Page 75 of Property of Rattler

When I’ve given up on a response, he starts, “Your brother’s clever. The club thought they’d tricked him, but he was one step ahead. We underestimated him. He kept me alive to lure the club into a trap.”

I gasp. “But it didn’t work.”

He smiles a sleepy smile. “Nope.”

“How did the club try to trick him?”

“They made him download a Trojan onto his phone, which gave his location away.”

“Oh, Flynn,” I sigh. “I told you he works in tech. He probably saw that coming a mile off.”

He blows out a long sigh, and grimaces. “Fuck. I forgot. But I think they still would have done it. It was worth a try, and it did actually work. Even though…” His voice trails off.

“Even though, what?” I prompt.

Instead of answering my question, he lets his eyes close, then, when I think the drugs in his IV have taken him, he opens them again. “Get up on this bed and lie next to me, Ames.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” There isn’t an inch of him that’s not been abused by Malachi.

“You won’t,” he states firmly.

I’m still hesitating when he gives my hand a yank.

Last night was a hell I never want to go through again. I’d convinced myself I’d lost Flynn for ever. Even now, I keep looking at him, hoping I’m not hallucinating and that he’s really here, though realistically I know it’s not my imagination, I could never have conjured up such terrible injuries.

I want nothing more than to be close to him, to breathe in his scent — even though it’s tinged with the antiseptic Bronwyn used. Gingerly, I let go of his hand, go to the other side of thebed, and being very careful not to jostle him, I slide onto it, then pull the sheet up to cover us both. Knowing I’m now lying next to his arm which is in the sling, I take the initiative, turn on my side, and gently place mine over him.

He sighs, reaching over his good hand to cover mine.

I feel when he gives in to sleep, but I stay awake, happy to just feel his chest rise and fall.

I could have so easily lost him.

CHAPTER THIRTY

RATTLER

I’m in the middle of a dream, the kind that has me waking with my cock hard. It featured Ames in a starring role, making me wonder how I could imagine, with such clarity, something I’ve never had. For a moment, I wonder what had woken me, when the knock at the door comes again.

Cursing that it interrupted my dream, I call out gruffly, “Come in.”

Ames shifts next to me but doesn’t immediately waken. I come to fully when I see who my visitor is.

“Prez?” Freak has a clock on the wall opposite the bed. Neither Ames nor I had thought to switch off the light. I can see clearly it’s only eight p.m., I’ve only been sleeping for a few hours. The room being illuminated allows me to see what he’s carrying, the crutches Bronwyn had promised she’d find.

I also notice Bullseye’s expression is grim. My ribs protest as I gently ease Ames’s arm off me, then sit myself up. I breathe in shallowly. Then I rip the IV needle out of my arm.

“Where do you need me?”

Prez’s jaw is set. “Stone’s coming for us. We’ve got the advantage, he thinks he blew half of the club up.”

My eyes close briefly. For a second I’m catapulted back to the memory of sitting in that chair, holding an armed bomb on my lap, knowing it was a trap left for the brothers who’d come looking for me. There had been a camera on the wall, I hadn’t been able to warn them openly. But thank fuck, Bullseye had caught on, and Pippa had worked her magic.

Pippa had come through once again. In that moment I realised how much I owed her an apology — I’d railed against her being kept alive, but if we’d got rid of her as I’d wanted, I wouldn’t be breathing now.

Bullseye had followed her instructions, he’d cut the right wire. Then, again as advised by Pippa, he’d first replaced the duct tape over my mouth, and had left me sitting alone where I was. She’d reactivated the camera for a few seconds, while Bullseye and the brothers had rushed into sight. Prez had reached for the bomb, and Pippa had turned off the camera feed to simulate an explosion. Finally, when I was untied and free, she’d talked Bullseye through rearming the bomb and somehow how to explode it remotely, sending that building I’d been in sky high.

As far as Stone was concerned, I was dead and had taken several brothers along with me. It wouldn’t have taken long for the flames to burn the whole place down, that old house didn’t look like it had ever been up to code. By the time it would be cool enough to search for human remains, hopefully Stone will have fallen into another trap, this time, one of our making.