Chapter 224
(SASHA)
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we are not alone the next time I wake up.
“Eyyy Sasha.” Something out of the shadows looms over me, and a hand taps against my cheek.
I squint at the craggy face in front of me, and even though he is an ignorant man who should have stayed back to watch his family, I have never been so happy to see my uncle as I am at the moment.
“Marco,” I choke out as he leans over and presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Careful,” says an amused Tyler from the side of the bed. “He is still in a lot of pain p>
“No way.” Marco says, glancing at Tyler. “We don’t feel pain like normal men. We are way too tough p>
“That is what I have been trying to tell him myself.” I say lowly, and they both laugh. Apparently, Marco is in a good mood now. Good, because after the much rest that I have had, I’m looking forward to explaining to Tyler why this getaway idea is a bad one.
But Tyler forestalls me and shoves the straw back in my mouth. I suck up the water greedily, and he lets me have more this time. I am very much over being treated like some invalid now. I feel so much stronger now.
I push the bottle back and try to sit up, swallowing down a rush of pain.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tyler snaps.
“Sitting up.” I snap too.
He rolls his eyes and presses up another button, one that raises the head of the bed a few inches. I’m not anywhere near sitting, but I’m also not lying down so flat that they have to lean over me. “I can do that.” I pant, trying to reach for the button, but Tyler ignores me. And my hand is somehow too heavy to move right now. I sigh, then turn my attention to Marco, who is grinning at me. “Marco, what are you doing back here?” I ask.
The grin on his face only grows bigger. “Aw, you can’t boss me around, Sasha p>
Tyler and I both wince at the way Marco scrapes his legs across the floor. “How are you feeling now?” Marco asks.
“I feel fine.” I sigh.
“See,” Marco says, looking at Tyler. “It takes more than just a few bullets to stop a damn Adonis. Ain’t that so p>
“That’s so.” I say, looking at Tyler myself. I notice how he gives Marco a meaning-filled stare. And I know then that Marco was supposed to come in here and convince me into this crazy moving away plan. But apparently, he has gone off message.
“Uh…I mean,” Marco stammers. “You did take an awful lot of them, little nephew. You have to admit that you are all shredded up on the inside p>
“The surgeon did her job well.” I say. “And I am recovering fast. They all say the same: the doctors and the nurse that kept tramping into my room. Now, enough about me. How are you, Marco? Your wife? Kids p>
“Oh, they aren’t kids anymore.” Marco leans back into his chair to brag. “Riley wanders all around me all day. She’s almost like my shadow. Chase gets real mad sometimes when Riley wants to hang around and do cool shit p>
“What cool shit p>
“I began to mess around with some cars.” Marco says, and his face lights up. “And then I got some kind of rep from the locals. That I am good with cars. So now, all the locals come looking for me when they have problems with their cars. I just do it for the fun, you know. It’s not like I need the money.” He smiles at me affectionately.
“Sasha,” Tyler says firmly. “Marco and I need to talk to you about leaving the city for a while p>
“No. You don’t.” I say.
“Well, Sasha. You got to admit that Tyler has a point.” Marco says. “It is a real hot scene in the city right now, and it’s not like these assholes are going to stop coming after you anytime soon p>
I am really tired of being treated like some halfwit just because I got shot a few times. Marco wouldn’t presume to talk to me like he is right now if I wasn’t lying in a hospital bed. “I am not going to run away like a whipped cur and let our allies get murdered by a bunch of rogue Irish terrorists!” I yell and only manage to give myself a coughing fit.
Tyler calmly brings the straw to my lips again, and when I cough out some of the water, he just calmly wipes the spit on my chin with a washcloth.
It’s so infuriating.
“That isn’t what we are suggesting.” He says sternly. “You know that you can still give orders even from a distance. It isn’t like the Triple Triads will be out of the fight altogether p>
I somehow find the strength to push his hand away. I hide my wince at the discomfort when I do so. Or I think I have. I see Tyler looking at the pain relief button, and I make up my mind. “Listen to me, both of you. I am not leaving this city. That is my final word.” I reach out a hand to each of them, and they take them. Marco looks surprised, and Tyler looks furious. So, I direct my next words to him. “It doesn’t matter where we go, baby. Our enemies are everywhere. And heaven knows we won’t have protection wherever that we have here. So no. We are staying p>
“B…but.” Marco begins, and thankfully, a sharp knock on the door interrupts us. Whoever it is on the other side of the door doesn’t wait for a response. The door opens before any of us can call out.
“Mr. Adonis. How lovely it is to see you again.” The lady at the door smiles broadly at me.
“Detective, I wish I could say the same p>