“Ryan. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Can you help me up?” I hated to ask that of her, but I couldn’t do it myself. We had decided to work as a team, and right then I needed her.
She took my weight well, allowing my feet to barely touch the ground. We slid out the door and took notice of Danny, still doubled over on the ground. She had done a good job. Grace helped me crawl into the truck, and then ran around to her place behind the wheel.
As we pulled out onto the road, she assured me everything would be okay.
“I’m going to get you to the hospital.”
“No, you can’t do that.”
“Ryan, we have no choice.”
“Grace, they’ll involve the cops. You know we can’t have that happen.”
“You’re bleeding everywhere and your ribs are bruised, probably cracked. What do you suggest I do?”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. “Call Rocky.”
“Who is Rocky?”
“Just call him. Tell him what happened. Is there somewhere we can go?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him the address.
She was hesitant at first, but then took my phone from my hands. “Okay.”
“Thank you, Grace.”
She touched her palm to my face.
“Oh, and Grace?”
“Yes?”
“I’m really proud of you. I could not have done that without you.”
Her face brightened with my compliment, and I allowed myself to relax. I’d let her take it from here, at least for the time being. I felt a peace run through my body, as if this was all behind us now.
But I knew it wasn’t: it was only the calm before the storm.
Ryan,
Don’t freak out. You’re at my Aunt Kathryn’s house. You passed out in the truck, and she helped me get you inside. You were able to walk, but I don’t know how conscious you were at the time. I’m just down the hallway in the kitchen with Aunt Kathryn, catching her up on today’s “festivities.”
We’re a bit off the beaten path, so we should be safe from Sean and Danny for the time being; I don’t believe Sean knows about this place. And all the Shadows know not to disturb Aunt Kathryn at her home, so I thought this would be the safest hideout.
Rocky is on his way. He knows what happened and is bringing his kit. Don’t try to get up; I know you’re hurt. I don’t know if you know how badly. Your phone is on the pillow next to you. Call me, and I’ll come keep you company.
As we promised: today, tomorrow, and past the light. We’ll make it through this.
All my love,
Grace
Grace
“I’m just not comfortable having two Cupids in my home, Grace.”
“Aunt Kathryn, I don’t mean to put you out, but we had nowhere to go.”
She paced the kitchen, trying to come to terms with everything I had been telling her. It was strange sitting in that kitchen, exactly as I had for so many years. The table stood off the corner of the bar, nestled against a row of windows. The patch of grass in the backyard was small, but the wooded area behind was where I had imagined countless adventures. I fought pirates by the stream and monsters by the cluster of trees. I saved children from witches and princes from dragons. I evaded torture and escaped with treasure. Never would I have thought that my imagination wouldn’t hold a candle to the adventure my real life would become. Who knew that rescuing princes and evading torture would be so difficult?
“He doesn’t look so good.” She nodded down the hall in the direction of the bedroom, where Ryan was resting.
“I know. I’m not quite sure what happened when I was dealing with the other one, but when I came back in, Sean was furious.” I paused, collecting my thoughts. “It’s all my fault,” I whispered.
“No, no, no, baby girl. Don’t do that to yourself.” She came around the table and threw her arms around me.
“He asked me to run away with him, to start our own life, but I couldn’t do that. Not with Sean here, and you here. I just couldn’t do that.”
She sat in the chair next to me. “Grace, you know I love you, but I do not need you to take care of me. I’m a grown woman. I’ve done pretty well on my own for quite some time. And if me having to put up with that bastard’s antics means that you could get out of here and start living your life, the life you have to be able to live, then sign me up.”
I chuckled at her rant. She really was amazing. And running away sounded so easy, but I think that was the problem. I couldn’t take the easy way out. I would spend the rest of my life plagued by the guilt that I wasn’t able to stop him. But why didn’t I stop him? Why didn’t I just kill him when he was curled up on the floor? I had a knife in my hand. It would’ve been so easy. Then it would all be over.
“Grace!” I heard him, but I couldn’t react. I was covered in blood, both Danny’s blood and Sean’s. Sean was weak, powerless, unmoving. It was my chance. I could end it all right there. I raised the knife higher, hoping the extra inch would be exactly what I needed to pierce his heart. “Grace, no!”
I froze, turning to Ryan. This is what we had been waiting for: a life without the threat of Sean. Why was he stopping me from finishing it?
“Grace, knock him out.”
I listened to him, but didn’t know how to follow through. A quick scan of the room directed me to a large piece of pipe against the wall.
Sean had come to his knees, and I knew I had to react fast. Just as I would’ve done with the knife, I used every ounce of energy still inside of me to swing that thick metal. I aimed for his head, and his head was what I hit.
He fell to the ground; his eyes were closed.
“Baby, you did it. You did it.” I heard Ryan’s faint voice cheering for me.
“Is he dead?” I wanted the answer to be ‘yes’. I wanted that so badly.
“No he’s not, so we have to move fast. Where’s Danny?”
“He’s outside. I kicked him a lot.” The words spewed from my mouth.
“Grace, can you get the keys from Sean’s back pocket?”
I looked at his unconscious body. Could I touch him? Would he wake up? Did I want him to wake up just so I could knock him out again? Wow. I needed to get out of there; I was beginning to frighten myself. “Yes.”
“Great. Now untie me.”
The sound of my ring tone startled me from my gaze. Ryan must have been awake.
“I’m going to go check on him.”
“You do that, baby. I’ll just be in here.”
I placed my hand on top of hers. “Thank you so much for this. For everything.”
“Go get him.”
I left the kitchen and slid my hands down the wall of the hallway. I turned into the bedroom and saw my love in the same place I had left him.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Probably better than I look,” he joked.
“Well, that’s good.”
“It’s not great.” He smiled and patted the bed. “Thanks for the letter.”
“I assumed you’d wake up confused.”
“You assumed correctly. Come closer.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m not as fragile as I may seem. Lay next to me.”
I curled up beside him, and he slowly wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“How long do you think we have?” he asked.
“Before what?”
“Before all hell breaks loose. How long do I have to recover?”
I really didn’t know. Sean had mentioned to me that Danny wasn’t his only ally. Someone would eventually find out where we were, and word would get back to Sean.
“You just worry about recovering. I’ll worry about everything else.”
Ryan turned to me, shaking his head. “Grace, listen, while I appreciate everything you have done up until now, I need to ask you to stop.”
“No, thi
s is as much my battle as it is yours.”
“You’re really not treating it that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re trying to do it all yourself. You’re trying to end this by yourself. I saw your face when you were holding that knife above your head. You almost killed him.”
“So what?” I was defensive.
“Grace, just let me talk for a minute.” His voice deepened. “I am asking you to let me be your man. Sitting here like this is not right: it’s embarrassing for me. I don’t allow myself to take a beating from anyone, but I have to be cautious around you. If something were ever to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I can barely live with myself now. Had Sean not had your life in his hands as collateral, I would not have let him get as far as he did. He wouldn’t have lived to see the inside of that warehouse.”
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”
“No. This is what I’m talking about. I don’t want you to have that on your conscience. That’s not who you are; it’s not who I fell in love with. You should never have to live with the knowledge that you took another person’s life; I don’t care how much he deserves it. And Grace, had I known what he had done to you, had you told me any of it…”
I had to cut him off. I didn’t want him to know. I wish I could’ve forgotten it all. “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t… if I told you, it would make it true.”
“It is my job to protect you now. Let me handle Sean. I will finish this once and for all. Give me at least that. Please, I need you to stay out of it.”
I didn’t realize he felt so strongly about this. No wonder he got so angry whenever I tried to shield him from the truth. He was just trying to take care of me. For so long, I had been coddled and handled by club members. When Ryan came along and asked to take care of me, I took offense. I wanted to prove my worth, to show him I could take care of myself. But maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to take a step back. I had gotten us into some pretty nasty situations. Maybe it was time to let him take the lead.
“Let’s see what Rocky has to say when he gets here. If he thinks you’re in for a long recovery, we can look into finding a more secure hideout. Then, when you’re ready, we’ll take on Sean.”
“Thank you, Grace.”
I pushed a few strands of his hair out of his face, and allowed my fingertips to skim his cheeks. My thumb found his lower lip and then slid down, resting in the small crease of his chin.
“That’s not your lips,” Ryan mumbled, his eyes half-closed.
“My mistake,” I whispered back to him.
I lowered my lips to his, taking my time. After a few light kisses, he opened his mouth slightly, begging for more. I pushed into him, offering my tongue to his. At their contact, I felt a tingle deep within me. If I kept this up, I wouldn’t be able to stop. His hand put pressure on the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him.
“Ryan.” I pulled away.
“No, more.” He seemed delirious from the pain.
“I need to let you rest.”
“You need me to make love to you.”
“Well, yes, that too,” I teased, “but first you need to rest.”
I felt his hand glide over my spine and land on my backside. He gave me a quick wink and squeezed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I laughed.
“Getting you to do what I want.”
He really was adorable. He was attempting to be sexy, but with his beaten body and in his feverish state, he seemed more like a sad, sick child begging to go outside and play. I wanted to let him play. My entire body longed for him to play, but I knew that without rest, he wouldn’t be playing for quite some time.
“You know what?” I moved my mouth to his ear so that I could whisper my promise to him. “When this is all over…” I tickled his body with my fingertips as I made my way down to his swelling pants. “We’re going to reenact this little scenario.” I grabbed him over his jeans, rubbing the heel of my hand against my prize. “I’m going to tie you up, so you can’t move. Then, I’m going to have my way with you. I’ll start with my fingers, then my mouth…” He was growing under the weight of my hand. I knew it was mean of me to tease him in such a way, but the distraction was worth it, for both of us. “And then I’m going to ride you. I’ll start out slowly, slipping you in and out. You’re going to pull at your restraints, imploring me to allow you to touch, but I’ll be in control. You’ll stay tied to the bed; you’ll stay and be my conquest.
“Now,” he murmured, sliding his hand up my thigh and curling his fingertips into my skin.
“Not yet. You have to get better first.”
“But what if…” He was slipping in and out.
“Shhh.” I put my finger to his lips. “No ‘what if’s. When you’re better and when this is over, I’ll be all yours and you’ll be all mine.
His eyes opened fully and his hand found mine. Our fingers intertwined as we locked our eyes. He looked as if he wanted to tell me something.
“Ryan, what’s wrong?”
He slowly shook his head. “Nothing at all.”
He began to flutter his eyes. “Why don’t I let you try to sleep a little longer? I’ll wake you up when your friend gets here.”
“Grace?”
“Yes?” I stopped.
“Let’s paint our door red.”
I smiled, not knowing what he was talking about. “What do you mean?”
“In our home, the one we share, can we have a red door?”
“Of course, Ryan.” He must have been exhausted.
“And a dog.”
“Ryan…”
“And for our wedding, I want you to wear your hair down.”
Our wedding? His blinks were becoming longer.
“Ryan, I’m going to let you sleep, okay?”
“Don’t you want to know about our kids?”
I couldn’t help but smile. Of course I wanted to know about our kids. Of course I had thought about our wedding and our dream house and a couple little munchkins running around calling us ‘mom’ and ‘dad’. I kissed his forehead. “I really do. You can tell me after you wake up, okay?”
“I will do that.”
I slid off the bed and made my way to the door. “Rocky said he’s bringing his doctor kit?”
“He said to tell you he’s bringing the whole kit and kaboodle.”
The calming energy of the room suddenly changed, and Ryan’s eyes shot open. “What?”
“He’s bringing his kit, yes.”
“No, Grace, did he actually say the words ‘kit and kaboodle’?”
He was really beginning to confuse me. Was this part of the delirium? “Yes?”
Ryan looked up to the ceiling and deeply sighed.
“That means the Blood of Cupids are coming.”
Ryan
“Where are they, Rock?” I asked as he put the final stitch in my chest.
“Your main concern right now is resting. Sean really did a number on you.”
“I want to know where my guys are!” I raised my voice, attempting to show him how serious I was.
He took a deep breath, moving his hands to my ribcage. “They’re at a rest stop about ten miles back, awaiting my call.”
“And who made that decision?” I lowered my eyes to him.
“We all did, Ry. Sean isn’t a friend to any of us. We want to see this thing over as much as you do.”
I knew it to be true, but I still saw this as my battle.
“You said you needed ice packs?” My gorgeous Grace entered the room, pushing away any negativity that I felt.
“Yes. He has at least one cracked rib. We just have to keep the swelling down; it’s all we can do.”
She came over and sat beside me. “How are you feeling?”
“Better, now that you’re here.”
“Well, aren’t you two adorable?” Rocky jumped in.
I weakly punched his shoulder. The act di
dn’t hurt the way I thought it would.
“Pain meds kicking in yet?”
“I think they might be.”
“Good. I’ll leave you two for a bit, and see about getting acquainted with the lady of the house. Try and sleep.”
“Thanks Rock. I really appreciate it. All of it.” I really did mean it, even if I was annoyed that he had the entire club tag along with him.
Rocky nodded and left the room.
Grace turned back to me. “What did he say?”
“They’re here, about ten miles out.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing.”
“Grace, none of this is good. He’s going to cause a full-fledged war between the clubs. My club can’t handle that, especially if Sean has leaked any information.”
“Maybe we could all just talk it out.”
The laughter that escaped my breath caused me to buckle in pain.
“Shit.”
“Ryan, what happened?”
“I was laughing at your ridiculous plan.”
“It’s not ridiculous. I was just saying…”
I had to interrupt. “Am I missing something? Were you shipped off to boarding school as a child? These people don’t talk, Grace. You know that.”
She stood, angered by my accusation. “Don’t you dare talk to me that way, Ryan Cassidy. I see what you’re doing. I am as much a part of this as you are. You can’t push me away and take over. Not now. Not like this.”
“You don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“I don’t? I’m sorry. So then what have I been dealing with for the last few months? I thought it was this rivalry, but I must have been mistaken.”
“Grace, it’s…”
“No. I want to let you be the man and I want to let you protect me, but that is not how I grew up, Ryan. I grew up in this, just like you. I take action and I protect my own. You need to learn to trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Then fucking tell me what we’re dealing with instead of just throwing me away because I don’t know your family.”
I pushed myself up, and my feet hit the ground. I stood up, towering over her. If I had my way, I would lock her up until this whole thing was over. I knew that wasn’t an option; I’d have to respect her. I just wished she understood my reasoning.
Betrayal of Cupids Page 13
