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“Why do I owe you a car?”
“I’m scarred for life. Look.” Mack pulled up his shirt, showing a bandaged area on his side. “That’s your fault.”
Caiden’s brows lifted. “You wanna compare? I took a bullet for my girl, and I’ve got the scar to prove it. You tripped over when you were running and fell into that fucking plant pot. And that still doesn’t explain why I owe you a new car.”
“Compensation,” he said, grinning at Cade. “My car is shit; therefore, I need a new one, and you owe me for being injured at your future place of work.”
“Nice try, but no.”
I cleared my throat, and the three of them turned to look at me. “Alright?”
“There you are. Where’s Fallon? Is she okay? Have you seen your dad yet?” Cade stepped over to me, his eyes scanning my face with apparent concern.
“I haven’t seen my dad yet. Fallon’s in Lena’s room with the other girls.” I lowered my voice so that the others didn’t overhear. “She’s…it was a big shock. She had to watch her dad die right in front of her, and even though he deserved everything he had coming, I wish she hadn’t had to witness it. But I know she’s gonna be okay. She’s been through so fucking much, but my girl’s strong. It won’t break her.”
Caiden’s brows lifted, and a smile pulled at his lips. “I never thought I’d see the day. But here it is.”
“What day?” My voice was low and dangerous as I narrowed my eyes, but he just laughed.
“You love her. You’re so fucking in love with her, Z. Don’t even deny it. And that girl loves you, too. Fuck knows why—you’re such a grumpy bastard.” His smile widened into a huge grin. “Just kidding. She’s lucky to have you, mate. I’m happy for you.”
“You think I love her?” I was stuck on the first part of what he’d just said, his words playing in my head over and over.
“No. I don’tthinkyou love her, Iknowyou love her.” He patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t look so surprised.” When I stood there, frozen in place with no fucking words, his smile dropped. “Z. It’s okay to let yourself love her. She’s not going to leave you. And neither are the rest of us. We’re in this for life, mate. And if we’re still having this same argument when we’re old and fucking shrivelled, I will shank you.”
Fuck. I gave him a nod because I wasn’t capable of words, and he shot me a smile before turning back to the others, who were studying something on Granville’s phone. He clicked his fingers, and both of them looked up.
“Granville. You’re coming with me. Now. We’re going to my dad, and you’re gonna tell him all the shit you know about your relatives.”
Granville rolled his eyes but sauntered over to us anyway. “I can’t wait to spendeven moretime with you. As if today hasn’t already been enough of a pleasure.” His eyes were alight with humour in his failed attempt to piss off my best mate.
“Likewise.” Cade didn’t even bother to hide his amusement as he grinned. “You know how much I love being forced to spend time around you. Almost as much as I love having a bad case of food poisoning from Mack’s undercooked burgers. Let’s go.”
They disappeared out of the door to the sound of Mack shouting, “That was one time! You can’t hold it against me forever!” When they were gone, he dropped the theatrics and gave me an expectant look.
“What?”
“Just waiting for you to leave so when the girls pass by my room and see me in here all alone, they’ll give me all the sympathy.”
“Good luck with that.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to see my dad.” But before I left, I glanced back at him. “You okay?”
He nodded immediately. “Yeah. This is nothing. Just a few stitches, probably won’t even scar. The boys would laugh at us if they could see how much everyone was fussing over me at this snooty private hospital. Although that one nurse was hot as fuck. Maybe I should play up my injuries a bit.”
I left him hitting the button to call the nurse and strode down the corridor to my dad’s room. I fucking hated this place. It brought back memories of being here after everything had gone down at the docks, when we were waiting for Cade to wake up after he’d been shot. That was when it hit home just how important the three of them were to me. Cade, Cass, and West. We were brothers. They were my family.
My dad was sitting up in bed, a glass of water held to his lips with his right hand and a splint on his other arm. When he saw me enter the room, he placed the glass down and indicated towards the seat next to him.
“What a day,” he said when I was seated.
“Yeah.”
“There’s an upside, of course.” He gave me a shark-like grin. “No more Hydes.”
“That’s not true.”
“Ah. Yes. Fallon. She won’t be a Hyde forever, though, will she?” he said carefully, and I stared at him in disbelief.
“Is this you giving me your approval?”
