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She turned with a smile. “You gonna carry me, Jag?”
“Damn straight.” My feet began to move as a shot rang out and everyone ducked. Everyone but Vivi, who looked at me in shock.
“Jeremiah, I think—” she looked down at her shoulder and the growing red circle and then back to me. “Damn.” Then she collapsed right before my eyes.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Vivi, even as shots flew out all around us. A crash sounded in the distance and more shots sounded but my concern was her.
“You have to move,” the EMS said as he shoved me aside, ripping Vivi’s jacket to get to the wound in her left shoulder.
They stopped the flow of blood and got Vivi on a gurney and into the ambulance. I sat beside her in the back, looking at the smoking red pickup truck smashed against a guardrail as we sped past on our way to the hospital.
Good fucking riddance.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Vivi
“Do you know who shot me?” I asked the question at the same time Jag asked one of his own. Sort of.
“I want you to stay, Vivi. Here in Vegas. You and me. Together.”
Jag flashed that gorgeous irresistible smile and my heart leapt and twerked with happiness even though I knew it couldn’t last.
“Say something,” he urged from across the black and white checkered tablecloth of one of our favorite greasy spoon diners near Jag’s house.
I didn’t know what to say because telling him the truth would break his heart, but I couldn’t lie. Not to Jag. “I know, and I want that too.”
He frowned and sat back in his chair, his gaze searing a hole right through me. “Why does it sound like there’s a ‘but’ coming?”
My smile was bittersweet. “Because you’re a smart man.” I didn’t want to tell him this, not today. Not ever but I’d put it off for the past three days while I was in the hospital and now, well now I was out of time. “I do want to stay Jag, but I can’t.”
“Is it because of the guys? If so, I’ll talk to them and we can quash this shit, Vivi.” Anguish filled his brown eyes and my heart split right down the middle.
“No Jag. I don’t give a shit about them, I give a shit about you.” I placed my right hand on top of his because my left one was still in a sling thanks to the bullet that went straight through my shoulder. “This is killing me, Jag. I need you to know that and I don’t say it lightly.”
“I know.” And his slight smile told me he did.
“Bob stopped by while I was in the hospital,” I admitted.
“Shit. She’s still alive?”
“I know, right? But yeah, she’s a little battered but fine.” Bob was strong and a seasoned CIA agent. Very little left her shaken. “But I’m not.”
“What’s that mean?” He held my hand between his, thumb stroking the pulse racing on my wrist.
“It means that I can’t stay here. Not now and not for a while.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes were burning with unshed tears, but they were. It was a strange sensation, one that felt so out of place and totally fucking out of character for me that I didn’t recognize what it was at first. Tears. I was crying. Over Jag.
“I broke a lot of laws Jag. A lot.”
“You did it to stay alive because Slauson dropped the fucking ball!” He was upset, and I didn’t blame him. But…
“That doesn’t change anything, Jag. You know the shady shit the government can do when they want something.” And they wanted me.
“You’re not telling me something. Dammit, Vivi. What’s going on? Do you not want this?”
“Don’t be a crazy fucker. Of course, I do. I came here to find Jeremiah and to see if he was still the nicest boy I’d ever met and could help me. Instead I found you. Jag. Big and strong, but still the nicest person I’ve ever known. You went against your club, your brothers for me and no one has ever cared that much for me. Ever.”
