“We’re headed to the hospital,” I told them as I reached them. “Where’s Eli?”
“He stayed behind,” Siah replied, spinning his beer bottle around in his fingers. “To clean up.”
“They let him?” I said in surprise. The Aces kept things in-house as much as they could, so it was surprising as hell if they were allowing him to see where the bodies were buried—literally.
“A few of those were ours,” Ephraim said, stretching his arms above his head tiredly.
“Two were mine,” Lu said in satisfaction. She looked at Cec. “Sorry I wasn’t faster.”
“What?” Cecilia replied in confusion.
“The man that shot you in the back,” I gritted out, the words so disgusting that a new wave of fury raced down my spine.
“Shooting someone in the back is just poor sportsmanship,” Wilson said, striding up to the group.
“Shit,” I said, spinning toward him. “When’d you get here?”
“After all the fun parts,” he said dryly. “I got a flight out right after I called you earlier. We need to talk.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow?” I asked, glancing at Cecilia. “We need to head up to the hospital.”
“Yes,” he replied. “Or tonight after you get back.”
“Not sure how late it’ll be,” I said.
“I’ll wait.”
“Thank you,” Cecilia said, staring at Lu. “For what you did.”
“Hey, like Wilson said,” Lu joked kindly, “shooting someone in the back is poor sportsmanship. He deserved it.”
With a nod, Cecilia looked at me expectantly.
“We’ll see you guys later,” I said, leading Cecilia away from the group.
“Where exactly did you hit him?” Siah asked Lu as we walked away, amusement lacing his voice.
“Shut up,” she replied.
“I know where you were,” Siah continued as we reached the front door. “At that angle, you had to be behind him—” His words cut off as we stepped outside into the cool night.
“I owe her a fruit basket or something,” Cecilia mumbled as she hurried ahead of me, impatient. “Maybe a spa day.”
“You are—” I shook my head, at a loss for words.
“Thankful,” she said quietly, turning to look at me as she opened the truck door. “I’m thankful as hell.”
“I love you,” I said, grabbing her arm before she could climb inside.
“I love you, too,” she said simply.
Chapter 25
Cecilia
I’d been so anxious to get to the hospital to see how Leo was and check on my sister that it should’ve felt like it took forever to get there—but it didn’t. It was like I blinked and suddenly we were pulling into the parking lot. My stomach was in knots and guilt made my entire body feel heavy. Drake Warren had come for me in Eugene and somehow Leo, a man that I’d already betrayed in a variety of ways when we were kids, had born the brunt of his presence.
I hated the idea of walking up to a group of Aces, all of us knowing that everything that had happened was my fault. I wanted to curl up in bed and pull the covers over my head, to leave again, this time for good. I didn’t want to face it.
Maybe I was punishing myself, because almost as much as I needed Lily to know that I cared, I also needed to take responsibility. I deserved to face everyone’s anger.
Watching as Mark unlatched Olive’s carrier and pulled it out of the car, I swallowed hard and straightened my shoulders. I refused to lose control of my emotions. If he had any idea how this was going to go, he would’ve never agreed to drive me to the hospital. I waited for him at the back of the truck and laced my fingers with his as he reached for me.
I’d forgotten how good it felt to have him at my back, sure in the knowledge that he wasn’t going anywhere.
My hand tightened in his as I realized that feeling was back, almost as if it had never left. Even after everything we’d gone through in the past, I knew with absolute certainty that he wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t pinpoint when that had changed. Had it been when he’d stuck up for me to my mom, or later, when he’d crawled to me on the floor of Poet’s beach house? Had it been something small that had tipped the scales or was it something bigger? I remembered his face, covered in greasepaint as he’d come into the closet where I was hiding, his eyes full of relief and confusion as they’d met mine. Had it been that moment when I’d begun to trust him again?
“Looks like everyone’s outside,” Mark commented as he led me to a lit-up area between the hospital and the parking lot.
“I wonder why,” I said, taking in the crowd. My Uncle Grease was smoking a cigarette, his arm around Aunt Callie’s shoulders. Will was standing close to Cam and Trix, talking with his hands. My dad stood with Dragon a little off to the side. Heather was sitting next to Mack on the edge of a cement wall, along with Rose, Tommy and Lily. A few other men and women that I didn’t know as well filled out the area. Everyone grew quiet as we walked up.