Page 79 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

I nodded and climbed off the bed.

“You don’t have to go see them, babe. They’ll understand.”

“It’s okay. They deserve to know.”

She took my hand and squeezed it. “I’ll leave it up to you, okay? Tell them as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. I won’t say anything you don’t.”

I nodded. I knew she was talking about Noah. The guys were all incredibly protective with us girls and wouldn’t take too kindly to some other guy stepping in.

As soon as I walked in the room I was enveloped in a pair of arms. Jace.

“Jesus, girl. You scared the crap out of us.”

Next it was Dean. Then Matt.

I ended up in Aiden’s arms and he immediately pulled me over to the lounge.

“What the hell happened?” Matt said, eyes wide. “The news channels are exploding and the whole area around your house is crawling with cops.”

I cringed. Somehow I didn’t think the neighbors were ever going to look at us the same again.

Taking a deep breath, I repeated my story, but this time, I left out my feelings for Noah, only telling them that there was someone there I felt safe with, and I thought he might’ve been an undercover cop. I pled with them to keep that to themselves, just in case he needed to keep his identity under wraps.

At the end of my talk, there was a lot of swearing, some pacing, and then a lot of silence. Another round of hugs came, this time longer and more crushing, and then some more swearing.

“Do you know if Aaron was caught?” Dean asked after the swearing had simmered down.

“No. I can’t get any information at all at the moment. It was such a massive bust. I think they’re trying to make sure nothing’s left to chance.”

“Yeah, but it would help if we knew if we had to keep a lookout for him,” Matt said. By the tone of his voice, it sounded like he wouldn’t mind if Aaron was still out and about.

“If I never saw Aaron again it would be too soon,” I said quietly.

Chapter 52

Noah

When I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV stuck in my arm and the mother of all aches in my shoulder. There was also another one in my side. I found that one out when I went to move.

Hissing through my teeth, I tried to mentally process the pain before I erupted into a chorus of curses.

“It can’t possibly be that bad.”

I turned my head at the sound of my father’s voice and found him sitting on the chair beside the bed with his elbows resting on his knees. It was one of the best damn sights I’d seen in the last year and a half.

I chuckled, then instantly regretted it as a sharp pain shot through my stomach. “Fuck.”

Dad shook his head, but he was smiling. “You better clean that up before you come home,” he said, standing up and leaning over to hug me. “It won’t matter that you’ve taken a couple of bullets when your mother hears you cursing like that.”

I groaned, but the thought of Mom disciplining me was awesome. I’d gone without for too long, and I wanted to have it all back again. Including my mom badgering me.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” I said, my voice unsurprisingly rough.

Dad gave me a look as he sat back down. “I think I have a little bit of an idea.”

I dropped my head back against the pillows and glanced up at the ceiling, blowing out a breath. “Tell me what happened.”

When I was only met with silence, I turned my head back to him. He was watching me with a deep intensity, his jaw clenching and unclenching. At my look, he took a deep breath.

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