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"Take Ma with you."
"Your brother isn't taking me anywhere, Zion Alaric."
"Ma, please give me five minutes with my girl," he pleads quietly, not even lifting his face from my hair. "You can bug the shit out of her when I'm done."
"Fine. But I'm not doing it for you," his mom sniffs. "I'm only going because you need to get that sweet girl off the floor and apologize for making her cry."
"Yes, ma'am," Zion says immediately.
His mom huffs and then she and Gideon step around us, leaving us alone.
Zayne tucks a finger beneath my chin, tipping my head back to examine my face. "You're too beautiful to be crying over me, angel baby."
"Then you should have thought about that before you got yourself shot." My bottom lip quivers, more tears welling in my eyes. "I thought you were d-dead, Zion."
Pain flashes in his eyes, vast and bright. "You think anything on this earth could drag me away from you? Hell no, beautiful. I didn't fight to get you to fall for me just so I could leave you for some other motherfucker to scoop up. You're stuck with me." He runs the fingers of his right hand under my eyes, drying my tears. "You've cried enough because of that prick, Makenzie."
"Did you…?" I can't bring myself to ask if Zion shot him. I don't think I'm ready to face whatever consequences something like that brings screaming into reality.
"No," he says, allowing me to pull in a breath. "I didn't shoot him, and I left him breathing. Figured you'd want it that way."
"Good, then I can finish the job myself," I growl, trying to climb from his lap.
He drags me right back down onto him. "He was at your place again. I found him lurking in the backyard. I don't know what the fuck he was planning, but he came with a gun. You aren't going anywhere near him, not today or any other day."
"W-what did you do to him?"
"Taught him what it feels like to have someone put their hands on you against your will. The fucker shot me when I was walking away."
"And you didn't kill him?" I confirm, just to be sure.
"No, but it'll be a while before he's able to use either of his arms." A savage grin overtakes his face. "Or breathe through his nose. Or see out of his right eye." He brushes tendrils of hair away from my face. "I don't think he'll be a problem for anyone again. Not unless he shoves a phone up his ass to Tweet from a prison cell."
"Zion!"
"Just speaking facts, angel baby," he says with a shrug before hauling me closer to his chest. I bump his shoulder and he hisses through his teeth.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, my gaze falling to the bandages wrapped around him.
"Don't apologize to me, Makenzie. The bullet went straight through, and you weren't the one who shot me. Besides, it doesn't hurt nearly as much as my fucking cock right now." He lifts his hips slightly, pressing his erection against my ass. "Having you on my lap and not being able to do anything about it is the ninth circle of hell, beautiful."
I groan, falling forward to bury my face in his good shoulder. He catches me to him with a wicked laugh, holding me close to his heart as my own settles into a rhythm to match, feeling stronger than it's ever been.
We sit like that for several long moments before I remember the text I sent him.
"Oh!" I bound off his lap, looking for his phone. I give up after about two seconds. His room is a mess. Did he run the staff out of here before they were able to clean up? Why am I even asking that question? Of course he did. "Where's your phone?"
"Ma has it. Why?"
I fish mine out of my dress. "You really should check your texts more," I say, handing it over to him. "I sent you one while you were getting shot."
"Damn." He snaps his fingers. "Next time, I'll ask for a time out so I can read it."
"Next time?"
He grins at me, taking the phone from my outstretched hands.
I stand silently, waiting for him to pull it up.
