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Hurrying back to the room, I hand the bottle to Jared. “Took you long enough…” Zerro almost screams at me. His eyes are soft, and I understand his words aren’t meant to be mean. He is in pain.
“This is going to hurt…” Jared mumbles and then pours a liberal amount onto the wound, his hands, and tweezers. Zerro lets out a loud scream as large amount of curse words follow. Sweat forms on his brow as he clenches his teeth. I watch as Jared digs around in his shoulder some more.
Zerro doesn’t move or make any more sounds. His face is full of agony, and I feel badly for him. Yes, I feel badly for him. I have watched this man shoot and kill people. I have felt his hands around my throat, and yet looking at him now, I feel nothing but pain for him. I know, deep inside, that my reaction stems from more than just a sense of compassion.
Three minutes later, Jared pulls away from Zerro smiling. “Got it. Strong fucking little slugger,” he says, dropping the bullet into a pan I have brought him.
“Thank fucking God. I was about to get my gun out and shoot myself in the other shoulder,” Zerro mocks. I smile at him as he attempts to sit up.
“No way. Don’t move the fuck around. I need to get you sewed up. You’re lucky that it didn’t hit anything important,” Jared orders, moving back over to Zerro. I get up from the bed, not sure what I should be doing. I am stuck here as much as Zerro is. Not that the safe house is bad. We have internet access, TV, and it is a cozy little cabin. Except knowing what we are here for is what makes it seem like my own personal jail cell.
“Come hold him down!” Jared yells to me. I move to the side of the bed slowly. I am not sure where Zerro and I stand after everything. I saved his life, and he saved mine. I am sure the debt had been paid now.
Sitting down on the soft comforter, I ask Jared, “Where do you need me?”
“Just hold his arm on that side. Zerro, quit fucking moving. This isn’t your first rodeo.”
“Yeah, well, the first fucking rodeo didn’t hurt as bad.”
My mouth gapes open. I know he is a mafia man, king, whatever you want to refer to him as, but I didn’t know he had actually been shot more than once.
Placing my arms against his skin, I hold him securely.
“You’ve been shot before?” I ask, my face mere millimeters from his. His brown eyes warm as they pass over my face and then down to my lips. I know what he is thinking. He wants to kiss me, devour me until there is nothing left of me. I know it because that’s how I am feeling.
“Yeah. I was shot in the leg when I was seventeen. Drug deal gone wrong.” The way he refers to it makes it seem so nonchalant.
“Yeah and I saved his ass then too…” Jared cuts in, sliding the needle and thread through his skin.
“You didn’t save me, fucker, you just patched me up,” Zerro growls as if thinking of someone else saving him doesn’t sit well with him. If that is the case, things between him and I aren’t going to go well. I won’t rub it in his face that I saved his life, but if he tells me he can’t let me go, I will remind him that he is standing here because of me. That is if I can even walk away from him.
“Shut up and stop moving,” Jared shoots back, and Zerro’s face turns to mine once again. I get the feeling that Jared and Zerro go way back. Not that Jared told me a lot about himself on the ride here. Aside from the small questions he had asked me, I know nothing about him.
“Are you okay?” Zerro asks, his voice is as smooth as butter. His hand that I am pressing against his abdomen strokes across my skin. My insides turn to mush, and though I am a mess… I still want him. He has that effect on people.
“Yeah, I’m fine…” I barely get out without a moan. I don’t want to make Jared uncomfortable, and I don’t really think that Zerro will be up for sex so I just keep it to myself.
“Are you sure?” He is pushing his physical pain to the back burner. Why is he so concerned with me? Worry marks form on his face as he frowns at me. He thinks I am lying. I really am okay. I am shaken up a bit, and I will forever feel guilty for ripping someone from their family, but I will move on. I have too.
“I’m…. I’m okay. Really.” I answer, smiling at him. This is something I haven’t ever seen in him. I have never seen him be gentle or kind. He is always dark and crude. It is as if a switch flipped within him. Before Zerro can say anything else, Jared interrupts.
“You’re good to go, King. No rowdiness.” He picks up the buckets and cloths and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. Is it that obvious that we need a moment alone?
Silence passes between us as he stares at me. I can’t read him. I used to be able to tell what he was thinking or at least what kind of mood he was in.
“You saved my life,” he says softly, pulling me down towards his lips.
“Yeah, I did. Does that mean the debt is paid?” My own feelings are starting to come forward. If he tells me I can leave, will I? Will I ever be safe without him or am I as damned as much as he is?
Anger flutters just under the surface. His mocha colored eyes turn dark as his hand reaches up into the back of my hair, holding it tightly, holding me tightly.
