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At last, Alexandra unfolded from her chair and gingerly crawled into the bed beside me. Carefully, I wrapped my arm around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Even though her hair had dried, she still smelled like generic motel soap and coffee.
“Does it hurt?” Alexandra whispered against my neck.
I shook my head. “Pain killers are working their magic. I hardly feel more than a pinch.”
From personal experience, I knew it would hurt later. Lucky for me, the bullet had passed clear through my shoulder, without hitting bone or any vital organs. But every movement would hurt like a bitch for months. And I would ease off the pain killers as soon as possible. I needed to stay sharp for Alexandra. I couldn’t keep an eye on her while I was passing in and out of consciousness, fuzzy and high on opioids. Besides, I’d taken worse hits than a bullet to the shoulder.
“You scared the shit out of me, Brewer,” Alexandra whispered.
I grimaced and tightened my arm around her. I hated seeing her go through this when all I wanted to do was give her peace.
“I’m sorry, babe,” I replied. “But I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping that bullet from hitting you.”
Alexandra shuddered and she squeezed in tighter against me. I had no doubt that this was Stephen’s handiwork. Hiring a gunman was serious business. Now that he had leveled up the stakes, the gloves were coming off. I will stop at nothing to keep Alexandra safe and out of harm’s way.
“I want you to stay with Tank for a while,” I said. “I would suggest staying with family, but that would be too easy for Stephen to apply pressure and get to you. Tank is a former Marine. It won’t be easy to get through him.”
Alexandra didn’t reply for a long time. Her fingers traced lightly over my MC tattoo on my chest.
“Maybe we should go to the cops,” she replied.
I paused, weighing my words before answering.
“If that’s what you want to do, I’ll support your decision.”
Alexandra pulled back to look up at me, searching my face.
“But you don’t think it will do any good.”
I pressed my lips into a tight line and gave a small shake of my head. Alexandra frowned and sat up, wrapping her arms around herself. I placed a hand against her back, partly to reassure her, partly to soothe my own concerns over this whole mess.
When those bullets had ripped through her motel room, I’d been terrified I couldn’t get to her in time. Stephen was fully prepared to have Alexandra killed rather than let her live, defying his control.
“It’s only going to get worse before it gets better, isn’t it?” Alexandra asked. She kept her back to me, her voice small and quiet in the sterile blank space of the hospital room.
There was no point in denying the truth, and Alexandra didn’t deserve empty placations at this point. She wouldn’t believe them anyway.
“Yes,” I replied. “It will.”
Alexandra swore and scrubbed a hand over her face.
“I could make a run for it. I could disappear. Change my name. Live off the grid until Stephen gives up.”
That wasn’t likely to happen. And the thought of Alexandra vanishing into the great wide world made my heart lurch against my ribs. I’d never fallen so fast and so completely for someone before. But there was something about this woman that felt right, slipping seamlessly into each other’s lives.
“You already tried that,” I countered. “He found you here, in Merry Field, And he found you in that motel room. And if you keep moving, you’ll be on the run for the rest of your life. Stand your ground, Alexandra. Don’t let him win.”
She turned to look at me, her gray eyes guarded and hopeful and so, so tired. I held out my hand, palm up, in a silent gesture, as if to say,I’m here, I’ve got you.She placed her hand in mine with a grateful squeeze, tracing my knuckles with her fingertip.
“What will you do?” she asked. “Because I know you’re not going to stay in this hospital bed. As soon as I leave the room, you’re going to be on your feet and tearing out of here.”
“Am I really that easy to read?”
Alexandra glanced up at me through her lashes and when she spoke, her voice was pitched low and soft.
“Only when it comes to me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. She was right. Alexandra was my soft spot. My Achilles’ heel.
