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Tears built in his eyes again. I never wanted to see either man cry again unless it was in joy. I hated the pain etched on Xaiden’s face, the worry on Val’s. “You don’t have to thank me. We were so scared. We thought…”
Val reached across the bed to take Xaiden’s other hand in his. “We’re not going there, remember? Everything turned out okay. The doc is going to be fine. A little slow for a bit, but he’s okay.”
Xaiden nodded and the three of us hung in silence for a bit. Words weren’t needed. We got Olivia to safety. She and Cody wouldn’t have to worry about being separated now. They could live with us. There were plenty of rooms at Xaiden’s house. Three bedrooms and we only occupied one so that would give each child their own space. Knowing Xaiden, he was going to let them pick out whatever they wanted. He’d buy it without question. The children deserved to be spoiled.
I still couldn’t believe Pia went so far downhill since I’d last seen her. She wasn’t the same woman I married. Sure, the horrible things spewing from her lips was her, but she looked different. The woman I was once in love with wouldn’t have taken a child hostage. Then again, maybe I didn’t know her at all. It made me wonder what else she hid. That was a question for another day, if I wanted to analyze it at all. Right now, I wanted to see Cody and wanted my body to heal so I could get out of here.
Val pressed a kiss to my lips and left to get Cody. There was a splint on his arm, which I expected. He stepped to the side of the bed and sat in the chair Val had been in. I saw the apology written all over his face.
Before he could speak, I reached for his hand and said, “It wasn’t your fault. None of it.” Things could have gone differently. We’d never know if the security guards or I would have been able to talk Pia down and get her to surrender the gun. We wouldn’t know if she would have taken any lives. If everyone walked away from this and the only one shot was me, I was good with it.
“You were shot.”
“And you fractured your arm, but we’re all right.”
“Livy…”
“Will be fine. There are great pediatric doctors looking after her.” West Dremest was a bigger facility and could handle more than we could here. I wanted to keep talking but I could feel my body tiring. My head was starting to ache.
“We should let you rest,” Val said. “I told Cody we’d take him to see his sister after you woke up.”
Cody gave me a gentle hug. I got another kiss from Val, which I wanted to savor and have him curl up with me on the bed, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to, so I kept my thoughts to myself. They left, then it was Xaiden and me.
“I’m okay,” I said, drowsiness seeping into my tone.
Xaiden leaned forward to hug me and place his cheek to my chest near my heart. “I never want to see you like this again. I’d ask you to quit but I know you won’t. If you hadn’t walked into the waiting room, you wouldn’t have been able to get in there.” He was right, I wouldn’t have. The door would have locked, security flooding the area. They wouldn’t have let me through.
“I love my job.” I reached up to rest my hand on his back to try and comfort him.
“I love you.”
“Xaiden, look at me.”
His head lifted but he stayed close to my body, hovering just over me. I had to get his mind off what could have happened. He needed to focus on something else.
“You’re going to have to take care of me when I come home.”
“I took the next two weeks off. I have enough staff at the gym. My dad is going to take care of the tenants in the apartment building. I also called your parents. They’ll be here first thing in the morning. I waited until you were out of surgery. I didn’t want to scare them. They were upset but also relieved you’re okay. I didn’t tell them about Cody or Olivia yet. I figured that should come from you.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I hold you for a bit longer? I need to leave to go with Val and Cody, but I’m not ready to let you go yet.”
I nodded and did the best I could to hold him back. We were safe. The kids were safe. No one else was hurt, though the trauma was something we’d all have to work through. No matter what, I had these men with me. We’d go through everything together. We were giving a home to Cody and Olivia. A warm, loving one where they wouldn’t have to worry about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to afford rent. They wouldn’t be abused, physically or verbally. They would be loved.
It was with those thoughts in my mind that I let myself drift toward a beautiful future. When sleep finally claimed me, it did so with the warmth of a man I loved holding me close and a hint of a smile on my lips at just how fortunate I was.
32
VAL
What a crazy fucking turn of events the last few days had been. I kept trying to put what I’d witnessed in the waiting room out of my mind, but it plagued me when I was asleep and awake. Xaiden fared worse than me and woke up every night since, screaming in his sleep due to nightmares.
The first night, Cody ran in with a baseball bat in hand, ready to swing at someone even with a fractured arm. I had to get out of bed and pry the bat from Cody’s fingers while I calmly told him Xaiden was having a nightmare.
Olivia and Corbin were in the hospital. We’d gone to the house Cody was renting to grab a few of his belongings so he could stay with us. Luckily, Xaiden didn’t need to get permission to have him move in.
The next morning, Xaiden got approval to bring Olivia home. He’d already been in contact with a lawyer, just in case one was needed. Xaiden was ready to fight whoever he needed to, which had been nobody thankfully. That night he woke again screaming. Cody rushed in sans bat. Olivia entered after him, fear in her eyes. I ushered them both back to bed. Cody stayed with Olivia until she calmed down.
