Chapter 28 But It's Family
Stephanie
I WOKE UP ALONE IN Har’s bedroom. My hair felt oily and I craved a shower in the worst way. I looked around and realized I had no clean clothes to wear. On the nightstand, my phone was plugged into a charger. I grabbed it and sent Suzy a text.
Hey, can you bring me some fresh clothes? Anything from my overnight bag in the room will do.
Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Suzy poked her head in the room. “Can I come in?”
“You better!” I cried as I moved as quickly as I could from the bed, which wasn’t that quick.
Suzy carried my overnight bag into the room, tsking at me. “You stay put!”
“No way. I need a shower, but I need to hug you first!”
We hugged for a long time.
At my ear, she said, “I love you, Stephie.”
“Love you too, sissy,” I whispered.
She pulled back. “Michael loves you, too. Like a ton.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know about a ton—”
“Then you don’t know much. He is... I’ve never seen a guy look as torn up as he does when he talks about what happened.”
I pressed my lips together while I let her words sink in.
Her eyes softened. “You’re lucky. I didn’t think love like that could be found. Guess Mom rubbed off on me more than I realized.”
I blinked at her. “Yeah, but I think if you open your eyes, you might find there’s someone who loves you that much, too.”
Her brows knitted. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. But, you said you need a shower. Are you sure you can do that? Aren’t you supposed to keep your stitches dry?”
I gave her a look. “I am, but I’m sure there’s some plastic wrap or something around here to help me keep it dry. But I’ve got to wash my hair. It even smells like that asshole’s car, which reeked of marijuana.”
“I thought I smelled something funny,” she joked. “Come on, let’s get you sorted out.”
I shook my head. “No, just get Sandy or somebody to get me some cling wrap.”
Suzy looked at me from the corner of her eye. “You fall down and your man will have my head.”
I snorted. “Turk would keep that from happening.”
Her gaze turned cynical. “Yeah. You know how thick the brotherhood is with these guys. But I’ll be right back with the wrap. Do not get in that shower before I’m back.”
EVEN THOUGH I POKED my arm around the shower curtain, my bossy big-sister shoved the curtain to the side and focused on my stitches.
“Oh. My. God,” she cried.
I covered my breasts with one arm and reached out for the towel. “Susan. You can wait until I’m dry and warm before inspecting my scar.”
She kept the towel from me, even as her eyes met mine. “Not like you have anything I haven’t seen. And it isn’t that cold in here. Suck it up.”
I stepped out of the tub, glaring at her. “I got stabbed yesterday. Don’t tell me to suck it up, like I’m some delicate buttercup flower.”
She wrapped me in the towel, which allowed her to wrap her arms me. “I know that, squirt. And for the record, that is the last damn time you get to remind me you were stabbed.”
I wrenched an arm free of the towel and hugged her back. “Fine. But stop treating me like an invalid. I got this, Suze.”
She gave me a look before she said, “According to Har, you don’t have this, Stephanie. But, he said he won’t let anything else happen to you. And for you to deal with it.”
I glared at her. “Who does he think he is?”
“Perhaps, the man who loves you? Or really, the man you’re damn lucky to have taking care of you. And don’t argue. You wouldn’t be able to take care of this shit without him.”
That took the wind out of my sails. Rather than tell her she was right, I focused on the thing that would irritate her.
“Where’s Turk? He drove you all the way out here? What’s up with that? Has he made a move on you yet?”
She pulled away from our embrace while patting my shoulders. “No, and he isn’t going to. This trip isn’t about me. It’s about you, so don’t be a nimrod.”
I exhaled sharply. “Bullshit. A man who doesn’t care about you does not drive seven hours from home just because another MC brother says so.”
My sister dipped her chin and squinted at me. “Doesn’t he though? We talked about this before you ever left Jacksonville. Those men have a devotion to one another that defies logic.”
My lips pressed together as I tilted my head. “It doesn’t defy logic, but it is certainly stronger than bonds between most women. Which is why it’s so mysterious to me.”
She nodded. “You’re right. It is mysterious, but bottom line, he didn’t bring me here because I desperately wanted to be here. He did it because your man demanded he do it.”
I wanted to argue, but I knew my sister. She’d made up her mind about Turk’s motivations and nothing I said would convince her otherwise.
IT WAS THREE IN THE afternoon and Har had left to get more of our stuff from his house. Some of the other brothers went with him because they were hauling the destroyed mattresses to the dump.
I sat next to Turk on one of the couches in the common room while Suzy wandered to the bar for a refill on her soda.
Turk rested his beer bottle on his knee. “Don’t know why I didn’t hook you up with the Biloxi brothers when you moved out here, Steph.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “They wound up finding me any damn way, you know.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Gotta say, you won’t find a better man than Har.”
“You’re not biased or nothin’.”
His eyebrow quirked. “I’m not. I’m glad
