AllFreeNovel
Share Us
33
FOX
I hadn’t been the one to kill Ahmed, but in the end, that hadn’t mattered. All that mattered was that I had seen his corpse and made certain he was dead, and Darren was safe. I hated seeing all the cuts and bruises on Darren, but they would heal. Things could have been so much worse.
How would I have recovered from that?
“Whatever you’re thinking, let it go.” Darren laid a hand over my heart, and I pulled him more tightly against me.
“I’ll try. I almost lost you. I’m allowed to be a fucking mess, okay.”
“I came just as close to losing you. He could have killed you at any moment.”
I kissed the top of his head. “He didn’t. We’re alive. We won.” I think that fact was finally sinking in. The whole mess was over. What was going to happen now?
Darren had told me he loved me, but we’d also agreed a relationship between the two of us would never work. It would, though. It had to. I wasn’t letting him go. He’d staked his claim on me, and he wasn’t getting rid of me now.
We reached the hotel where Carlo was still fuming that he’d been left behind. Blade had threatened to tie him down if he didn’t stay there. He wasn’t about to let him reopen the wound on his arm now that it had been sewn up.
We gathered in the larger suite like we had when we’d first arrived in Houston. I insisted on checking Darren over. “Where are you hurt besides your face and neck?”
The red line across his throat reminded me of how close I’d come to losing him.
He rubbed at the bruise on his cheek. “This is no big deal.”
I scowled. “It is to me. Can someone get me a washcloth? I need to clean him up.”
I heard a snicker behind me and turned to snarl at Devil. “Like you wouldn’t fawn over Joe if he were hurt.”
Devil flipped me off as Blade returned from the bathroom, cloth in hand.
I cleaned up Darren’s neck as best I could. He balled his hands into fists, letting me know it hurt like hell.
“Here’s some antiseptic,” Rhys said, handing me a bottle from the first aid kit we always kept handy on missions.
Darren hissed as I applied it, but he let me take care of him.
“Is there anything else I need to look at?” I examined his wrists to see if the cuffs had done much damage. His skin was red and scratched but some antibiotic cream would fix that.
“I told you I’m fine.”
He was hiding something. “You better tell me if you’re hurt anywhere else, or I’ll strip you right here to check.”
Devil whistled. “I’m totally okay with that.”
“You better watch it,” Carlo said when I growled. “He’s about as protective as you are.”
Devil just laughed.
Darren rolled his eyes. “Ahmed punched me in gut. I’ve got some bruised ribs.”
“And you didn’t tell me when I was holding you. Did I hurt you?”
“A little, but it’s fine. I wanted to be held, dammit.”
More snickers from behind us. I held up my hand to flip them all off.
“Are you sure they’re just bruised, not broken?”
“Yes. He wasn’t that fucking strong.”
I smiled at Darren and mouthed, “I love you.”
“Can we pause this little love fest long enough to debrief?” Rhys asked.
I turned and raised my brows. “I’ve heard all about your antics with TJ, so don’t get all prissy with me.”
“We do need to make sure we’ve got everything cleaned up, literally and figuratively,” Blade said.
He was right. I moved onto the sofa beside Darren, and he leaned against my shoulder. I was sure he was even more exhausted than I was, but I still knew that showing open affection like that wasn’t typical for him. It was a gift.
Devil gave an account of the cleanup X’s people had swooped in to handle at the abandoned building and the explanation that had been given to the police at the house where Ahmed had held Darren.
“So we won’t be hearing anything else about it?” Rhys asked.
“No one will,” Devil said.
We discussed the possibility of any of Ahmed’s colleagues taking revenge, but X assured us that was under control. When we’d finished our debrief, Rhys said, “Our hotel rooms are reserved for two more days.”
“We’re staying,” I said. Darren needed to rest, and we needed a private place to talk.
“I would be, but my cousin demands my presence in Boston,” Devil said.
Carlo rolled his eyes. “Same, and Blade is coming with me.”
“What about you?” I asked Rhys.
“I’m going to get a few hours of sleep, and then I’ll head back to the ranch. I’m in the middle of training a few colts, and Rogue doesn’t have the patience with them that I do.” I could imagine that. “Will you be coming back to the ranch once you’ve… had some time?”
