Duh, because from one day to the next, a tornado had blown through our lives. Everything had happened so fast with us—and now his injury.
I couldn’t believe he’d taken action months ago to ensure I was taken care of in the event of his death.
His death…
My heart ached at the possibility of never being with Drew again, which led to tears dripping down my face. I cried at the drop of a hat when it came to him.
Love for him overwhelmed me.
It stripped me raw.
We’d finally figured it out between us, and now Drew had no memory ofme, his warrior, his Ava Marie.
I dried my face with my sweatshirt sleeve, holding back the whimper in my mouth. I didn’t want to disturb my sleeping prince. My beautiful man. It hurt me to see him lying there unconscious. He looked the same, except for the bandage wrapped around his head, but he wasn’t.
What if he never got his memories back?
15
Storm
Boxer, Lynx, Hero, and I sipped our drinks in the club’s bar. We were quiet and lost in our thoughts. My brothers were probably thinking the same thing I was:It could’ve been me.
Any one of us could’ve had our heads smashed by the fuckin’ bat. Any one of us could’ve gotten amnesia like Ire.
My stomach roiled as a tremor worked its way down my spine. The vacant stare in Ire’s eyes when he’d looked at me cut me deeply.
I felt terrible for how I had treated Ava. Being an ass was my coping mechanism to deal with emotional situations. Her devastation had made me think of my Angel and Birdie. It had gutted me and had made me almost run home to my girls, wrap them in my arms, and hide from the evils of the world.
It could’ve been me downstairs with amnesia.
“Fuck,” I hissed into my glass, then swallowed the amber liquid.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Boxer set his bottle down and pushed it away from him.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What?”
Boxer looked at each one of us. “We’re all thinking it could’ve been any one of us.”
Lynx nodded. “Yeah. We dodged that fucking bat.”
“I hate myself for being grateful it wasn’t me.” Hero dropped his chin toward his chest. “I’m sitting here thinking about Roja and the family I want us to have. It’s not right knowing what Ava is going through right now.”
“She’s been through so much already.” Lynx pounded his fist on the table. “How much can one woman go through?”
“Brother, all of our women have gone through some messed up shit and survived,” I told him. “Ava will get through this too.”
Boxer stood from his chair. “Storm’s right. Our women are badass bitches. Not one of them would give up on us if we were in Ire’s shoes. Ava won’t either.” He flattened his hands on the table. “I’ve seen her in the gym. She’s a fighter. We just need to make sure we protect her from our brother.”
“What do you mean?” Lynx asked.
“He’s not himself. He might lash out, say things he’d never say if he were his normal self. We have to protect her because Ire will get his memory back.” The confidence in Boxer’s voice eased my worries. “And when he does, if we didn’t keep his woman safe from him or anyone else, he’ll unleash his wrath and make us pay.”
Hero and Lynx grunted.
“None of us want a beatdown from Ire.” I stood, ready for this discussion to be over and to go home to my family. “Let’s call it a night. Patch is staying with Ire. Hollywood and Wolf are guarding the room. In the morning, I’ll check in on him.”
“I’ll put together a schedule so someone visits Ire every hour,” Lynx said.