Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“How do you want to play this?”
“I want to fucking kill him.” I bit out. “But Dana doesn’t want to handle it like that.”
“I could call Conn. He might have a middle ground.”
I nodded once. As much as it killed me to do it. But I was part of a team now. Dana and I were a unit. I had to respect her wants. I wanted her happy. Not just safe.
I wanted to make her smile again. Not scared. Never again.
And I definitely did not want her to be scared of me.
“Do it.” I said. “But get him out of here for a couple of minutes. I want to take my lady home”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Dana
I stared down at my coffee maker, lost in thought. I had grabbed it as Drake bundled me out of the apartment. It was still hot and full of coffee. Somehow I had not spilled any or burned myself. Everything had felt so surreal as I stepped into the sunshine.
I had clutched the old silver toned coffee pot the entire way to Drake’s place.
“I want to go to Auntie’s house.”
“Okay. But I want you staying with me. I need to be able to see you. Okay?”
I had glanced over and realized how shaken up he was. He had been through so much in the service. We had talked a little bit about his PTSD. He was suffering, too.
I nodded and watched the tension in his jaw release, just a little. His hands relaxed slightly on the steering wheel. His shoulders dropped.
“Okay,” I added unnecessarily. I knew he had seen me nod. But my mind was moving in all directions. It felt like I was going a thousand miles and standing still at the same time.
“The eye of the storm,” I whispered. Drake looked at me and nodded.
“I know that feeling. Like everything is still happening but you are just watching it.”
“Yeah,” I breathed in wonder. “How did you know?” But I knew how he knew. He had lived through things like this a hundred times. Not like this. What he had lived through was much, much worse.
“You are in shock. The adrenaline is keeping you from crashing. But it will wear off soon. I think you are right. Auntie’s is the best possible place for you right now. I’ll tell some of the guys to meet us there to stand watch.”
I stared out the window, not really seeing anything. Drake made a few calls. As soon as he was done, his hand sneaked out to hold mine.
He glanced at me after parking in front of Aunties. His eyes were questioning, worried. I recognized that look. It was kind of the way I looked at a patient who was between recovery and crashing. You never knew which way the pendulum would swing, so you kept watch.
The good nurses did, anyway. For some people nursing was a job. For others it was a true calling. We were the ones who called for the doctor right before things got crazy. It was a sixth sense, really. More than what lab results and heart rates could tell you. Just a feeling. A feeling that saved lives.
And now Drake was looking at me like that. I must be a mess, I realized. I didn’t care though. I couldn’t focus enough to even look in the mirror.
And I wasn’t particularly excited to see what I looked like, either.
Drake helped me out of his new car, taking my hand and leading me the way you would with a small, sleepy child. Everything felt far away, like I was under water. I looked up as Auntie stepped onto the porch.
“Special delivery,” Drake teased as he handed me off. Auntie put her arms around me and I shuddered. I came close to breaking in that moment.
Not yet, I told myself. Don’t fall apart yet.
“Baby girl,” Auntie crooned against me. I felt a tear fall. Just one.
I didn’t want to cry. What I wanted to do, was sleep for about a thousand years. I wanted to crawl under a pile of heavy blankets and hide from the world.
“I got you,” she whispered as the sound of motorcycles pulling up filled the air. Drake’s guys were here already. Just to keep an eye out.
“Such a fuss,” I said weakly.
“You hush now,” Drake said, sharing a glance with Auntie. “It’s never a fuss to protect the people you love.”
I just blinked at him. He was being so loving. Something between us had shifted on a profound level. I understood him better than I had before. Even his fury at the apartment had not scared me. I trusted him one hundred percent.
“Come inside now,” Auntie said. “I’ll make you something to eat.”
But Drake didn’t move to follow us.
I turned to look at him, my mind suddenly clear.
My man needed to go handle this. He was feeling angry that he hadn’t been able to protect me. He looked worried and alone.