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Cameron glared at his fiancée. “We’ll be waiting.”
“I hope you rot on that floor tile, you insufferable ass,” Aislynn muttered, sliding my arm through hers. The laugh hurt, but I welcomed the pain this time.
The two women got me upstairs and unwrapped in record time. The water stung my cuts and I could feel their eyes on me as they made sure I didn’t take a fall on the slick tiles, but I didn’t care. Nudity was normal for me, and a shower in my own home did a lot to soothe the minor aches. Plus, I didn’t have to worry about the stitches because they were all under waterproof bandaging.
Dr. Grant really knew how to treat a lady.
Before I could shampoo my hair, Ash smacked my hands away from my head. Her expensive clothes were getting soaked but she didn’t seem to mind, and I adored her for it. “You’re going to bleed everywhere if you do it. Just stand there and look pretty.”
“Technically, yes.”
I thought of Rafael and wondered if I should tell Shara that he was in town. Thinking about her reaction if she ran into him by accident made the choice for me. “Shara, there’s something you should know.”
Her head jerked up from where she was posted at the edge of the large waterfall shower like a sentinel.
“Rafael Osorio is in town.”
Those dark eyes widened, and I saw her knuckles blanch as she squeezed the towel in her fist. “Why is he here? Is the Wolf coming?”
“It’s complicated, but we think he’s a friend.”
She stared at me, peeling me apart in that way of hers. “Is this about Gilded or me?”
“You.”
While Ash went to town, I told them about the warehouse and the Antoni angel that wasn’t really him, even offering to see if a meetup with Rafael was possible if she wanted it. Tears welled in Shara’s eyes, and I could see her warring with herself. The probability that seeing him would hurt her more than she was already hurting was high, but grief was fickle. The chance to see who Antoni could’ve been was an opportunity she probably wouldn’t pass up.
Not answering me yet, she changed the subject. “So, you and Cameron seem comfortable.”
Ash yanked a little too hard on my hair, mumbling an apology when I grimaced. “He’s infuriating.”
“He’s a flirt, but he’s always been relatively harmless.”
“He’s an ass. He keeps trying to tell me what to do like I’m not a grown woman who’s taken care of herself for years. Last night, he told me how to load the dishwasher. My own fucking dishwasher.”
“I’m guessing that wasn’t the first argument between you two, then?” I turned off the faucet and carefully dried myself off. Every movement hurt, but fuck, it was good to be clean.
“No. He woke me up sneaking into my house at four a.m. for the third night in a row, and I went off on him. Told him he’s not going to have a side piece unless I can too. It went downhill from there.” I could imagine it did. For as charming as he was, my cousin was territorial at best. Aislynn’s cheeks pinkened, and Shara and I shared a grin. We would know that blush anywhere. She was hiding something.
“What did he do, spank that ass for mouthing off?” I asked.
Shara smiled at her. “It’s okay if you’re into a little punishment with your pleasure.” We howled when Ash’s whole face turned red.
“Shut up.”
While Shara needled Aislynn, they wrapped my ribs again and helped me into some clothes. The hands, I’d have to cover with gloves since the wrappings were too noticeable. Besides, I didn’t need them on display, when the capos would view it as a sign of weakness that Cash had gotten that close.
While Ash brushed my hair, Shara left to go back to Antoni’s room. My normally extroverted friend was in desperate need of some peace and quiet of her own, so I let her go without a fuss.
As Ash braided my hair, I checked in. “Are you sure you’re good with my cousin? We can change the plan if we need to.”
“I’m fine.” She squeezed my arm gently, careful of my injuries. “We’re just in transition.”
“Let me know if that changes, okay?” I trusted my cousin with my whole heart, but if he wasn’t good to her, I’d kill him myself. Family or not. Sometimes blood didn’t mean shit.
By the time I went downstairs, I was bone-tired and ready to crash for the night. Cameron was gone, but Nate, Greyson, Moore, and Tennessee had changed and returned while I showered.
“Everyone ready?”
