The Psycho (The Soldiers of Anarchy 1)

Chapter Forty-Four

Liv

Iwas woken up by gentle fingers running through my hair, and I lifted my head to see Adam awake and looking at me, concern etched onto his face.

“You’re awake,” I gasped, taking his hand and kissing it as he began to stroke my face.

“Are you okay? Did he… Did he hurt you?” Adam said, visibly struggling to get the words out.

“No.” I shook my head, squeezing his hand to reassure him. “The others came just after he shot you, and Devon, he killed him. It’s all over.”

Adam squeezed his eyes shut and mouthed quietly, “Thank God,” then the back of his head hit the pillow in relief, but he winced as the injury he had reminded him he wasn’t invincible.

“Do you want me to fetch a nurse? Do you need some pain relief?” I asked, trying to get up from my chair, but he stopped me.

“No, I’m fine. You’re here and that’s all I need.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I held my breath, not really sure why I’d asked him that. The last thing I wanted to do was relive it myself.

“Not really. He’s dead. Good riddance. As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters to me.” Adam kept his hand in mine, but his head remained stuck to the pillow. He was in more pain than he wanted to let on.

“The police have been. Colton and Devon sorted it though.” Just as I was about to give him a rundown of everything the doctor had said, the door burst open and in strolled Colton, Will, Tyler and then Devon.

“Finally!” Colton said, raising his hands up. “You’re awake. It was not comfortable sleeping in a plastic chair all night, I can tell you.”

“You’ve been here all night?” I asked.

“Where else would we be?” Devon answered then turned to look at Adam lying in the bed. “Are you okay, mate?”

“I’m just fucking brilliant,” Adam replied, not even opening his eyes to look at them.

“Nice to see that near-death experience didn’t spoil your chirpy mood.” Colton smiled and sat in the chair on the other side of the bed.

“I thought they said only two visitors?” I frowned, looking at all four of them.

“Do we look like the kind of visitors that play by the rules?” Colton replied, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m tired,” Adam snapped. “As you can see, I’m fine. You can go home now. Tyson will need feeding anyway.” Adam rubbed his forehead then hissed at the pain he felt from his shoulder.

“Adam, don’t be rude,” I said. “These guys have spent all night in this hospital, waiting to hear if you were going to be okay. You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for them. They took you off that roof, put you in the van, and then carried you into this bloody hospital. I couldn’t have done that. And I wouldn’t be here too if they hadn’t turned up when they did. They saved my ass. Devon shot the guy for fuck’s sake.”

“Fastest kill I’ve ever seen him do too,” Tyler chipped in.

“Fuck.” Adam sighed, leaning forward to try and sit up, and I shot out of my seat to help him. “I’m sorry. Thank you. Thank you for saving her.”

They all nodded and mumbled in acknowledgement and then Adam asked, “Has anyone been in contact with the father?”

I had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn’t question them about it. My head was scrambled enough with what’d happened and I really didn’t want to know anymore.

“Yeah, we got a photo and emailed it to him. He’s sent a bonus too, said he was happy with our work,” Devon said.

They all stayed quiet and then Colton darted up from his chair, announcing, “Now that we’ve seen you’re still alive with our own eyes, we’ll go. Things to do and all that.”

Adam gave the hint of a smile and then Devon walked slowly over to the bed and said, “I’m glad you’re okay. Things took a scary turn back there and we’re used to crazy shit, but not like that. Please don’t do that to us again.”

“Yeah, don’t ever run out on us,” Will piped up. “Soldiers work together. That’s the last time you go rogue. We’re a team. A family.”

Adam smiled but didn’t say a word, he didn’t need to. They all understood each other, and they knew how he was feeling.

In turn, they each came over to the bed, shook his hand, and then they left us alone, shutting the door quietly to lock us back into our world.

Adam took another long deep sigh when it was just the two of us again, and he lifted my hand to kiss the back as he looked deep into my eyes.

“I meant what I said, back there on that roof,” he whispered.

I took a deep breath. My heart was beating out of my chest as we sat staring at one another. Lost in each other.

“I love you, Olivia. I always have and I always will.”

“I love you too.” I sniffed and leant over him to kiss him. “I thought you’d left me, and it killed me. I couldn’t bear to think about a life without you in it,” I said, sobbing over my words.

“You’ll never have to,” he added, shushing me and stroking my hair as he kissed me softly.

“I do have to know one thing though.” He grabbed my collar and yanked gently, grimacing. “Whose hoody are you wearing?”

I laughed and leant back, looking down at the hoody that was swamping me.

“It’s Tyler’s. He gave it to me to keep me warm and cover up the mess on my dress.” I dreaded to think what I must look like, sitting with my hair all matted and a dress stained in blood.

“Tyler actually gave something away? That’s a first. He usually only takes stuff, he never gives it out,” Adam stated, referring to Tyler’s reputation as ‘the thief’ of the group. “He must like you.”

“He was doing a nice thing,” I said, patting Adam on the chest to reassure him.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like seeing you in another man’s clothes, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

“You’ll let it slide?” I laughed, poking him in his good arm. “Stuck in a bed with a gunshot wound and you’re still playing the caveman role.”

He didn’t see the funny side though.

“I always will when it comes to you.”

“I suppose we’ll both have to learn to let some things slide. And other times maybe not.” I wasn’t about to become a pushover. I had my way of doing things and he’d have to learn to live with it. But I knew one thing, life with him would certainly be interesting.

“I know I’m not the easiest guy to love, and I’m bound to make more than my fair share of mistakes. But I need you to know I’m not going anywhere. This is it for me. You are it for me.”

His words were like a balm to my soul. Fuel to the flames in my heart. I never thought I’d ever experience a love like the ones in the romance novels that Effy and Em were always sending my way. But this? It was better. It was better because it was raw and real, gritty and honest, and it was mine. I didn’t need to read about love in books or watch it on T.V. because for me, reality was far better than the fantasy.

“I feel the same way,” I said, settling my head next to his as I gently climbed onto the side of the bed.

“Good.”

We lay for a moment, me listening to his quiet breaths and him smoothing down my hair. Then I chuckled to myself and looked up into his eyes.

“You do realise I’m a bit of a handful, don’t you?” I said, giving him a teasing, cheeky wink.

“That’s why I’ve got two hands, Olivia. Whatever you throw my way, I’ll take it. It’s my job, as your boyfriend.”

I liked the sound of that, and I sighed, settling back into his warmth. Then, a thought struck me.

“Yeah, about that. If any of the staff ask, I’m your fiancée.”

“Okay,” he replied. No questions. No, ‘What are you talking about, Olivia?’ Just, ‘Okay.’

“Don’t you want to know why?” I asked.

“Not really. Girlfriend, fiancée, it’s all the same to me. You’re mine and that’s all there is to it. Everything else is just… details.”

“Details?”

“Yes, details. And we’ll talk about it more when I get out of here.”

I considered arguing with him, or pushing him on what he was talking about, but I decided against it. We’d just been through the worst day of our lives, and all I wanted to do now was lay with him, be with him, love him. Like I’d said before, we both had to learn to let things slide sometimes, and now? Now I wanted nothing more than to hold onto this moment and him. To appreciate the fact that we were here, together, safe, and nothing was ever going to take him away from me ever again.