“Shut up. God.” Jeff turned to his brother. “Wayne, you’re going to have to give me the gun so I can wrap up your arm.”
“Oh, hell, no.”
“Look. I need to get your bleeding stopped, and then we’ll call the ambulance, okay?”
“Ambulance.” Max widened his eyes. “Have you gone mental?”
“My brother needs medical attention, you moron.”
Max stalked forward. “Give me the fucking gun, Bay.”
Wayne, arm shaking, raised the gun, and shot. Max went down yelling, clutching at his calf.
“Jesus,” Jeff said, “what did you do that for?”
“I didn’t hurt him,” Wayne said. “I’m a better shot than that. But he needed to be stopped.”
Footsteps trampled down the hallway.
“Shit,” Jeff said under his breath.
Within seconds, Regan stood in the doorway, a new gun in his hand. “The police are on their way, assholes.”
Before Jeff could stop him, Max had lunged forward on the floor, grabbed the gun from Wayne, and shot Regan.
Dead.
Chapter Nineteen
Maria woke to the smell of ham and eggs. She patted the bed beside her. Jeff had gotten up. He came into the room, smiling and holding the tray she had brought…how many hours earlier? She felt like she’d aged a few years since this morning.
His eyes were still swollen, but all in all, he looked good. The major difference was his demeanor. He looked happy.
And she hadn’t seen him look happy in a very long time.
“You were moving around and stretching, so I figured you’d be up soon. Thought you might be hungry.”
And she found, to her surprise, that she was famished.
Jeff wore only a pair of jeans. He looked delectable as usual, but she turned her mind away from such a sexual scenario. He might not yet be ready to resume their relationship, and she had to make peace with that. In her heart, she knew they’d be together. Someday.
“I am hungry. Thanks. We can take this in the kitchen.”
“When I went to all the trouble of reheating this and setting it on the tray and walking twenty feet to bring it in here?” He winked. “Not a chance.”
She smiled, hoping she didn’t look too horrible due to the tears she had shed earlier after he’d fallen asleep. “Okay.”
She sat up and arranged some pillows for their backs. He set the tray in front of her.
She inhaled. “Smells great.”
“It ought to. You made it.”
“So I did. I hope you like it.”
“I already sampled a bit of it. It’s delicious.” He situated himself beside her and took one of the filled plates off the tray.
They ate in silence. When Maria finished, she moved the tray away and took Jeff’s plate. When she started to rise, he stopped her.