Page 56 of Reconciling the Consequences

“Come ’ere,” Derrick rasped. He lifted his left arm toward her.

She went quickly, rounding the bed to the far side. She kicked off her flip-flops and carefully crawled across the bed toward him. She was careful not to jostle him as she slid against his side. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight against him.

“Shhh,” he murmured and kissed the crown of her head.

Her sobs shook her body. She felt the bed dip behind her and a moment later, Kevin was curled around her back. Derrick pressed a kiss to her forehead before he drifted off, passing out from the painkillers.

When she finally calmed down, she rolled over carefully and faced Kevin. He was propped up on his elbow and brushed her hair back from her face. She was sure she looked a hot mess. Her eyes were probably swollen, her face red, but none of that ever mattered to Kevin. He looked down at her with all the love in the world in his eyes.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“Devil’s Psychos, down by the docks,” Johnny answered from across the room.

She lifted her head to see him leaning against the doorframe. He had showered and dressed in a white T-shirt and raggedy jeans. His feet were bare. The sight would have made her smile had the situation not been so serious.

“You told me the tension was nothing to worry about, that ‘it was nothing you couldn’t handle.’” She quoted him, speaking of their conversation the night before.

Kevin sighed next to her, and Johnny nodded slowly. He pushed off the doorframe and walked toward the bed. He took a seat at the foot of the bed and grabbed her foot, holding on to her. “I know, I did say that. Things changed.” Johnny sighed, running a hand over his skull trimmed hair. “They’re getting more ambitious.”

Kara frowned, not fully understanding what was going on. “Because of the trade routes?” she asked.

Johnny shrugged.

“We don’t really know.” Kevin sighed, running his hand down her back. “Could be trade routes.”

“Could be that they’re greedy motherfuckers trying to push in on our territory,” Johnny snapped back.

Kara didn’t say anything; there was nothing for her to add. This was a far different world than she was used to. “So what exactly happened with Derrick?”

“It was a shoot-out; they ambushed us during a pickup. Somehow they knew about our shipment,” Johnny elaborated while his hand rubbed circles into the arch of her foot.

Kara narrowed her eyes and looked up at Johnny. “A mole?”

Johnny shrugged. “Not sure. Possibly. There was a spy the other night at the compound. It’s possible he overheard something. It’s possible they’ve been spying for a lot longer than we knew.” Johnny let out a frustrated sigh and laid back on the bed.

The queen-size mattress was a tight fit for the four of them, especially with Derrick sprawled out, injured and knocked the fuck out. Kara spread her legs and made room for Johnny to squeeze his top half between her legs. He rested his head on her belly.

She stroked her hand over his skull trimmed hair as she slid her leg over his torso. Once she was relatively comfortable, she sighed and looked over her shoulder at Derrick.

“Don’t worry, babe,” Kevin murmured. “He’ll be OK. It was a through and through and didn’t hit bone. It’s his nondominant hand. He’ll be able to rest the shoulder and arm long enough to heal it quickly.”

“Force him into a sling and you’ll get to baby him.” Johnny smirked against the bare skin of her belly, as her shirt had ridden up.

Kara smiled at the thought. “I’ll take care of him,” she mumbled.

“Take a nap, babe,” Kevin mumbled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Kara smiled sleepily and nodded. “Maybe just a short one,” she conceded.

When Kara woke, Johnny and Kevin were gone. She rolled over to find Derrick still passed out, but someone had cleaned the dried blood from his chest and beard while she had been sleeping.

She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder while trying not to jostle the bed too much. She had no idea how much pain he would be in when he woke up. She assumed the doc had given him some good painkillers.

She wasn’t upset that Johnny and Kevin were gone. She was almost grateful for the time alone with Derrick. She couldn’t wait to get him home and into their bed. It may not have been the Alaskan king from her house, but it was still a king and bigger than the queen in his dorm room.

She would have to talk to Johnny and her boys about the future and their plans. She’d been dealing with insurance from the house fire, but it would still be a long time before Johnny’s crew could get in there and start working.

Would she even still want to move back into her place after spending so much time with her guys? Would they care if she moved in permanently? The last conversation she had with Johnny made it seem like she was staying. She would have to talk to all of them about it before she went and ordered a new mattress for Johnny’s room and had the guys bring the frame of the old bed over from her house.

---