“I love you.”
“I love you too.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “Are they gone?”
“Yes,” Caleb said. “All you have to do is rest.”
“I can’t rest while you’re all worrying over me. I’m fine.”
“We know,” we all said in unison.
“No, I mean I’m not going to leave.” She turned her head back to me. “I heard you, and I’m not going to go anywhere. You think I don’t know the risks involved with belonging to you guys? You’re going to upset a lot of people, and I may be a target, but as I’ve told you so many times, I can’t walk away from you. What’s more, I don’t want to. This is a weird setup, but it’s our setup and I love it.”
I couldn’t help it, I got to my feet and I leaned down, kissing her lips. “Did I tell you I love you?”
“Not enough. You need to tell me every single hour of every day,” she said.
I laughed. “You can count on it. I promise you, you’ll never go a single day without knowing how I feel.”
“How we all feel,” Vadik said.
I agreed with them.
“I hate hospitals,” she said.
“Soon, you can leave,” Caleb said.
She nodded and sighed. “I’m starving. Do you know where Ashley is?”
I held her hand as Caleb filled in the blanks. He told her about Ashley’s upset and Drake’s beating. Like a true Monsters’ Queen, she handled it. From this day forward, I promised myself I was never going to underestimate her. She could handle whatever we threw at her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Emily
I’d been given the all-clear to go home, along with some interesting news, which I got to share with my guys. Vadik was cleaning my room and Gael waited outside while Caleb and River had gotten the car. They weren’t trusting anyone with my safety, and I stood in Drake’s room, which was why Gael was outside.
My men had seen fit to keep me in the hospital for a week. I didn’t need it, but they felt they had no choice but to keep me in for as long as possible. In that time, Drake had woken from his coma. The moment he did, he’d freaked out. My room had been right next to his, and the nurses had no choice but to sedate him.
“I know you’re in my room,” Drake said.
His eyes were closed.
I thought I’d taken a beating, but nothing to this extent.
He had two broken legs, a broken arm, cracked ribs; I thought I heard a ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, and two bruised eyes. I saw when he opened at least one. I understood the pain in them.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey. I bet you thought I was still a traitor, huh?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.” I moved toward the bed. “May I?” I asked, pointing at the chair. I’d been tempted to sit on the bed, but I knew if I moved it, I’d only cause him pain, and I couldn’t do that to him.
“Be my guest, I wouldn’t stop you.”
“If you don’t want me here, tell me to leave.”
“Emily, you hated me, not the other way around. I don’t have a crush on you, nor do I want to get into your pants, but you know that.”
I laughed. “They showed me what was happening to you. I’m so sorry I couldn’t help.”
“It’s fine. I’ve always been told I need a beatdown. Just didn’t expect to explode with candy.” He winced.
“You don’t have to move.” I put my hand on top of his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Emily, your men gave me the job to protect you. I know to many it would be seen as a babysitting job, but over the years, I knew how important you were. I wasn’t given a job that I saw as less. I was given the ultimate job. I take your protection seriously and the fact I…” He stopped and his jaw clenched.
“Drake, you didn’t cause this. None of this was your fault.”
“But I shouldn’t have answered that fucking call.”
I started to cry. My emotions were going to get crazy for the next nine months. “Hindsight is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? It makes us question ourselves all the time, but we can’t stop what happened. There’s no way to change it. We can only learn from our mistakes.” I stroked my thumb back and forth across his knuckles. “Thank you so much for being loyal to my men. For giving them a chance, for being there for them. They don’t have anyone like you, and for that, you have all of my trust. I have faith in you, Drake. Thank you so much.”
“I don’t cry.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll cry for the both of us,” she said.
He looked at me. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“I’m pregnant. The doctors took a blood test. I’m going to be a mom and my men are going to be dads.”
“I’ll feel sorry if it’s a girl,” he said.
I burst out laughing and he groaned.
“Enough,” she said. “We have to stop talking now. Enough is enough.”
For the next ten minutes, I sat with him, listening to the machines beep around him. A nurse came in to check on him, and Drake’s pain took him to sleep.
I stayed with him, not wanting him to leave him alone.
Time passed until Gael, Vadik, Caleb, and River entered the room. None of us spoke. Drake was still fast asleep.
“You know, I thought you were crazy hiring him,” I said.
“We all did,” River said.
I glanced toward my
