Lily’s face sobered. “That’s what I tell Mom, but she never listens to me, she never eats breakfast.”
“Well, we’re going to have to change that, aren’t we?” Kace asked, eyes twinkling.
Lily nodded.
“Okay, I have no time for this.” I kissed Lily on the head. “Be good for Kace. Don’t try to trick him and say you’re allowed ice cream for breakfast.”
She folded her arms and pouted, since that was exactly what she’d been planning to do.
“Thank you,” I muttered to Kace, still uneasy about this.
“Babe, we’ll be fine. Go.”
This was crossing a line now. Leaving Kace with my kids. Him being more than willing to do so. This was crossing to more than just sex. Or maybe that line had been destroyed a long time ago.
Nevertheless, I left.I was speeding. Because I was in a rush. Because I was distracted with my thoughts. Because the streets were quiet. I’d all but breezed through all of the traffic lights before getting outside of town. The local police weren’t likely to touch me, even for blowing through stop lights. It’s the way it was in Amber. The Sons and those connected to them were not bulletproof, that much was clear, but they were definitely invisible to the law.
Edmond might be right, that might change one day, but not today.
So I was speeding when it happened. When a sharp corner came up ahead, when I was distracted enough to have to break at the last minute. But tapping on the break did nothing to slow me. I was fully paying attention now. My foot didn’t tap the break this time. I slammed on it. Nothing happened.
Realization dawned.
Right about the second the turn came and there was a crash, crunching of metal, blinding pain, then not much else.“Lizzie, baby, you need to open your fucking eyes,” a voice hissed.
I felt hands on me.
“Don’t move her,” another voice commanded. “We don’t know what kind of damage has been done.”
The hands on me tensed. “You want me to leave her in a mangled fucking car?” the voice, who I was now thinking belonged to Kace, clarified.
“I want you to lock it down for a second. Can hear the sirens and the ambulance minutes out,” the other voice clipped. Bull. At least I thought so. A lot of these men had low, alpha male-type rasps. The pounding in my head and the ringing in my ears made it hard for me to differentiate.
“Lizzie?” Kace asked. “Can you open your eyes?”
He was worried. I could hear that in his voice. I could hear everything in his voice.
My vision was blurry at first. It was painful to blink. There was something wet and warm on my head. Blood, I deduced. A blinding headache, the fact that I’d been in a car wreck.
Kace was right in my face, hands on my neck, pale, terrified.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled, trying to move.
His hands tightened. “No, baby. We’re gonna wait for the paramedics before we do anythin’ like that.”
Sirens came closer, the pounding in my head getting worse.
“You need to tell me where it hurts,” he demanded with urgency.
I wasn’t sure how damaged my car was, but his voice told me it was bad. I could see shards of glass scattered around me.
“My head hurts,” I groaned, taking stock of the rest of my body. Nothing seemed broken. I could feel my legs, wiggle my toes.
“Yeah, sweetheart, you’re gonna have a headache for a spell,” Kace said gently.
“I’m okay otherwise, I think.” My stomach clenched. “The kids? Where are they?”
Kace’s hands went to my cheek, gently cupping it. “They’re fine. Mia is with them. She’s making them ice cream for breakfast.”
I smiled weakly. “Of course she is.”
I didn’t ask how Kace and Bull got here so quickly, how they’d known I’d crashed or how they’d gotten Mia to our place already. It was part of the alpha male magic.
Or maybe I was concussed.
The sirens were deafening now. Then they shut off. Bull came closer, eyes on me then Kace. “Brother, you need to step back, let them do their job.”
Kace’s eyes turned to granite. He didn’t move. People in uniforms stood beside Bull. I recognized most of them. Not surprising. The town was small. Though I couldn’t find their names right now.
“Kace, honey, you’ve got to move,” I said gently. “I’m okay, promise.”
His jaw turned hard. “You fucking better be.”
Something in his voice caught me then.
It was the alpha male determination.
Somehow, I’d found myself in another Sons of Templar courtship.Chapter 16After being checked over at the hospital with Kace hovering—he refused to stay in the waiting room, the staff had done this dance many times before, so they just let him through—I was discharged a couple of hours after they brought me in.
A concussion, two stitches in my head. Apparently, I was lucky, considering the state of my car. Which I did not want to think about in that moment. I had insurance. It was good coverage. But I needed a car.