Page 62 of Iron
“I love you,” she whispered as she pulled away.
I smiled like a damn fool.
I knew there wasn’t much that was good right now but I couldn’t help it.
“I’m coming with you,” she said before I could respond to her words.
Our touching moment was over. I shouldn’t have been surprised and really, I was happy that she’d given me that much.
I took one last, long look at Dade, feeling sadness heavy in my heart.
With a sigh I did my best to focus on what was next. My head started to pound as I let all the things I had to do flood my mind.
Mason dragged my ass outside. I could walk but I was having trouble doing it in a straight line.
“Can you drive him over to the compound?” Mason asked Petra. “Don’t think he’d do so well on the back of my bike right now.” There was a slight hint of humor in his voice.
“Don’t think I’d look that great on the back of your bike. Don’t ever put that image in my mind again.” I tried to joke but it just came out in a flat tone. My face sobered. “Not a word of this until I can talk to Abigail.”
With a nod, I knew he’d handle keeping it quiet for now.
“B-ry and I will stay behind in case we can help with the cleanup.” He lowered me down into Petra’s car. “Charming will head back to take care of you and get Petra cleaned up.”
I looked over at her then.
Her lip was split and there was already a bruise forming on the apple of her cheek.
Yeah, I didn’t regret those fuckers being dead for one second.
My hand reached out and the pad of my thumb lightly brushed just under her lip line.
“I’m fine,” she assured me but didn’t pull away from my touch.
“It’s okay not to be.I’mnot. Not even a little bit.” I let my hand drop away and she started the car.
The ride to the compound was silent.
I wanted to close my eyes but I knew better.
Charming met us up in my apartment not long after we walked into the door. His hands no longer held the red stain of Dade’s blood but I could tell they were pink from being scrubbed vigorously.
I wanted to say something but I wasn’t really sure what to say. I knew we both were trying our damnedest to hold it together and some point soon, the reality of what had happened would hit us hard. There was shit to take care of and we were going to have to keep a level head until it was done.
He handed me some mild pain reliever and then checked the back of my head. I hadn’t even realized that it had been split open.
“Shouldn’t need stitches,” he said as he dabbed at it trying his hardest to clean the dried blood away. I was sure my long hair wasn’t helping. “It’s not even bleeding anymore.”
“Thanks, Charm,” I told him after he rubbed some ointment over the cut and stepped back.
He removed his gloves and tossed them in the trash before washing his hands. Then he was putting on a fresh pair and shooting me a look.
“Babe,” I called to Petra, who was on the other side of the room with her phone pressed to her ear. Her head turned to look at me but she kept on talking. “Let him clean you up and check you over.”
I expected her to wave me off, but to my surprise, she ended the call after I held her eyes for a few beats. I guessed by now she knew when to put up a fight and when I wasn’t going to back down.
“Charming?” she asked but it almost sounded more like a statement.
“That would be me,” he said with a nod as he brought a damp cotton swab up to her lip.
