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Shaking my head as I stare down at her, emotion raging through me—I can’t find it in me to let go. “No. No. Thiscan’tbe it.” I lay her down, move in over the top of her once again and start compressions. Putting everything I have into it. “C’mon, Maxxy. Fight like the bitch I know you are. You’re stronger than this!Fight, dammit!”I yell at her and keep pounding on her chest.
“Hoodoo, c’mon, brother, you’re a medic. Use your knowledge, not your heart,” Bayou offers.
I ignore him and kneel over Maxxy as I think I see a flicker of something. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s enough to make me react. My hand comes out, and I slap her across the face.“Wake. Up!”I scream in her face.
Hurricane reaches out, grabs and drags me off her. “That’s enough!” he growls, but at the same time, Maxxy gasps in a huge breath, her body jerking upright, almost like a zombie, her eyes bugging out of her head, and then she turns, expelling a rush of water from her mouth.
I shove Hurricane off me as I scramble on my knees to get to her. She instantly reaches for her dislocated shoulder as she coughs and splutters, and I scurry in, wrapping my arms around her. I hold her upright. “Shh, baby, you’re okay. I got you. I got you. I’m never letting you go.”
She bursts into a river of tears, clinging to me with her good arm as I stroke her hair. “Hoodoo,” she whimpers, her voice hoarse as she holds me close.
“It’s okay. Just slow your breathing, baby. I’m here,” I tell her.
She grimaces a little. “My shoulder?”
“I had to dislocate it to get you out of the water. I’m so fucking sorry. I’ll put it back in. But I’m going to give you time to catch your breath before I shock your body again, okay?”
She nods as Hurricane and the others squat down around us. Hurricane reaches out, caressing her face tenderly. “Fuck me! I’m glad you’re alive, woman. Hoodoo wouldn’t give up, even when it looked like there was no hope. I don’t know what we’d do without you, Max. Don’t fuckin’ scare us like that again.”
Maxxy weakly smiles. “Sorry I left like I did. It was stupid, considering I knew the risks.”
“Was it Selene?” I ask.
She nods, coughing a few times, then her eyes widen. “But not just Selene… the Baroness had a man bring me to Selene and Trap…” She coughs a few times, and the grimace of the pain in her shoulder is clear. “I don’t think you can trust the Baroness. She’s playing everyone. That woman wasn’t counting on me surviving to be able to tell you that she’s traded favors with the Bachelors.”
My eyes shoot up to Hurricane as he stands and begins pacing the room. “Fuck! We never should have gotten in bed with her. We’re in her debt for too many things, butmaybethis will get us out?”
Gritting my teeth, I scrunch up my face. “All I know is… she thought bringing Maxxy here would lead to her death. If that doesn’t wipe our debt clean, or at least knock some of it off, she’s too fucking power-hungry, and she needs to be taken down a notch.”
“All right. We can revisit this discussion. We have a lot to deal with right now with the Bratva on our tails, the Baroness, andnowwe have to deal with the Bachelors too. Let’s get Maxxy to the hospital to get checked out, and we can come up with a game plan once the dust has settled,” Hurricane states.
“Pres, I’m gonna drive the van back to New Orleans with Maxxy. Jesse can take my bike. You good with that?” I ask.
Hurricane slaps my back. “Of course. But let’s get movin’. It’s gettin’ late.”
I lean in, gently picking Maxxy up in my arms. She whimpers as she wraps her good arm around my shoulders, and I lean in, pressing my lips to her temple. “I’ve got you, kitten, and I’m never letting go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Maxxy
Four Days Later
The last few days, I’ve been recovering.
And when say it’s been difficult to just sit back and not jump in my car to go tell Selene what I think of her—yeah, that’s been damn near impossible. I don’t know if she’s aware I made it through, but I know the guys will not take this lying down.
Especially Hoodoo.
He has been chomping at the bit to take this fight to the Bachelors.
As I walk through the clubhouse, my thigh aches. The skin graft will take time to heal, but I am doing everything I can to ensure it is looked after. The tattoo can be replaced, but my skin can’t if the graft doesn’t heal, so I need to make sure the healing process goes smoothly.
My arm is still in a sling. Medic Hoodoo’s orders. But I don’t begrudge him. I know he feels bad for dislocating my shoulder, so he wants to guarantee it fully heals.
We still haven’t talked about the letter on his laptop.
The fact that I know he is ‘N.’
