Page 56 of Wreck and Ruin

“How do you expect me to take any of you seriously if the only time I see you is when you’re all naked?” she says, almost breathless, as she walks over and stands at my left, watching over me as I successfully retrieve the bullet.

“You should see the other guy,” Billy says, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. Katia rolls her eyes. “What? I’m serious. The other guy is dead,” Billy says, but Katia isn’t impressed.

I drop the bullet in a petri dish and put it on the stainless steel worktable to my right.

“Airlie, why don’t you wash up? I can take over from here. The boss is waiting for you outside, ready to rip my head off for working you too hard,” she says, her full lips tilted into a broad smile.

My brows furrow.

Surely, she’s joking.

Ezekiel wouldn’t rip Katia’s head off, would he?

I’ll have to talk to him about it.

Ezekiel is possessive, and everybody in the city knows it. Since taking over as the don from my father, he’s made it known that I am his queen in every sense of the word, even if we are not officially married.

Marriage isn’t for us.

Our love is too pure to be regulated by laws like other sanctioned unions. Our souls do not need permission to be as one.

They just are.

It took a little while for my dad to come around to the idea of us not having a wedding. He said it’s non-traditional, and the families wouldn’t like it. But eventually, he supported us, wanting nothing more than for us to be happy, and it’s true, I couldn’t be happier.

I’m not fully ready to live in the outside world, so when Ezekiel suggested I work with Katia four years ago, I jumped at the opportunity.

He knows me.

He knows that I love to help people.

To fix what is broken.

And with how often Ezekiel’s men are in here, I get more than enough practice.

I see them more than I do him, and that explains why my heart is beating frantically inside my chest with excitement that I get to see him earlier than I had planned.

“No! Don’t leave me with Doc. She hurts me! Airlie,please. I’ll do anything,” Billy begs, and I squeeze my lips together, trying not to smile. He sounds like a petulant child, which is odd considering how big and scary he looks.

Katia isn’t afraid of him. In fact, it’s more like the other way around.

“Excuse me, Billy-John, but unless you want to experience the boss’s wrath, I suggest you buckle up and stop being a giant baby. Besides, I’m gentle,” Katia says with a wink in my direction.

“Airlie, I can confirm that she isnotgentle. But neither is the boss, so you’re off the hook,” Billy says, burying his face into the bed as Katia slaps him up the back of his head.

I wash up, remove my scrub cap, and put on my jacket, intermittently listening to the back and forth between the two opposites behind me.

I wave goodbye, but they are not looking, so I turn and head out the door to the parking lot where Ezekiel will be waiting for me.

Closing the door behind me, the cool night air whips my hair and face, causing my nose to itch with the cold. I look over to see Ezekiel leaning against his blackout SUV, which he insists on driving when he's with me for extra protection.

He’s overprotective, but I love that he makes me feel safe.

“Hey there, Dr. Siren,” he says, and he's absolutely ridiculous.

“I'm not a doctor,” I correct him for the millionth time.

“Yet,” he says, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his warm body, gently pressing his lips to my now cold ones.

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