“You like it, huh?” Knox distracted himself by teasing her, while making her friends glower.
Kennedy ignored him for the most part and focused on her craft. Confidence was sexy. And in this she didn’t hesitate. She cleaned his injury, sewed him up, and bandaged him before he could really register all that had happened that evening.
His life had taken a major turn, and for once, he desperately wanted to not fuck it up.
Knox must have lost more blood than he’d realized, or maybe pure exhaustion caught up with him after the death of his lover, quitting drugs and alcohol cold turkey, and being turned on by the organization he’d been a part of for a decade. When Kennedy finished, he struggled to sit up again.
To his surprise, Marcus reached out, banding one of his impressive arms around Knox and levering him to his feet. He kept it there as he ushered Knox to a waiting vehicle.
Sola slid into the driver’s side and a man with dark, wavy hair took the passenger seat beside her. When he spoke, it was with an accent that sounded Indian to Knox. “Liam says Ace is stable. Thanks to you, Kennedy.”
“Let’s go. I’ll need to take him into the clinic for X-rays. I’m worried the bullet might have shattered the bone, and if so, I’ll need to find an orthopedic specialist who doesn’t ask too many questions to put a few plates and screws in there for us. If not, I can set it myself at headquarters. Either way, it’s going to be a shitty ride home for him.”
Marcus boosted Knox into the second row of the SUV, then walked Kennedy around to the opposite side. She slid into the middle, and Marcus book ended her. He squeezed her hand for a little longer than was simply polite or reassuring for a teammate.
Knox tried to do the same to her hand on his side, but she withdrew and leaned closer to Marcus instead.
“Kennedy, I’m sorry,” Knox said.
“For fucking me even though you knew it was a setup? Why? I did the same to you. Or for abandoning me to do drugs and the bullshit that got you here in the first place? It’s yourself you have to apologize to for that.” Her head dropped forward and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Things could have been so different.”
“Nah, they couldn’t.” Knox refused to believe he’d fucked up that badly or it would rip him the rest of the way open like the bullet he’d been willing to take for her hadn’t managed to do. “I’m fucked up. It would have ruined us eventually. No matter what. I only regret that I got you involved. I am sorry, and I’ll do my best to make it right now.”
Sola exchanged a glance with the guy sitting beside her, and Knox noticed she didn’t bust his balls anymore despite having left himself vulnerable to any number of jabs that he rightfully deserved.
“How about you be quiet for the rest of the trip?” Kennedy said softly as the adrenaline that had kept her going obviously began to leach from her bloodstream. She closed her eyes and leaned to her right, resting against Marcus, who curled his arm around her shoulder and glared at Knox.
Without raising her head, she murmured, “After today, everyone knows exactly how messed up I am too. So please, can we let it go? Work on yourself and let me do the same so I can stop hurting the people I actually care about.”
Ouch. He’d rather have been shot again than hear the obvious truth fall from her lips.
Even in the depths of his misery, he didn’t miss the apologetic look Sola sent her navigator. Was there more going on between them? Were each of them a little—or a lot—screwed up?
“After today, I get it,” Marcus whispered to her, though in the quiet of the car, everyone could hear his kindness shining through. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand before. I won’t pressure you for something you’re not able to give.”
Kennedy nodded against his shoulder and closed her eyes, whether dozing off or blocking out the rest of the world so she could focus on Ace when they arrived. No one bothered her again for the rest of the journey.
It was the look Marcus shot Knox, full of compassion and understanding, that stuck in his mind. Despite their differences, they had an awful lot in common, including caring deeply for a woman they didn’t stand a chance with.