The hospital smelled like antiseptic and grief. It was a mix that I felt uncomfortable in. But I wanted to be here with the two women I'd taken under my charge.
Especially Elena. Ivy made me think of a fiery little pitbull that just came attached at the hip with her. They were a combo deal.
I shook my head as we walked, scolding myself for thinking such things. Elena had asked what this was between us.
I still had no idea. No clue what this was becoming, but I sure as shit knew she as a weakness for me now. A woman I couldn't get out of my mind.
Anna was awake this time when we stepped into her room. Her eyes were clear and focused, her smile real despite the pallor of her skin and the way her hospital gown hung loose on her frame.
She looked frail in the hospital bed, but she lit up when she saw the girls enter the room, her face transforming with a joy that made her look younger, healthier. Ivy handed her a muffin like it was contraband, and Anna took it with both hands like it was gold, her thin fingers curling around it protectively.
"My favorite smuggler," Anna said, her voice soft but warm. "You're going to get me in trouble with the nurses again."
"What they don't know won't hurt them," Ivy replied, dropping into the chair beside the bed with casual familiarity. "Besides, you need real food, not whatever sad excuse for nutrition they're serving here."
Then Anna's gaze shifted to me. I was still in the doorway, unsure if I should even be here. This was family time—realfamily, not the kind bound by blood oaths and violence. I felt like an intruder, a shadow that had followed Elena home.
"And who are you?" Anna asked, her eyes—the same striking blue as Elena's—assessing me with surprising sharpness. A lioness protective of her two cubs.
"Just a friend," I said. It wasn't a lie. Not exactly. We were something, Elena and I, but I didn't have words for it yet. Friend seemed safer than the truth. That I'd kill for her daughter, that I'd die for her if needed, and that I was falling for her in ways that unsettled me.
She looked me over, slow and deliberate, taking in the tattoos visible at my collar, the way I leaned against the doorframe to keep weight off my injured leg. There was no judgment in her gaze, just curiosity and something else—something knowing.
"I hope one of my girls knows not to let you go," she said finally, a small smile playing at her lips.
I chuckled, caught off guard by her directness. Elena groaned again, this time in embarrassment. "Mom."
Ivy, of course, couldn't help herself. She leaned in conspiratorially toward Anna. "Let's just say if he was a cowboy, Elena's been saving the horse lately."
Anna blinked. Then it hit her. She burst into laughter, full and bright, the sound filling the sterile room with unexpected life. Elena covered her face with both hands, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide.
"Ivy!" Elena hissed, but there was no real anger there.
I found myself smiling too, watching the three of them together—this little family they'd built, held together by something stronger than blood. Something I'd never really had.
A knock at the door cut through the moment. The sound was polite and measured. It was the knock of someone who knew they were interrupting but was doing it anyway. I tensedinstinctively, shifting my weight to stand properly despite the pain that shot through my leg.
Grayson stepped in, holding a bouquet of flowers like he'd just walked out of a damn movie. Lilies and roses, arranged perfectly in expensive paper. His suit was impeccable as always, not a wrinkle in sight. The perfect gentleman—if you didn't know what those hands had done.
Our eyes met briefly. A silent acknowledgment passed between us, one of professional respect, but wariness too. I'd been avoiding this moment, knowing it would come eventually. The family meeting the family.
Anna tilted her head, confusion evident in her expression. "Who are those from? I haven't seen you on staff before."
He smiled, all charm and polish. The face of legitimate business, Leo called him. The pretty front for ugly work. "I'm not staff. But thanks to your daughter, my sister is alive and well."
I watched Elena stiffen beside me, her shoulders going rigid. This wasn't how she'd planned it. I could see the panic rising in her, the way her hands curled into fists.
Grayson stepped further into the room, his movements deliberate and smooth. "I'm Grayson," he said, extending his free hand to Anna. "My sister Meredith had a miscarriage recently. There were complications—she needed a transfusion urgently, and Elena happened to have the same rare blood type."
He explained the situation with practiced ease. I watched Anna's face shift from confusion to understanding to pride, her eyes darting between Grayson and her daughter.
"She saved her," he said, his voice softening with what seemed like genuine gratitude. "Your daughter saved my sister."
Anna reached for Elena's hand, eyes full of awe and pride. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered.
Elena's smile was strained, her knuckles white where she gripped her mother's hand. I could see the war raging behindher eyes—the truth she wanted to tell versus the lies she'd been living.
Grayson stepped closer and took Anna's other hand, kissing it like some old-world gentleman. "It's lovely to meet you, Anna. Truly."
