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Genevieve tightened her lips. “Brendan, obviously, I’m glad he took down Marshal and protected us, but he shot at you a little over a week ago. How can I forgive him for that?”
“Anyone who protects you and those that you love I’ll support. Mateo didn’t have anything against me personally when he shot at me outside The Outlaw. He was just following orders from his boss. He’d never even worked for someone with a rational mind before. Believe me, I had Quill grill him with a lie detector test before I let him anywhere near you. I trust him now.”
“Thank you for the kind words, jefe.”
Brendan raised a brow. “I keep insisting that they don’t call me boss, and they won’t stop. Any ideas?”
Genevieve giggled before cringing in pain.
“Easy, Gen. Sorry, I’ll try not to make you laugh.”
She blew out a breath. “Ow, where’d the bullet get me?”
“Clean through your rotator cuff muscle on your right-hand side. The amount of blood loss was scary. They stabilized you, did a blood transfusion, and focused on infection control. Once the swelling’s gone down, you’ll need at least one surgery to repair the damage, and then physical therapy when we get home and lots and lots of rest. The doctor estimates nine to twelve months for a full recovery.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “I hate inconveniencing people. Can we have my momma stay with us for a while? I don’t want you to have to miss work.”
“Gen, I could care less about missing work, but of course, your mom can stay with us—forever if you want. My place has plenty of room.” Brendan hesitated, blinked, and stammered, “I mean, shoot, I just realized how forward and presumptuous that sounded. I’m happy to live anywhere you want—your apartment or wherever.” His face flushed an adorable shade of pink, and he adjusted his glasses. “Damn, I’m messing this all up. I didn’t mean to imply that you had to live with me, either. I’m just hopeful that at some point you’ll?—”
“Brendan—” She laughed and winced.
“Easy, baby.”
She exhaled through the pain. “—you’re so damn cute. I love your sweet side, but in this case, you don’t need to be sweet—be cocky as hell for all I care. I don’t want to live without you completely immersed in my life for a single minute.”
Brendan visibly relaxed before his lips curled into a confident smirk. “All right then, I want you to move in with me and never leave. I want you to make a total mess of my place, just like we talked about. Only now, it will forever be our place. Bring on the frilly pillows, candles, knick-knacks, plants, and purple drapes. I want to cringe when I walk around every corner.”
Her lips parted while her core pulsated with heat. How had he remembered everything she’d said? He was like a walking encyclopedia, and OMG, it was such a turn-on. She had no idea you could self-combust while injured in the hospital. Forget their recovery plan! “Let’s go now. Get me outta here.” She attempted to sit up just to mess with him.
Brendan’s hand shot out to prevent her from moving. His charming face contorted into a stern look.
So cute…and hot! How had she gotten so lucky? Who knew her type was a geeky genius turned partial bad boy?
“Nice try,” he grumbled. “If you’re going to be a stubborn patient, then I’ll have to be a stubborn caretaker. I’ll bend the rules only when it makes sense. Otherwise, I won’t be a senseless daredevil.” He grinned before tossing her words back at her, “If that’s what you want, I’m afraid you fell in love with the wrong man.”
She playfully pouted. “I just figure my bad boy can make anything happen.”
He let loose a hopeless chuckle and pierced her with another disciplinary look. “If that were the case, you never would have gotten shot.” He leaned in close, hovering above her lips. “Do you really want to get into it with me right now? If so, then I’ll have you know that you’re in big, big trouble for taking that bullet.”
Her heart rate monitor took off, beeping in a much more enticing way than before. “Oooh, whatcha gonna do to me, bad boy? Am I in for a spanking?”
His mouth dropped open, his cheeks flushing adorably. “Gen, I,” he stuttered, “dammit, this is serious. I mean it. Jumping in front of that bullet was not okay.”
“Hmm…seems to me you were the first one who tried to go in for the bullet, not me. So the discussion is closed unless you want an even bigger lecture than you’re giving me.” She flashed him a smile with all her teeth. “I love you.”
“Surely you realize that I’m smart enough not to fall for deflection,” he grumbled, “but I love you too.”
Are you, though? It just worked. “So.” She popped her lips. “How’s Momma really doing? I can’t imagine she isn’t seriously rattled.”
“I think she’ll be fine once she sees that you’re awake. She’s strong like you and seems to power through everything, no matter how difficult it is. She hasn’t left your side much, either. One of us is always here with you.”
Genevieve tried to block out the image of Marshal holding a gun to her mom’s head, but it flashed distressingly into her brain anyway. “When Marshal had her, I thought I was going to lose her.” She swallowed and sniffled. “What happened after I blacked out, Brendan? I both want to know and don’t want to know at the same time.”
Brendan braced his palm on her head, brushing a soothing finger across her temple. “What do you want to know, baby?”
“What happened to Marshal, Archer, and everyone else?”
“Marshal, Archer, Luke, Ace, and any others that were still alive and could be incriminated were arrested and are all in prison—or at least Marshal and Archer will join them after they get out of the hospital. Roman and some of Marshal’s other followers didn’t make it with little sorrow from Marshal, surprise, surprise,” Brendan added roughly. “We won’t talk about Marshal’s recovery—even though, unfortunately, he’ll live, but as for Archer—his gunshot wound is not super serious—believe me, he’ll be fine.”
