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Kevlar steps into my space, his hands cupping either side of my face, holding me still at the same time, ensuring he has my attention. “You’ll always have a choice, Rosemary. Always. If you want to stay in my room, then you can do that. I’ll go get you something to eat and bring it to you. You want me out of the room, you got that too, but you were gone, baby. Jade was freaking out. We were looking for you. You vanished without a trace. There were no hits of you anywhere. We didn’t get anything until earlier today when your dad and brother showed up. They all want to see you. If you don’t want to talk, I’m sure they’ll give you that too, baby.”
“Why do you keep calling me baby? And you called me Tigress earlier, why?” The question passes my lips before I can stop myself. He never called me either. Well, except for that night. He’d called me a Tigress and said to go wild for him, and I had. What we’d done was hot, wild, and amazing. But the next morning, he sent me packing. It was good, and though it stung, I’d just broken up with a guy I was seeing after finding him cheating on me. I wasn’t ready for anything serious. Kevlar gave me what I needed.
What really hurt was when he’d gone off on me for showing up at the clubhouse.
“We’ll get to that later,” he states, stepping past me and heading for the bedroom. “Now, can you handle going out of this room and eating in the kitchen?”
Seeing his point, I nod. I don’t have to speak in order to eat. I also want to get this over with. I’m exhausted. “Honestly, I just want to sleep.”
“We’ll make it quick. A sandwich. How’s that sound?”
The thought of a sandwich causes my stomach to tighten. “Anything but that,” I whisper, finally pulling on the sweatpants. They engulf me, but that’s okay. The fact they’re nice and loose works for me.
“Soup then?” he offers.
Nodding, I step toward him. “Tomato?”
“If that’s what you want,” he agrees and finishes getting dressed in another pair of jeans, a solid gray tee, his boots, and lastly, he pulls on his cut.
“Can I borrow a hoodie and socks?” I ask, rubbing my arms, feeling cold. I’m used to it, but I hate it. I always get cold easily and suffer from cold feet all the time.
“Yeah, Tigress, you can have whatever you need,” he says, pulls out a pair of socks for me, and hands them over. “You put those on while I get you a hoodie.”
“Thank you.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I do just that.
“No problem. Now put this on.” Kevlar holds his hoodie for me to put on. Once I have it on, my still-damp hair falls down my back. He threads his fingers with mine and lifts them to brush his lips across my fingertips. “Let’s get these bandaged up and see if we can’t find you some tomato soup.”
CHAPTER6
KEVLAR
She’s killing me.
Guiding her into the kitchen, I’m not surprised to find those I mentioned earlier standing and sitting, waiting for her. All heads turn in our direction when we step through the door. Rosemary tenses, and before anyone can say anything, I speak up.
“We got tomato soup?”
Big’s lip twitches, and he pushes a bowl across the counter in front of an empty stool.
“It’s my girl’s favorite.”
At least they hadn’t made a sandwich. I saw the dread and revulsion in her expression when I suggested it. I’m willing to bet that’s what she’d been fed, so I don’t blame her, and I’m not asking her to confirm my suspicion.
Ushering her to the counter, I pull the seat out for her and let her hand go, feeling the bandages now in place over her busted knuckles. She hadn’t even flinched when I poured the alcohol over them. I hated seeing the way her eyes went dead.
Earlier, when she’d been in the shower, I heard those screams of anguish, and it just about killed me. She’d been hurting, in so much pain, I couldn’t handle it. I’d gone in there, hopped right in, and held her. I did the only thing I could do to comfort her when she was suffering. It took a while for her cries to stop, and when they did, she slumped into me, exhausted emotionally and physically.
If it weren’t for the fact she needed to eat something, I wouldn’t have bothered to bring her out of the room. Fuck if I could, I’d have kept her in the room. It felt good holding her, and I knew she found comfort in my touch. I felt it in the way she let me hold her.
No one speaks as Rosemary picks up the spoon and starts eating the soup.
“You want some crackers, Rosie?” Cobra asks, speaking up first.
I move to stand directly next to her, keeping close, giving her the comfort she needs.
Rosemary shakes her head in answer to Cobra’s question and continues to spoon up more soup.
Glancing at Viper, I meet his gaze. “The guests situated for the night?”
