Page 19 of Dark Consequences

I open my eyes and look up at Raphael. He stares down at me with concern swirling in those amber depths. Something about the sincerity in the emotion draws the truth from me. “Yeah. He just spooked me when he moved so quickly.”

Raphael’s eyes snap up to his injured friend. He’s oblivious to our interaction, distracted by his argument with Rose. Before he can scold Enzo, I reach up and lightly place my hand on his. His eyes lower to me, and surprise replaces the annoyance there.

“Really. I’m fine.”

Raphael hesitates for a moment before he finally nods and steps back. I try hard not to notice how cold my shoulder feels after his hand slips away and focus back on the task at hand.

“You could have both been killed.” Rose scolds Enzo like she’s not a tiny redhead that he could snap like a twig. “What were you thinking?”

Enzo bares his teeth in Rose’s face, but just like Evie, she doesn’t back down. “I wasn’t thinking. Is that what you want to hear? I was too busy—”

“Enzo!” Evie cuts in, and he stops midsentence.

“No, Evie. Let him explain. Too busy with what, Enzo? You put my best friend’s life in danger. And for what? Because you were distracted? Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, I was distracted,” Enzo snaps, ignoring Evie’s attempt to stop him. “Distracted because your best friend had my dick in her hand.”

Silence falls heavy over the room.

What the hell have I fallen into here? They’re shouting and bickering at one another like they want to kill each other, but instead of feeling malice in the air, all I feel is…love. They genuinely care for one another enough to lash out and be honest with their feelings.

For so many years, I’ve kept my own feelings locked down, shoved so deep behind door after door that I don’t even know which one hides them in the maze of my mind.

“Wh–what?” Rose stammers.

“My. Dick. Her. Hand.” Enzo enunciates each word like it’s even necessary. We all heard him clearly the first time. Hell, half of Miami probably heard him.

“Well, on that lovely note,” Evie says, turning toward me with a bright smile. “Do you think the gash on my forehead will need stitches?”

Like a bucket of cold water thrown on a raging fire, the room settles down. Rose only calms down once perched on Michael’s lap with Liam in her arms. She holds Evie’s uninjured hand but is otherwise quiet. I can only imagine what’s going through her mind right now. Rose told me that Evie is like a second sister to her. But more than that, Rose literally owes Evie her life. Evie is the very reason she and Liam are alive and with Michael now.

Enzo stays silent too, borderline pouting as I finish treating him. With Raphael’s help, we pop his shoulder back in and set it with a brace to keep the weight of his arm off the joint.

Evie’s injuries are similar and easy to treat as well. The gash on her forehead won’t scar and doesn’t need stitches, but I add a couple of butterfly closures to be safe. Her wrist is lightly sprained, and I wrap it in an ACE bandage with strict instructions to ice it in intervals and to avoid…said extracurricular activities as much as possible until healed.

It’s not until I’m putting supplies away and cleaning up my mess that I realize I voluntarily touched Raphael’s hand and another man for the second time in twenty-four hours…without my mind venturing to a darker place. I even got close to Raphael when he helped me with Enzo. Close enough that I felt his breath fan hot across my neck.

And it felt good. The entire thing. Taking care of Enzo and Evie without being forced to has made me feel human again…I feel like a doctor again, and I like it.

“What happened again?” Michael asks.

Enzo leans back against the couch and pulls Evie to his side when she tries to shift away. At first, she struggles but then relents and curls up against him, resting her head on his uninjured shoulder. It won’t take long for the pain meds I gave them to take effect as the adrenaline rush from the accident subsides.

“We were crossing the bridge when they surrounded us. We had nowhere to go except into the water. Evie got a hold of my gun and fired back. She took down two bikers, giving us time to get off the bridge. My girl here has quite the aim.” Enzo smiles down at a blushing Evie.

“Grandad believed a lady should know how to shoot,” Evie explains.

“Damn right he did. He taught us both,” Rose adds. “I remember being so scared when Uncle James found out. I was worried he was going to tell my dad, but then he actually bought me my first gun.”

“I knew I liked your uncle for a reason,” Michael comments.

Rose softly laughs before she pushes up to kiss Michael on the cheek. He turns at the last second and captures her lips instead.

“Go on, Enzo,” Raphael orders.

“When we got to the corner of Antonia and Fifth, a truck ran straight into us. When I came to, Evie was still out, and we were being fired on. I fired back.”

“And you’re sure they were Triads?”

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