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“No, honey. Are there some here who do? Yeah. But every single woman in that capacity wants to be here. They can transfer clubs if they decide they don’t like it here. They can even live here and never have sex with anyone. Naturally, everyone has to pull their weight, but there’s a ton of things for everyone to do. Cooking. Cleaning. Helping in the garden. We’ve got animals that need tending. There’s a little girl here who needs a babysitter. Gina does it currently, but I’m sure she would appreciate the help.” I held her gaze. “No one will ever force you to do something you don’t want to do. Especially not me.”
“I liked it,” she blurted out. She ducked her head but reached for my hand and held it, stroking the back of my fingers. “What we did before. But I wouldn’t want to have sex with anyone else here.”
“Rest assured, Cecilia, the last thing you’ll ever do is have sex here with anyone other than me, and only with me if you want to. It’s pretty much me or be celibate as long as you’re here. Just saying.” I flashed her a cocky grin. Like I hoped, she let out a small giggle. “Well, that wasn’t much, but I’ll take it.”
“Thank you, Atticus.” She stopped and shook her head. “I guess I should call you Bullet.”
“Up to you, honey. I think I’m more Bullet than Atticus. Even at the hospital. They just don’t know me that way. Well, except for John. Speaking of which, I need to have a conversation with Crush and Byte.” I gave her a gentle smile and leaned in to brush a lock of hair off her forehead out of her eyes. “I need to go back to town for an hour or so. I will be back before supper. Do you want me to get Lemon to come stay with you while I’m gone?”
“No. I’ll be OK. I’ll probably just rest and watch TV or something.”
I got up and crossed to the fridge, bringing out a bottle and setting it at her bedside. “If you get to hurting too bad, take a few sips of this. It will take a while to hit, so don’t let the pain get away from you. If not, take two pills from the bottle next to it. Just not both.” I smiled down at her.
“Maybe I’ll wait until you get back?”
“The pills are over-the-counter painkillers. They won’t muddle your brain at all.”
“I’ll take those, then.” She reached for them, taking out two like I’d told her, swallowing them with water. “If I’m still hurting when you get back, maybe I’ll try the other drink.”
“I swear I won’t be long. Just need to make a house call to an old woman. She’s not comfortable with her treatment and I promised I’d check on her. Otherwise I wouldn’t leave you. Do you understand why I have to go?”
“You make house calls?”
“Only when absolutely necessary. This woman is old and lonely. She wants someone to look after her. I found a nurse to come sit with her a few hours a day, but I’ll need to check on her every day for a while. Once she’s more comfortable with her new meds, I’ll go by to check on her once a week unless she needs something urgently. My goal is to keep her out of the hospital and on her meds. If that means I make house calls, I guess I’ll make house calls.”
For a long time, she didn’t say anything. Just sat there holding my hand and brushing her fingers over mine. She looked so fragile sitting there, much younger than the first time I’d seen her. There was a fighter in there. There had to be for her to have survived the injuries she had. She was hurting, but she’d get her strength back. When she did, we’d come to an understanding. That understanding being she was mine to protect. Even if she didn’t want me, I would always protect her.
To the fucking death.
Chapter Eight
Cecilia
The next several days passed in comfortable companionship for me and Atticus. Bullet. I still had trouble thinking of him as Bullet. It seemed to go against his desire to help people. He was always near me. The only time he left me was to check on his patient. I didn’t know her name, but he said she was in her nineties. He didn’t say much because he was bound by confidentiality not to, but he indicated she was getting better and more confident with her new medication.
I was feeling a lot better. I was still sore, but the bruises were fading and I hurt less and less. I’d also learned a few things about myself.
First, I didn’t like how Atticus’ fruit punch made me feel. Yeah, I got the giggles and it dulled my pain, but it also made me feel completely out of control. I thought that, had my life experiences not been what they were, I’d have loved the stuff as much as Lemon did.
Second, I was fast falling head over heels for Bullet. Never in my life had a man treated me with so much care and respect. Maybe it was because he was a doctor. Just… something ingrained into his makeup. All I knew was, I’d never felt so cared for and safe. Or respected. We still had conversations about things. Sometimes they were deep and meaningful. Other times fun and silly. And the guy really had a thing for action flicks. I think I gave away a little piece of my heart to him every single day.
Right now, though, he was gone to see his patient, so Apple and I sat in the common room. I wasn’t too keen on that room because the women reminded me of so many of Ettore’s girls. Some of us tried to stick together, to protect each other, but the truth was Ettore did his best to encourage dissent. It was in his best interest. That way, no one escaped. The club whores seemed to be the same way. All of them thought they’d be queen of the club if they could just score a member high enough.
“I know who you are.” One of the girls stopped in front of me, her hands on her hips. She didn’t look happy. “You’re one of Ettore Alfonso’s whores. He finds out you’re here, he’ll kill us all.”
“I think you need to shut up, Chyna.” That was from one of the other girls. Apple ignored the whole lot of them, playing on her phone.
“You shut up, Coco. She’s a danger to all of us.”
“You honestly think Rocket’s gonna let some mobster in here? This place is the safest place in the country.”
“Don’t you know who Ettore Alfonso is? He controls everything on the lower Eastern seaboard. When people go up against him, they die. She’s gonna get someone killed just being here.”
I sucked in a breath. I hadn’t even thought of that. Like it or not, this woman was right. What if Euphemia, the child Lemon had rescued who now lived with the club, got hurt? I’d never forgive myself.
“Get that look off your face, Cecilia.” Apple put her phone down and glared at Chyna. “Chyna was just leaving.”
“Bitch, you can’t make me leave.”
