Page 121 of Lucky Boys
But I had to respect Diego’s wishes. He assured me he was fine. I had no choice but to believe it.
I couldn’t leave Beckett and Riley like this, and Diego wasn’t able to come here. I would never ask him to do that, even if I really wanted to. Especially after everything that happened, he wasn’t in a place to push boundaries today.
I just…I wanted my men close. I couldn’t be the strong one anymore, but I had no choice.
“Wes,” I looked up at Riley who came to sit next to me, “It’s okay if you need to leave. I know something else is going on too.”
My son was being honest, he would understand if I left, but I could also see how much he wanted me to stay. Diego was right. I was needed here.
“I’m fine. I’m right where I need to be.” All the tension left Riley’s body, and he shocked the crap out of me by wrapping his arms around my middle, hugging me. Once I got over the shock, I hugged him back.
“You’re okay, kid. I got you.”
We held on to each other tightly until the doctor came out to tell us that Jay made it through surgery fine. He then curled into Beckett’s lap, but that was okay. He still came to me on his own, and that felt like a huge step in our relationship.
I must’ve dozed off shortly after that because next thing I knew Luca standing in front of me.
“Luc, holy fuck.” He looked exhausted, and practically fell into my arms as I stood up. I cupped his cheek taking in every inch of him. He seemed a little out of it, like maybe he was given pain killers. He had told me he was unharmed but seeing him now I had doubts. I should have asked Diego, but I didn’t want to put that on him.
“Talk to me love, what happened?” I was hesitant to hold him or kiss him since I wasn’t sure what, if any, injuries he sustained.
“He needs to see the doctor,” Brooks snapped. I felt guilty that I hadn’t even realized he was there, but I took him in now. He’d also seen better days, with the one side of his face a colorful collections of bruises. “He has a cracked rib, but won’t let anyone look at it.” Brooks put his hands on his hips and stared at me, demanding me to do something about it.
Stubborn asshole. I glared at Luca, but I don’t think it had the effect I wanted it to. “I’ll take care of him Brooks,” I promised, “Has he been given something?”
“Yeah, we gave him pain killers for the plane ride, so he could stand it. He’s riding high right now.” Brooks lips tilted in a half smile, “He was very talkative. We learned a lot about your military days.” By the sparkle in his eyes, I had a feeling it had nothing to do with missions and everything to do with what went down in private.
“You know what? I don’t think I want to know. Where’s everyone else? Any other injuries that were hidden from me?”
Brooks shook his head, “No, sir. Besides Daniels, Luc and I got the worse of it, and I just got away with some impressive bruising. Maverick went with Daniels to get him taken care of. Skye is with Matty. Luca refused to get check out until he saw you.”
His eyes narrowed like that was somehow my fault. Luca didn’t try to defend himself. He just half laid on top of me, his eyes half closed.
“Come on love, let’s get you help.”
“Missed you, baby.” Luca slurred.
“I missed you too, so fucking much. We’re never doing this again. Where you go, I go.”
“’Bout time.”
Brooks was just watching us. “Have you seen a doctor?” I asked him. I was worried about the look in his eyes.
“They cleared me. No concussion. I’m just tired mostly.”
“Good. Have you taken anything?”
“Just advil. I wanted to be clear headed.”
“Thank you, Brooks. That was very considerate of you.” I was worried about him, but I was going to take him at his word that he was okay. “Can you make it home? Diego needs you.”
His eyes widened, “Fuck yes. I’ll get home. I’m okay, I swear it.”
I handed him my keys. “I believe you. Take this, you can use my car, there’s plenty of us around to get home eventually. Take something stronger when you get home, okay? Diego does need you, but you need to take care of yourself too, got it darling?”
Brooks nodded, taking my words seriously. “I will. D and I, we take care of each other.” He paused, “We’ll be okay. All of us.”
I cupped his good cheek. “I know.”
