Page 99 of Retaliation

“I had it brought over from the Temple,” he said, nodding toward her bike.

“When Gunnar said you’ve never allowed him to ride one of your bikes, I thought he meant previously owned,” she exclaimed, staring at the bikes ranging from vintage to the Kawasaki H2R. “Not that you hoarded them like a dragon.”

“I like fixing and customizing them,” he answered with a shrug. “The duffle you had with you at the Temple is upstairs already, but unfortunately, the ring leader didn’t want to hand over a suitcase you apparently used to hit one of the guards through the face with.”

He gave her an incredulous look, and she tried smiling back at him and shrugged.

“What can I say? I know how to make an entrance.”

Scorpion parked inside the garage and got out as the door closed behind them. Walking over to her side, he opened the door and scooped her into his arms, and then it dawned on her.

“Scorpion, there’s no way you can carry me up six stories!” she exclaimed and tried to wriggle out of his grip, but the movement sent a surge of pain coursing through her body.

The grimace on her face earned her a stern look from him.

“Of course I can,” he answered with a challenging gleam in his eyes. “Watch me.”

As if her curves weighed no more than a feather, he carried her all the way to his loft and slid the door open with a foot.

She tried to focus on her breathing the whole way up and not on the fact that she could feel every rippling muscle of his against her body.

Inside the loft, Scorpion walked to his bed below the ceiling-height windows and gingerly laid her down between a larger number of pillows than she remembered.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked, fluffing a pillow behind her back.

“You really don’t have to worry about me,” she said, staring up at him, touched by his compassion but he dropped his gaze and busied himself with the pillows “And you don’t have anything to feel guilty about,” she added when she saw the guilt flash across his face.

“I’ve got something for you,” he said, the smile returning to his eyes.

She watched as he walked over to the shelves on the wall across the room, and her eyes caught a pile in the corner.

“Did you pack up my whole apartment?” she asked in shock as she saw every suitcase and bag she owned neatly stacked against the wall.

Scorpion rubbed the back of his neck as another flash of blush crept over his cheeks.

“I wasn’t sure what you might need,” he explained, quickly returning to the bookshelf.

A moment later, he returned with a box in his hands and placed it on her lap.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” she whispered, overwhelmed by emotions.

“Just open it,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

Fumbling one-handed with the lid, he saw her struggle and leaned forward to open it for her.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the contents and removed the items one by one. Inside the box was Scorpion’s white t-shirt he had stolen back from her apartment, the note he had left her before everything went to shit, and the drawing she did of his eyes. With tears threatening to spill, she looked at him.

“You kept them?” she murmured.

“I did,” He nodded. “Tried getting rid of them, but I couldn’t.” He gave her a small smile. “There’s more.”

She checked the box again and found a shot glass she hadn’t seen initially. Picking it up, she looked to him with furrowed brows and he took it from her, examining the sticky glass.

“This,” He held it to the light. “This is from the night we met. You downed the content and stuffed the glass into my hand in a very spectacular exit.”

He chuckled, and it was her time to blush.

“This is from the pre-launch?” she asked, wide-eyed, and he nodded.

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