Page 57 of Love & Power

“Pretty sure it’s just dislocated, but I’ve never seen one to know for sure,” Jace said, running a hand through his hair. “This idiot slammed his shoulder into the stone floor when tackling me.”

Kneeling by our undercover badass, I slid my hand under his suit jacket to feel the joint. “Yeah, it’s definitely dislocated.” When I met his gaze, I noticed he’d also managed to crack his glasses. “I think you’ve been watching too many action movies with us, A-Dog. What possessed you to do something so asinine? Both of you could have gotten blown up if you were a second slower.”

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing I had impeccable timing,” Atticus responded.

Stunned, it took a second for me to realize Atty had made a joke, and a good one at that. I burst out laughing as did Jace and Braxton who were close enough to have heard him.

“Guess we need to start calling you Jason Bourne if you’re gonna be pulling moves like that,” Braxton teased.

Atticus frowned. “No, thank you. I would prefer to keep my name as it is. I rather enjoy having Astin call me Atty.”

Brax and I exchanged a quick look as our beloved genius missed the meaning behind the joke. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye but relaxed when I saw it was Ryker jogging over to join us. That meant all of us were accounted for and relatively unharmed. Time to wrap this party up and go find our girl because I had a feeling she wasn’t going to handle being kept out of the loop very well.

“Okay, Atticus, you have two options,” I stated, sitting back on my heels. “One, you let me set your shoulder back into place, or two, wait for the Family doc to get you fixed up. It doesn’t look like there are too many people who need medical attention, so I’m sure he can get you fixed up pretty quick.”

Atticus’s brows knit together as he considered his options. “You do it. I don’t want to wait for the doctor if you’re confident you can fix it.”

“It’s simple once you know the steps. I’ve even put my own shoulder back into place a time or two,” I assured him. “Let’s get you sitting up and take off your jacket. I need to be able to move your arm easily.” Braxton helped me get Atticus out of his jacket without causing him too much pain.

Taking a moment to feel around the whole shoulder, I needed to be sure what direction the bone slipped out so I could get it back in. “Can one of you guys find something we can use as a sling once I get this in place?” I asked.

“Of course, I’ll be right back,” Liu said before taking off.

“Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths for me, Atty. It’s going to be uncomfortable, but I need you to try and stay as relaxed as possible,” I instructed as I adjusted my grip on his arm. “Brax, place your hand on his shoulder blade and keep him steady.”

In three quick moves, I had everything back where it needed to be, with only a deep grunt of pain from Atticus. “All set. Now you just need some pain meds and keep it in a sling for a day or two. It helps the muscles to heal faster if they’re able to rest.”

With a shaky hand, Atticus adjusted his glasses and wiped the sweat that beaded up on his forehead. “Thank you, that feels immensely better.”

Liu returned with a section of white fabric that looked like it was cut from one of the tablecloths. Together, we got Atty’s arm rigged up and as comfortable as we could make him.

“You guys go ahead, I’m gonna take Atticus over to find the doc and see if he has something a little stronger than ibuprofen,” Ryker offered. “I’m sure Astin isn’t happy about being hauled away from the action.”

“Oh fuck,” I swore under my breath, shoving to my feet. “When you find the doc, bring him with you. Boykov got hit with acid protecting Astin, and I have no idea how bad the damage is. All I know is if that man dies, I’m not sure what Astin will do, but it won’t be good.”

“Go, hurry. We’ll be right behind you,” Ryker urged as he helped Atticus to his feet.

I took off at a sprint, dodging people left and right as I headed for the exit. Hound was right behind me as we crossed the driveway but abruptly stopped when the front door wouldn’t open.

“Open this fucking door right now,” I ordered, pounding on the thick wood.

The metal covering the peephole slid back, allowing security to see it was us. “One moment as we unlock the door, Master Luca,” came a muffled reply.

What took mere minutes felt like an eternity as every worst-case scenario played in my head. The others caught up just as the door was being pulled open. Shoving the door in with my shoulder, I heard a man grunt, but I couldn’t think about that now—I needed to get to my woman. It didn’t matter who you were or how mentally strong you believed yourself to be, there were only so many losses you could handle before completely shattering. Astin had barely begun to heal the cracks in her heart from losing her father, being betrayed by her uncles, and Gunner taking his own life because of lies he’d believed about her. Right now, all it would take to break her for good is to lose one of us or Boykov.

We were Astin’s kryptonite, the loss she would never be able to come back from.

Finally, I made it to the top of the stairs, winded from too many days locked up in jail. It was easy to keep up your muscle strength, but cardio was a little harder in a small concrete box. Hound got to the sitting room first, but all we found were Astin’s shoes and drops of blood.

“Astin,” Hound bellowed as the monster that lurked within him was right at the surface.

I’d only seen him like this one other time, long before he knew Astin. Someone who’d been hired by a competitor tried to jump him at a club and take Hound out. Things didn’t go as planned for the hired gun, who wound up looking like roadkill and dumped on the competition’s doorstep. Out of all the men Astin chose to add to her harem, he was the only one I feared could kill me if we ever had to go toe-to-toe.

“In here.”

How we’d missed the sound of running water on the other side of the wall shows just how worried we were. The three who’d been behind us shoved their way into the narrow bathroom. I hopped up on the sink, crouching so I could see what was going on. My chest tightened at the sight of our girl bedraggled, soaked to the bone, with her makeup smeared and a half-naked Boykov in her lap. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she kept the water moving over the massive burns covering the left side of Boykov’s body.

“Please tell me everyone’s okay,” she begged, her voice cracking with desperation.