Page 48 of Clay

She held his stare for a long moment, then dipped her head in acceptance. “All right.”

And in that moment, Ivy knew the woman had been hurt more than she’d let on. And that there was a hell of a lot more going on between the two of them.

As much as she wanted to comfort Cali, her eyes were still trained on the entrance, and her whole body went weak when Clay and Jordan emerged, unhurt.

She rushed to him, laughed when he held her so tightly that the air was squished out of her lungs.

Then he held her at arm’s length, gave her a once over before pulling her in again, laying his lips on hers and giving her the kiss of a lifetime.

She fell into it, into him, until Jordan’s wolf whistle brought them both up for air.

“As much as I hate to interrupt,” Dev said dryly, “You said Clay was injured?”

The elation whooshed out of Ivy as she looked down at his legs. His apparently perfectly functional legs. She looked up, a question in her eyes. He shrugged in response.

“It’s a miracle,” he said, for her ears only, then louder, “I just tweaked my ankle. It’s fine now.”

Ivy almost protested. Almost. But because he’d asked her with his eyes, she kept her silence.

“You’re still getting looked at,” Dev said and Clay just nodded in response and tightened his hold on Ivy.

~

It must be nice to have this kind of clout, Clay thought, as he sat on the comfortable exam room table of the private medical practice. Dev had made a call, and within twenty minutes of leaving Abel Jones and his men they were being seen by a very serious, very Ivy League doctor.

Warren took Katie to Agnes’ house for some Mom time and to rest and recoup while Tate and Jordan did a sweep of Ivy's house for any kind of surveillance. Since Hamilton hadn't been behind the incursion, theoretically her place should be clean, where their homes would be swept daily until they'd figured out who was behind the break-in. For tonight, apparently everyone was in the clear.

Ivy was in another exam room, and as much as he needed her to be seen by a doctor and get treated for Hamilton’s abuse, he wanted her here with him even more.

As he waited and avoided thinking about what the fuck was happening within his body, he allowed uncertainty to raise its ugly head. What if what they’d felt for each other had more to do with adrenaline and lust than actual feelings? He hoped like hell not but was already prepping himself for the worst.

Ivy had seen him take another man’s life. What would she think? Why would she want to be with someone who’d done that? It didn’t matter that Hamilton had needed killing. Ivy was sunny and free, everything he wasn’t, and he’d do well to remember that.

He rotated his foot, only wincing when a loose screw rubbed against his skin. The plate that’d held everything together was in an odd place as well, and clearly visible. It was weird and glorious at the same time. And he had no idea what the hell had happened.

He’d purposely avoided talking about it on the way to the doctor, mostly because he was afraid to jinx it. Somehow, some way, his mobility was back, and he was going to take that gift. But explaining it to the doc was going to be interesting.

She entered, with Dev behind her. Apparently doctor-patient confidentiality wasn’t going to be a thing here. He didn’t mind. Dev had just as much of a stake in this, and if they could keep it between them until they figured it out, so much the better. He really didn’t want to be on display for the rest of the team.

“The hardware installed after your surgeries has come loose, as we suspected, and in rather dramatic fashion. Luckily, we can take care of that right now, under local anesthesia, unless you have objections.” She was completely nonplussed, as if she saw this kind of thing every day. Then again, as a doc to the rich and famous, she just might.

“That’s fine,” he replied. He didn’t say that he was pretty sure the holes the screws had been drilled into were gone. Just like magic.

It took just over an hour after she administered the local, but he was bandaged up and out the door with Ivy, Dev and Cali, an unmarked bottle of what he’d been told was a mild painkiller in his pocket.

He and Ivy climbed into the backseat, where she plastered herself to his side so closely they could have been conjoined twins. Apparently, his fears had been unfounded. And because of that, he didn't allow himself to sink into much of a rage that Hamilton had given her a black eye to rival a boxer's. He feathered a hand over her hair and allowed the anger to drain away. She was here. With him. Alive and well.

Once they were buckled in, he asked Dev the question at the top of his mind. “Do I want to know why you have her on call? And why she didn’t even blink?”

Dev fired up the engine of the big SUV. “Because I put her through medical school.”

That opened up a whole different set of questions, but from the set of his jaw, Dev wouldn’t be answering any of them. Cali just stared straight ahead from the passenger seat, as closed up as Dev.

Clay sat back for the short ride to HQ, more than over the drama. He wanted to celebrate. Wanted to rejoice that Ivy was safe and this was all over. Hamilton was dead, and he felt absolutely zero remorse about being the person to pull the trigger.

Whatever had healed his ankle was at work on the doc's incisions as well. He could feel the ants-crawling sensation again, and now that the local anesthetic had worn off, a bit of a burn where she'd cut him open to remove the hardware. With each successive mile that too faded, until all he felt was reborn.

Night had begun to fall by the time they pulled into HQ to debrief. There weren’t many surprises until it came to Clay and Cali. He let her lead, telling it from her perspective.

---