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“That bastard’s not dead.”
Chapter 28
Kieran
There’s nothing quite like waking up in a King’s Trace Medical recovery room; trapped behind your own personal cubicle of curtains, able to hear the murmurs of doctors and patients, the beeping of machines doing their best to keep people alive post-op, still slightly drugged and unsure if anything you’re experiencing is reality or dream.
Like the blonde occupying the chair beside my bed, head in my lap, sleeping more peacefully than I’ve ever seen her. I reach down and thread my fingers through her tresses with my left arm, the other seeming to be numb and immobile, though I can’t quite remember why.
The last thing I recall is Lynn snatching the USB from my hand and pulling her trigger at the same time I pulled mine, the force of the blast knocking me on my ass and out cold.
Juliet stirs, swiping the back of her hand across her mouth and startling out of my grasp, blinking around the room. Her gaze connects with mine, deep oceans of every emotion staring straight through me, making my heart stutter in my chest.
“Kitten—”
“You’re an unbelievable ass, you know that?”
I blink, the biting tone throwing me off. “I’m sorry?”
“Yeah, you fucking should be, you asshole.” She hoists herself up on the edge of the bed, and for the first time I notice she’s changed from the dress she had on at the christening into a pair of black yoga pants and a black oversized Ivers International sweatshirt, and I realize I have no idea what day it is, or how much time has passed since all of that at the church went down.
No idea what happened to Lynn or Father O’Leary, or any of the evidence.
Pausing, Juliet leans and pulls back the thin paper gown I’m wearing, exposing my gauze-wrapped shoulder and sucking on her teeth. Her fingers spread over the site, grazing almost reverently. “Do you remember what happened?”
I shrug the shoulder I can move. “Your mom shot me, didn’t she? Although, I have to say, the pain is much less excruciating than what I would have expected. Last time, it hurt a hell of a lot more.”
Heated anger flares in her eyes as her hand retreats. “Yeah? Let me see if I can help.”
“What are you—”
Her elbow rears back past her shoulder, her arm whipping forward so fast I don’t have a chance to react or defend myself before her palm connects with my cheek; a stinging sensation ripples along the skin, blacking out my vision for a split second. I shake my head when she settles back on the mattress, glaring at me, and blink away the purple splotches from my eyes.
“What the hell was that for?”
“Did it hurt?”
I sputter, my mind bouncing around in my skull like it’s got whiplash. “Yes, but why—”
She slaps me a second time on the opposite cheek, so hard I bite my tongue and taste blood. Hissing at her as she brings her hand back for a third hit, I lash out with my arm and catch her wrist before she makes contact, yanking her to me and trapping her other hand between us. “Okay, kitten, I probably deserved those two, but if you do it again I’m gonna get turned on and fuck you right here where everyone else in this room can hear. They’ll hear you mewl as you milk my cock and hate themselves because you’re allmine.”
Jerking against me, she tries to pull back, but my grip is too tight. “How can you joke right now?” Tears well up in her eyes, and she tries to blink them away, but one slips out and drops onto the base of my throat. It feels like an ice pick to the chest, knowing where the tears are coming from. Knowing I caused them.
“Are you really mad at me?”
“Yes.How could you put yourself in danger like that?”
“Baby.” I release her wrist and tangle my fingers in her hair, gently fisting at the back of her neck and pulling her close, careful to avoid irritating any injuries. Our noses brush, our lips a whisper away, and my heart’s never felt so fucking full. So absent of darkness, so unburdened by my namesake and the ghosts following me around. “When given the option between me and you, I’m never gonna bet on myself. I gambled on a necklace months ago, gambled on a girl and her dark little soul, and I’ll double down and take that bet on you every single day for the rest of my life. You’re tenacious and sunshine wrapped in an unbelievable package. Ichooseyou.”
Letting out a soft whimper, her forehead drops to my chin, her weight crushing me on the hospital bed. But it’s a weight I welcome, letting go of her hair and wrapping my arm around her waist.
“You’re an insane person,” she mutters, her lips against my skin, sending a tingle down my spine that I’m not sure is appropriate given the setting, but that I lean into anyway. Shifting my hips up, I fit myself more snugly into her pelvis, wishing I could stitch us together, keep her close to me forever.
“You love me,” I say into her hair, softening the blow, noting the way her shoulders stiffen.
When she sits up, as much as she can with my arm attached to her waist, she grins. “Do I?”
My pulse kicks up, and I shrug the good shoulder. “Well, I guess I don’t actually know if you do or not.”
