I growl at her, downplaying their bullshit. “It’ll never happen again on my watch, baby. I can promise you that.”
Smiling, she places a hand on my cheek. “I know I shouldn’t feel like this about you, but I can’t help myself. No one has ever treated me the way you do, Cutter.” She bites her bottom lip.
“You got something you want to say? Speak on it.”
“I’m falling in love with you, and it’s got my head all kinds of twisted.”
“Nothing about us is conventional, Nightingale, but I been giving you tiny pieces of my heart for a long time, and it’s yours if you want it.”
“I want it.” She shakes her head. “God. How do you always know exactly what to say?”
I fist her hair and pull it taut, earning a whimper. “Because I know what my sweet girl needs.” Her eyes darken with lust.
“Why don’t you follow me to my place tonight?” she asks huskily.
“I’ll give you a ten-minute start because you’re mine for the rest of the night once I get there.” Shivering, she nods. Walking backward, I watch her get into the car and drive away. I have new games to play with my woman tonight to keep the demons of her memories at bay and pull her deeper into the mutual addiction we have of each other. Maybe our hearts linked up when she kept mine beating all those years ago because everything in me knows she’s my forever.
Epilogue
Nadia
It’s been two months of absolute hell, being here, treating the man who plotted and schemed to get me in his bed against my will. I’ve done my duty every shift and never skimped on attention or care. It ate away at something inside me. Now the Feral Wolves are pulling their people out, rebuilding, and moving on. No more guards outside his door or frequenting the room. It’d be so easy to end this all permanently. I stare at the needle in my hand. One air bubble in his IV and the secrets would die with him. My hand shakes as I lean against the man's railing.
Wrapped and bandaged like a mummy, he’s a pale shadow of who he once was. I hope the coma he’s trapped in has him bound and chained in darkness. Hands shaking, I continue to contemplate breaking my Hippocratic oath. The world would be a much safer place without this predator in it. I’m sick and exhausted from playing the role of double agent. Reporting to both clubs, I lived with the fear that Scar would open his eyes and start singing like a canary. After today, I get my life back. I work another shift back in the ER, and I can put all of this behind me. I should be happy. Instead, I feel empty. Maybe I’m not as ready to let go of the past as I thought. I have years to unpack when it comes to the Feral Wolves. The door swings open, and I quickly step back.
“I thought you might need some support, little nurse.” The sight of my boyfriend brings tears to my eyes. “Come here.”
I rush into his arms, burying my face in his neck. Love sprung from hate; he’s filled holes I never knew I had. I won’t give him up, and he never asks me to forgive the things he did to keep his club safe. It’s the dance we’ll do for the rest of our lives.
“I wanted to kill him.”
“I know. But that’s not you. If anyone’s hands get dirty, let them be mine. Only say the word, and it’ll be taken care of.” It’d be a figure of speech from another man, but I know he means it.
“No.” I shake my head and clear my throat. “We’ll leave him to rot and never waste another moment of our lives thinking about him again. That will be our revenge.”
“There’s the sweet girl I love.”
“I won’t ask how you got onto this floor and into this room.”
“Money greases hands and rules, little nurse.”
I laugh. I’ve already committed in my head and heart. All that’s left is to speak the words out loud and break free from the past, holding me back, weighing me down, and causing me guilt.
“I love you, Cutter.”
He smiles, all white teeth and the barest hint of a dimple on his left cheek.
“And I love you. It’s time we leave this darkness in the past behind us.”
“Yes.” Straightening, I twine our fingers and lead him out of the room that holds nothing but pain and fear into the bright future ahead of us.