Vengeance
Page 6
“For what, so you can actually puke on me this time?”
“I’m fucking sorry about last night. Please, let me explain?”
Ember yanks her arm free while glaring at me with nothing but disdain. “What? That you’re a junkie? Yeah, no explanation needed, commando.”
I flare my nostrils in anger.
Why the fuck won’t she listen?
“Stop being a pig-headed selfish brat, and let me show you what happened. I’m not a junkie, Ember.”
Her eyes widen as she sinks in on herself a little. “You swear?”
“Yes!”
“Fine! Show me what you need to.”
Ah-huh, some progress!
I reach out taking her hand in mine. She doesn’t fight me as I lead her to the elevator. The same one when I first saw her. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I ask, “Hey, why were you in with Bates?”
She shrugs. “I quit.”
“You quit? I thought you needed this job?”
She winces. “I do, like really bad, but Bates just makes it far too hard to work for him.”
“I know the feeling.”
The doors open, and we step inside, then they close leaving us alone. I turn to her, bringing my hand up to her face and caressing her cheek. “I’m truly sorry about last night. You’ll never know how bad I feel about my actions.”
Ember chews on her bottom lip, shrugging. “I guess when you tell me what’s going on, I’ll tell you whether I forgive you or not.”
She’s always so feisty.
I stare in her eyes, her beautiful brown orbs not showing as much gold as normal. She’s sadder, and that’s partly my fault. Even so, I can’t deny that pull, the magnetism that draws me in to her. With every second ticking by, I want to kiss her so badly, but now isn’t that time. I have to tell her what happened. I need to own my truth before she decides if I’m worth it or not.
The elevator dings, and the doors open. I drop my hand from her face, leading her out. As we walk down the long hall, the tension grows thicker and thicker. The last time we came down this hall, we were like giggling fucking teenagers. I’m glad none of my brothers saw any of that shit go down.
This time we’re far more subdued and serious. Once we reach my door, I open it, and we walk inside. When we step over to the bed, I gesture for her to sit. I can’t stop the flood of images of her naked and me fucking her swarming my mind. But I blink them away, moving over to the fridge. She widens her eyes, taking in a deep breath.
My brothers know about this, but it doesn’t stop the fact that it makes me feel like less of a man. I grit my teeth, opening the door, and pull out the black bag. I step back over to the bed and sit down next to her.
Ember’s eyes are wide as she studies the bag. I turn it over, unzipping the top pulling out the blood glucose monitor and prick tester. Her eyes widen. She’s starting to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I position my finger and prick it with the lancet. She jumps even though it doesn’t do anything dramatic. Ember sits on the edge of the bed staring. I pull it back, placing the small white strip onto the tiny dot of blood.
Her eyes flood with tears as she stares at me. “You’re diabetic?”
I stare into her eyes—she’s coming back to me, the gold’s twinkling again. “Type one. I felt the blood sugar high coming on last night during… Damn! I didn’t want to stop to explain, so I kept going and well…” I pause, letting her remember what happened.
She rests her head in her hands as she lets out a loud exhale. “Oh God, I called you a junkie.”
“I feel like one most of the time, needing a fix when I get the urge.”
Her head snaps back up at me. “But why? Shouldn’t you be testing like this all the time? Shouldn’t you be injecting regularly?”
I cringe. “Technically, yeah.”
Ember’s eyes widen as she turns, grabbing my hand. “Viper, that’s dangerous. Why the hell wouldn’t you keep it under control?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose letting out an exhale. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? More complicated than the fact that diabetes can kill you?”
She’s got me there, I have no answer to that.
“Okay, harder to explain, then.”
Ember’s eyes soften as she tightens her hand in mine. “Try.”
Exhaling, I crack my neck to the side. “In the Army, I was somebody, and I was really good at what I did. A pilot. Top of my game… until I wasn’t. I started having these… episodes. I would crash, not my plane but my body giving out on me. Then it started happening in the air. I’d get shaky, nauseous, dizzy, and just fucking all over the place. I had no idea what was happening. My commander made me get some testing done. The results came back with diabetes, and it was completely out of control.” Ember’s eyes well as my chest constricts telling the story. “They medically discharged me. I felt like a fucking failure like I couldn’t even do my job. Like less of a man.”
Ember grips my hands tighter. “You know that’s not true. An illness doesn’t define the man, his actions do. His beliefs, his morals. You’re more of a man doing what you’re doing with this on your shoulders. You’re the bravest soldier I know.”
I weakly tilt my head. “Hence, why you call me commando?”
She bursts out laughing. “Ahh… no, that was because every time I called you commando, I was picturing you naked. You know… as in commando.”
Raising my brow, I smirk at her. “Oh, really?”
She peeks down at my tester avoiding the subject. “So, you finally did a test. Tell me, do you need an injection?”
My blood sugars are still high from last night. “Yeah, I do.”
She grabs the bag from me unzipping the other side. “Well, then, let’s start from today. You’re going to test and inject like you should. The proper way to try and stop yourself from having those crashes like you had last night.”
I like this side of Ember. She might be bossy, but hell if it’s not attractive to me right now. I grab the needle, and my eyes meet hers. I lift my shirt. She nods, and I place the needle to my stomach and push it in.
Ember’s hand comes up to my face gently caressing. “I’m proud of you. Shit! I’m so sorry for judging you.”
I place the needle back in the bag and close it, then shift closer, placing my hand on her thigh. “I get it. What you saw would have freaked anyone out. I wasn’t taking care of myself. Seems I need a feisty phoenix to come in and light a fire up my ass.”
She giggles. “I’ll do that any time you need me to.”
I run my hand around the back of her head and pull her to me kissing her forcefully. My lips tingle. It’s the same feeling I get every time I touch her.
We’re leaving for Chicago tomorrow, and I’ll be leaving Ember behind, but I’m not sure if I can do that.
My tongue collides with hers. I kiss her letting her know how much she has done for me in the last few minutes we’ve been together.
She’s made me believe in myself again.
She’s convinced me I am worth more than a broken man.
My illness doesn’t define me. I can work around it if I can control it, and if I keep to the routine I’m supposed to. I need to stop being a martyr and accept the hand life has dealt me, live with what I’ve got. I’m the president of the Chicago Defiance MC. I’m strong, even with my faults.
It took a woman with a heart of fire to show me that. A woman I am kissing right now with everything I have in me. A woman I don’t ever want to let go.
I pull back and gaze into her eyes. I have no right to ask this. Her life is here. I barely know her. But there’s something about Ember that makes me want to be better. To make this world better for her.
“Ember, you need a job,” I say matter-of-factly.
“Ah, yeah, we’ve established that.”
“How do you feel about Chicago?”
Her eyes widen. “It’s windy, why?”
“Phoenix, I’m not ready
to say goodbye to you yet. What do you think about coming to Chicago, and we can work on finding you a job? The club has a ton of places where we could employ you, or I’m sure there’s a casino that will take on someone with your… talents.” I waggle my brows.
Her eyes widen. “While that sounds tempting, I have nowhere to live, Viper.”
“You can live at the club, or I’ll get you a place. Semantics. All I know is I want you back in Chicago with me. What do you say?”
Ember’s eyes light up, the gold shining through the brightest I’ve ever seen as she lunges at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Yes. Yes, Viper, I say yes. Hell, yes, I’m going to Chicago!”
Thrusting forward, I kiss her for all she’s worth.
I thought this trip was going to end in war, that vengeance was the point in all of this. Turns out vengeance was never the key factor—it was love.
Or at least the possibility of love.
Vex and Izzy are happily married.
Nio and Grace are dating.
And as for me, I’m bringing a phoenix home to light my fire.
The next generation might be doing things a little differently as in love, not war.
But the one thing I know for sure, Chicago’s definitely starting to look up.
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With a flair for all things creative, International Bestselling Author K E Osborn, is drawn to the written word. Exciting worlds and characters flow through her veins, coming to life on the page as she laughs, cries, and becomes enveloped in the storyline right along with you. She’s entirely at home when writing sassy heroines and alpha males that rise from the ashes of their pasts.
K E Osborn comforts herself with tea and Netflix, after all, who doesn’t love a good binge?
Turn lust into love at www.keosbornauthor.com