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“What if—”
“No,” he snapped, grabbing my chin and getting to his feet, leaning in. “No. Don’t go there, Shay. This? It changes nothing. You’re not going to turn around tomorrow and start popping pills again. You’re stronger than that.”
He pressed his forehead to mine, and I reached up, taking his face in my hands and inhaling a deep breath.
His presence calmed me.
It made me feel safe.
And the way he believed in me gave me confidence that maybe I was that strong. Perhaps he could see something in me that I couldn’t, and having him there to remind me of what I could, made me believe it was true.
I swallowed back the lump in my throat.
“I’m stronger than that,” I murmured, and he let out a huff of laughter.
“Fuck yes, you are.”
It wasn’t going to be easy to get through what had happened, but I wasn’t on my own in some hospital room this time, fighting withdrawal symptoms. I didn’t have to fight this by myself anymore.
Bishop pressed his lips to mine in a gentle kiss, sweeping away all the feelings of unease and relaxing me.
I was here. I was alive. And that’s all that mattered.
“Okay, I can admit this is kind of sweet.”
Bishop pulled back at the sound of Calli’s voice, and I melted back into my pillows, keeping my eyes closed for a few seconds before finally opening them and meeting my best friend’s gaze.
She stood at the end of my bed, her hands in her jeans pockets.
Her eyes were red and puffy like she’d been crying for hours, but she had a warm smile as she watched Bishop and me, our hands linked tightly.
“Calli…” I started, but she quickly shook her head, cutting me off.
“I was a raging bitch, and I am so fucking sorry,” she apologized, emotion cracking her voice and an embarrassed flush tinting her cheeks. It was unusual because Calli was never ashamed of the fierce bitchiness she had inside. And honestly, it was something I loved about her.
Her protectiveness and inability to keep quiet when she had something to say were two things I knew had rubbed off on me in the best way possible.
“I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did,” I said, knowing now that Vince was likely responsible for those photos she’d seen. He or one of his lackeys must have been following us for a long time, and no doubt Frank had filled him in about how Calli wasn’t aware of our relationship.
It was just another ploy he had to try and destroy us.
He obviously had no idea who the hell he was fucking with because, while he was his family’s weak link, our family chain was unbreakable.
“Dad, Hawk said he got a phone call and that it was urgent,” Calli said, walking around the opposite side of the bed. “Scootch over, bitch, we have a lot to catch up on.”
I chuckled softly, shuffling across the bed so Calli could lie beside me.
Bishop shook his head and pressed a kiss to my temple before stepping back and pointing a sharp finger at his daughter. “You make sure you let her rest, Calliope.”
Calli rolled her eyes as he shot her a warning glare before hurrying out of the room.
I wondered for a second if I should have cared where he was going, knowing in my gut that the club would not let Vince get away with what he did to me. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Bishop had a part of him that was a little darker. It was a part I didn’t see but knew was there, and it was going to make Vince pay in ways I could never even imagine.
Maybe that should have bothered me. Maybe that side of him should have scared me. But it didn’t.
I knew the man Bishop was.
He raised the strongest woman I knew, with a heart the size of Texas and a set of brass balls to match. He never let his darkness seep into the people he loved, of that I was sure.
