AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It isn’t fine. You were shot because of me.”
“I was shot because of Bianchi’s men. Was your finger on the trigger?”
I blow out a breath, exasperated. “You know what I mean. This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me.”
“It isn’t the first time I’ve been shot. It won’t be the last. It comes with the job.”
“It’s ridiculous.”
The car takes a sharp turn and Ari gets jostled. He moans, breathing in through his nose. Sweat beads across his forehead, his skin losing its gorgeous olive hue.
“I’ve been waiting to give this to you. It’s nothing special, not yet anyway. I’m still figuring you out to pick the right one.” He pulls out a box with his bloodied hand and opens it with a painful grunt.
Two simple gold wedding bands are settled in the velvet box. He takes mine out and slips it on my finger, then slides his on.
“If we are married, we need to have the gear, right?”
I stare at my hand in complete shock. It’s real. I’m a married woman. I have no idea what to say to him, so I stay silent, keeping pressure on his wound.
Blood drips over my new ring and I can’t help but wonder if blood will be the everyday way of life for me now.
Chapter Twelve
Ari
Rosie seems a little green around the gills as she stares at my shoulder. She’s handling it better than I thought. She’s also very quiet now on the way home. She’s crying though, her cheeks wet with tears.
“I knew you cared,” I tease, wanting to make her smile.
“I’m only trying to keep you alive so my family stays safe,” she replies, a twist on her mouth to let me know she may or may not be kidding.
I’m going to stay positive and hope she doesn’t mean what she just said. She’s such a damn brat, so headstrong and stubborn, but I love it. She challenges me in ways I didn’t know I liked. Not much comes easy with Rosie and I’m so used to having things handed to me that the challenge she gives me is welcome.
And a major aphrodisiac.
“You’re bleeding and you still make jokes.”
“Eh,” I waved her words away. “I’m used to bleeding a little for the right cause.”
“Is that what I am? A cause?”
“Something like that.” I wrap my hand around hers, the one pressing against my shoulder to stop the bleeding. “Admit it,” I say softly. “Admit you care, just a little.”
She leans forward, her nose brushing against mine. “Never.”
“You’re a mean, mean woman,” I can’t help but laugh, thinking that maybe she was going to kiss me.
She kissed my cheek at the airstrip, which still has me giddy as if I just got my first kiss when I was fifteen. I’m taking her innocent cheek kiss as a win.
The gates are already open when we pull into the driveway since my men know to open them when there is an emergency, and we are on our way. A few of my men spill out of the front door, rushing down the staircase and a few cars behind us come to a hurried stop and the gate closes.
Rosie goes to get out of the car, and I grab her arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting out so I can help you out of the car,” she says as if I’ve lost my mind.
I push her against the seat, pressing my hand against my shoulder, and I won’t lie, her hand felt a lot better than my own.
“I help you out of the car, wife.”
