She tenderly touches my cheeks, and I wince. “You’re far from okay, but you will be.”
“Hey, Mom, do you think you could get me the bolt cutters from the garage?” Ghost asks. “I need to get Em free.”
“Of course.” She scurries off to do his bidding, no hint of the Alzheimer’s that plagues her.
Ghost goes to the closet and grabs a blanket from the shelf to cover me with. “Fuck, Em, I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
“You got here, that’s all that matters.”
His gaze travels from my battered face to my neck. “Did he…?”
“He was close, but no,” I tell him.
“I swear on all that’s holy, if Crow and the others haven’t already killed that Cruz fuck, I will.”
I laugh bitterly, which sends me into a painful coughing fit. “I’m gonna hold you to that,” I say when I’m able.
Mrs. West returns, and Ghost cuts me free. He carries me out of the bedroom, wrapped up in the blanket, and as he steps outside, his brothers pull into the driveway.
“I’m taking her to the clubhouse,” Ghost says. “Jackyl, meet us there.”
“On it,” the club doc says.
Crow helps Ghost get me situated in the back of my car and then helps Mrs. West into the passenger seat.
“Can you drive?” Ghost asks his president. “I need to stay close to her.”
“Sure thing, brother.”
When Ghost slides into the back seat, he cradles my head in his lap, careful not to jostle me too much.
“Em?” he whispers.
“Hmm.”
“Marry me.”
It’s not a question, it’s a plea. I open my mouth to put him out of his misery, to promise to marry him tomorrow if he wants, but before any words pass my lips, I pass out from the pain.
CHAPTER 27
GHOST
I’m not going anywhere.
“She’s gonna be okay.”
I glare at Jackyl, who’s finishing up with Ember’s stitches. Seventy-six of them to be exact. It’s killing me that he’s seeing her naked, but I know it’s the only way for him to do his job.
“Stop it, Parker,” Mom chides from the bed on the other side of the room. “She’s in good hands.”
Of course, she is. I wouldn’t let Jackyl touch her if I thought otherwise. Doesn’t change the fact that I hate everything about this entire situation.
“She’ll probably sleep for a while, what with the sedative I gave her before tending to her injuries,” Jackyl states. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up?”
Glancing down at myself, I take in my blood-stained clothes and wince. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Okay, then can I at least bring you something to change into?” he asks. “You stink, and quite frankly, if she sees you like this when she wakes up, Ember’s gonna freak.”