Page 45 of Blood Revealed

“I don’t deserve you,” she whispers.

“Baby, you deserve so much better than me, but I’m who you’re stuck with because I’m not letting you go.”

“Can we go to bed?” she asks.

I set her down on the edge of the mattress to remove her shoes, then sit down next to her to toe off my boots and toss my cut to a chair in the corner. We both strip down from our jeans and climb under the blanket, where I immediately pull her to my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulder to hold her next to me. She shifts, burying her face against my shirt, and I hear the sniffles as my shirt dampens in that spot.

We need to get home. To our bed. Now that she’s mine, we can get a place together. Start making plans for the future instead of trying to outrun the past. I’m bone-deep tired. Han and I lie there in each other’s arms, in our own thoughts, but I’m not sure either of us falls asleep for a good long while.

When I finally wake hours later, it’s to Hannah staring up at me through puffy eyes, her cheek pressed against my chest. God, she’s beautiful. Even with puffy eyes—the most beautiful woman in the world. She pushes off me, taking in a lungful of air and letting it go slowly. Instinctively my arm snakes around her waist, keeping her close. “Can we go home, Raif?” she asks.

“Yeah, baby. Let’s get some food and head out.” Then I sit up to press a kiss to her forehead.

We pull the rest of our clothing on, our boots and shoes, and Hannah finger-combs her hair. We silently move back out to the common. I’m not in the mood to deal with anyone else’s shit and Hannah might just break if one more person lays guilt on her. There’re brothers up, but it’s not as busy as it was earlier. More importantly, not one of them so much as looks in our direction.

Hero and Brinley sit on a couple of stools like they’ve been waiting for us. “Going now,” he says. “Been waiting on your lazy asses to get up.”

I laugh, shoving at his face. “Hardly got any rest. We were wiped.”

“One of the hot mamas offered to pack us some food,” Brinley says. “It’s weird not being the one in the kitchen.”

“Right?” Hannah says, chuckling. “Your cooking has spoiled me. Everything else is just mediocre.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Hero says.

“Uh, Han, you know what a damn good cook you are, too, baby,” I answer.

“But I learned it from Brinley.”

“Yeah, but you learned it. That’s all I’m saying.”

The hot mama comes out with a couple paper grocery bags folded down like lunch sacks. We thank her as both Hero and I grab one. Then, after one last look around the room, we head outside to the van.

“I’ll drive,” Hero says. I shrug and toss him the keys. He helps Brinley into the front next to him while Hannah and I climb into the back’s one row of seats. She and I relax, my arm around her waist, her head resting on my shoulder.

The problem comes when Hero takes a wrong turn away from the compound. He should be heading east. Instead, he has us pointed west.

“What’s the deal, brother?” I ask. “Can’t be lost already.”

“Not lost. Just taking the scenic route,” he answers.

Okay. I’m not getting whatever this is, but I sit back, enjoying the feel of Hannah’s body pressed to my side. I can’t wait to get her on her back again. Fuck. That’s a thought I don’t need while riding in the van with her sister and my Lord brother in front.

The hours pass. We stop for bathroom breaks and gas. The food the Missouri hot mama made tasted pretty good, though no one cooks like a Brown woman.

“Hero, seriously. Your scenic route is really fucking scenic at this point,” I grumble. I want out of the van. I want to bury myself in Hannah and forget for a while.

“We’re getting close to our destination.”

“And where the fuck is that? Sure as hell isn’t Kentucky.”

It’s dark again by the time we reach his planned destination. Hannah’s eyes grow wide and excited as she takes in all the lights of the strip. “Vegas?” she asks.

Hero laughs from the front and reaches over to squeeze Brinley’s knee. I laugh then too. He said he was marrying her; I just didn’t figure it would be so soon. We still have so much shit left to deal with, not to mention all those fresh losses.

We end up at a small casino hotel nearer the end of the strip with a vacancy. The four of us pile out of the van and stretch for a moment before heading inside. It’s clean. High ceilings. Has that sort of Rat Pack Vegas feel—I like it. Hannah and I could use a shower for sure. We get two separate rooms specifying theyneedto be on the same floor. Safety in numbers and all.

Then we walk through the lobby until I grab Hannah’s arm to walk us in the direction of the bar. Brin and Hero follow. I order a bourbon on the rocks and Hannah a Dark ‘n’ Stormy—she loves those damn things—and this one smells fantastic. I only mean to take a sip but end up drinking half of hers, so I order two more. Hero orders beer for himself and a coke with cherry for Brinley since Brinley, being knocked up, can’t drink alcohol.

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