Page 24 of Eagle

“That’s between him and the club.”

She opened her mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. Grinning, I opened the door and motioned her in.

She paused right inside the doorway and covered her mouth with her hand. I knew what she was seeing. Ron looked like shit. The man had bled like a fucking pig the first time he’d taken a direct hit to the nose. His shirt was covered in blood. His lip was split and swollen to twice its normal size. So was the rest of his face. One eye was completely closed. I couldn’t see the rest of him, but I was certain he was black and blue. For sure he had a couple of busted ribs.

He'd walked the gauntlet and taken a hit from each of us. He’d fallen down a couple of times, but with help we’d gotten him right back up on his feet and commenced in letting him have it. If any of my brothers had taken a beating like that he would have still been on his feet and going about his business afterwards. I wisely didn’t point out that fact to Leo.

“It’s worse than it looks,” I told her. “Most of that blood is from a nosebleed.”

She shot me a dirty look and then made her way to where Ron was half reclining on the hospital bed. The club had decided that, in addition to a metal examining table, we would have a regular hospital bed for anyone that needed care for an extended amount of time after getting hurt.

“So you beat up your enemies and then nurse them back to health?” Leo huffed.

Her snark didn’t quite match the look in her eyes as she took in the room. Clean, white, and organized. I could tell that what she saw impressed her. That she hadn’t been expecting it.

“When we have to,” I grinned.

Her gaze came back to me, and then dropped to Ron. “You look like you’ve been in a fight and didn’t win.” It was an unnecessary comment and meant to lighten the situation. She offered her brother a smile which he tried to return. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Ron shook his head. “They had a doctor look at me.” Her eyes widened with surprise at that. “I have a couple of cracked ribs, but that’s the worst of it.”

Ron tried to play off his injuries, either for her benefit or because he was trying to prove to me that he was more a man than boy.

“You won’t be able to work for a while,” Leo breathed.

“Yeah, I know.”

“But on the flip side, I have a job now. I’ll be working with Mac at his garage.”

Shit. That news didn’t make me happy, and Leo seemed way too excited about it. I recalled the way she and Mac had danced closely together. Mac was a charmer and a lover. Problem was, he only fucked women once and then moved on. He swore he’d never settle down with one woman. I didn’t like the thought that Leo would be working in such close proximity with a predator like him.

“Mac?”

“One of the members here. I’m sure you have intimate knowledge of his knuckles.” Leo looked across the bed at me. “Can we go home now?”

“That’s up to Ron and if he wants to do any unnecessary moving right now. Or he can stay a day or two, and one of our sweet tarts can look after him.”

“I’m sure your sweet tarts will be busy entertaining you, ah, men,” she sassed.

I smirked. “So you heard about our sweet tarts.” I hadn’t said it as a question.

“I’ve heard a lot of interesting things lately. Ella and Val have been very enlightening.” She returned her gaze to Ron. “What do you want to do?”

“Go home. I’ll be more comfortable in my own bed.” He moved slowly to get up, then winced and cried out. “Shit, maybe I better just stay here for the night.” He fell back against the pillows as if his energy were suddenly sapped.

“Need to toughen up, man.”

Leo gave me a glare that said to shut up. It only made me grin bigger, because her glares were too fucking cute.

She sucked in a breath and released it loudly. I could tell that she was frustrated. “Are you sure?”

Ron nodded and settled back.

“You’re welcome to stay the night, too.” The fuck was I saying? “You can both leave in the morning.”

While she considered it, she tugged the corner of her bottom lip into her mouth. The slight movement drew my gaze there. I’d noticed that she did that a lot when she was thinking about something. It made me want to suck that plump bottom lip into my mouth and do a little chewing on it myself.

“I should probably go home and get him some clean clothes.”

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