lips, I allow her to feed me. "Good?" her smile shows again.

When I nod, she continues to feed me every other bite between the ones she takes for herself and all I can think about is the fact her smile hasn't faltered once and how undeniably more attractive her happiness makes her. Before too long her affection takes hold of me and I grin like a fool. My future becomes clearer than any singular moment leading up to this one.

"You think you can help me find a reasonable yet safe hotel once we get to Seattle?" Leyna asks closing the box and setting it at her feet on the floorboard.

Her question snaps me from my love drunk state of mind. "That's not happening."

"Excuse me?" Leyna turns her body, so she is facing me.

"You're not staying at a hotel."

Her hand goes up, and she points a finger. "First of all, I need a place to stay for at least a few weeks until the apartment I put a deposit on is ready and two," she throws up a second finger, but I don't give her a chance to finish.

"Apartment?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, Deborah helped me get into an apartment. The whole point of me moving to Seattle was to start my life over here in the states. That's what I'm doing, Lex. School, my own place and hopefully soon, a job."

"I get all that, beautiful, but let me remind you that you just got out of the hospital."

With a heavy sigh, Leyna replies. "I'm fine. The doctors said I'm recovering well. I know how to take care of myself. Besides, where else would I stay?"

Pulling off to the shoulder of the highway, I put the car in park and face her entirely giving her my complete attention. "With me."

Her mouth drops open as if she is going to say something, but she doesn't. I begin to think I've won the battle, but she gives me a softer look. "Lex, I can't stay with you." Her gaze drops to her lap, and she begins picking at a piece of loose yarn at the end on her shawl.

Shit. I don't want to freak her out or put her in an unwanted situation, but I'll be damned if she's staying in a huge city where she knows no one on top of the fact she's still healing from her injuries. "I have plenty of room." Without thinking, I reach over and take her hand, and her eyes lift to meet mine. "Stay with me, Leyna."

She chews her bottom lip for a moment thinking it over, then nods. "Okay," and gives me a small smile of assurance that's she's okay with her decision. Her heartbeat drums against the pad of my thumb as I caress the inside of her wrist.

Letting go of her hand, I merge into traffic, and we sit in silence for a few miles when I notice she won't stop staring at the screen of her cellphone.

"Everything okay?"

Her fingers rub along the edges of her lit up screen. "Mi hermano hasn't texted back all day." She drops the phone into her bag tucked between her seat and the console.

"Speaking as a brother, I get it," I tell her. "He wants to take care of you and protect you. I'm the same with my four sisters."

Leyna laughs. "Si, I understand his need to be overprotective, but it still doesn't make the situation easier."