“I’m really glad to see this,” Gregg said.
She twisted in Garret’s arms. “Gregg, how are you doing?”
“I feel like shit,” he said. “I’ll definitely need some x-rays and some downtime. But I’ve been trying to convince my brother that I had nothing to do with what happened to him in the exploding plane.”
“Pretty sure he believes you,” she said, then coolly added, “once he got over the anger of what you really did to him.”
He looked at her, frowned, and then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I can see you know how he would feel about it.”
“Yeah, that kind of shit? It tends to travel,” she said, with a half smile.
“Well, he’s forgiven me, and it’s better off for you now.”
“Absolutely,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean it was the way to go about it.”
He just groaned. “Please, … no more lectures. I feel like shit already,” he said, as he slowly sank to the floor in front of them.
At that, Garret tugged her back into his arms and kissed her soundly.
Chapter 16
After that, Kano and Amy joined in their reunion, while multiple phone calls were made to Charles, waiting for Jonas to show up, expecting his fury when he saw the mess around them. Garret’s apology was a little tongue-in-cheek for having caused such chaos. An ambulance arrived for Gregg, and Kano and Amy went along to ensure Gregg made it there safely. Astra stood with Garret among all the chaos, close to his side. When things had finally calmed down a bit, she looked at him and asked, “Can we leave soon?”
“I think so,” he said, “but I don’t know that we’ll be allowed to leave the country just yet.”
“That’s fine.” she said, “but a bed would be very nice.”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
She chuckled. “I’m not one to jump into bed that fast.”
“How fast is fast?” he asked. “You’ve been holding a torch for me for a long time now.”
She stared at him in shock.
“Hey, I was just teasing,” he said, reaching out and sneaking her back into his arms.
“The trouble is,” she said, “it’s true.”
He stared at her in surprise.
“Ever since you first set out to be with Amy,” she said, “I kept hoping you’d break up. But then, the way she did it, I knew it would take a long time for you to get over it and to not be bitter. I really hated her myself for a while then,” she said, with half a smile. “Because she ruined my chance at happiness too. I figured you’d never look at me without thinking of her and what she’d done.”
“Wow,” he said. “I told my brother that one of the reasons I forgave him was because he saved me from what was bound to be a terrible relationship with Amy and that it left the pathway open for me to have one with you.”
“Which we should have done a long time ago,” she said, poking him in the chest.
“That just brings me back to that point, about how long we’ve already been waiting,” he said, with a leer.
She smiled. “How about we just go grab some sleep and then see how we feel? Besides, my face is killing me.”
At that, he nodded and kissed her tenderly, saying, “You’re right. Let me get the okay from Jonas to get the hell out of here.” He got the okay, and they left in a vehicle driven by one of Jonas’s guys. Soon they were back at Charles’s home, where he opened the door for them. He took one look at her face and started clucking like a mother hen.
“It’s not that bad,” she said but winced when he gently put an ice pack up against her cheek. “Okay, so it’s not that good either.”
“A harsh blow like that can take a while to heal, my dear,” he said. “Tomorrow it’s likely to be real pretty.”
She groaned. “In other words, I won’t want to go out in public for a while.”
“Nope, not unless you want to explain to everybody that this guy didn’t beat you up.”
“I’d never do that,” Garret said.
“I know that,” she said, “but everybody else won’t know that.”
Charles led them to their rooms and said good night. She didn’t even know what time it was, and she didn’t care. She crashed onto her bed and was almost asleep, when a knock came at the door. “Come in,” she said.
Garret walked in, wearing only his boxers, then pulled back the bedding on the other side and said, “Go to sleep.”
“What are you doing?” she murmured.
“I decided that I came too close to losing a lot tonight,” he said. “I don’t want to lose anymore. So I’ll just hold you and keep you safe.”
She protested, shifting up on one arm to look at him.
“Maybe we can have a little private time later, after you get some sleep.”
She groaned. “Listen. You couldn’t have saved me from getting hit in the face, and you know I came back to the house on my own.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, and his tone fully indicated how he felt about that choice.
“I’d do it again too,” she said. “It was the diversion you needed, and it was what we had to do to get to the bottom of this. Or closer to the bottom of this.”
“Well, I just want to know right now that you’re safe.”
“So, what you mean is that you just want to sleep, and you wanted me beside you,” she murmured, with a note of laughter in her voice.
“Absolutely,” he said. “So take it easy on an old man. I’ve been through a lot tonight.”
She smiled, snuggled in deep, and said, “Not a problem. I agree. We’ve both been through a lot.” With his arms wrapped around her, laying nestled together, spoon style, they settled in.
She tossed and turned, as she wasn’t used to sleeping with somebody. But, in the wee hours, she crashed long and deep. When she woke up, it was
