Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

“Hey, brother,” Dragon said as he strode into the room, Will close on his heels. “Rose.”

“What, no flowers?” I joked.

Dragon smiled and Will chuckled.

“You up for a chat?” Dragon asked, glancing at Rose. She glared back mutinously.

“Rose,” I called, bringing her attention back to me.

“I’ll go to the waiting room,” she said, leaning down to kiss me. “Even though it’s bullshit since I was there.”

“Go home,” I ordered. “Take a shower and a nap.”

“Not happening,” she shot back.

“Baby, you’re about to fall on your face. Go get some rest.” Her expression didn’t change, so I tried a different approach. “I’m gonna try and sleep for a while as soon as they leave, anyway.”

“Will’s my ride,” she said stubbornly.

“Mom said she can drive you home,” Will interrupted helpfully.

Rose stared at me for a long moment. “Fine. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Four hours,” I replied.

“Two.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Four,” I said firmly.

“Two, it is,” she replied. She laid her hand gently against the side of my throat and looked me over as she let out a shuddery breath. “Why are you always making me leave you?”

“It’s only for a couple of hours,” I said quietly. “Go rest, sweetheart.”

She nodded, then kissed me again.

As soon as she was out the door, I looked back at Dragon and Will.

“What’s the story?”

I listened while they filled me in on the shit I’d missed while I was out of it, what they’d found at the old farmhouse, and the police coming to question them, warning that they’d be stopping by to see me soon. I wasn’t surprised by any of it, and I was glad that they’d figured out a way to keep Rose as far from it as possible.

“That’s not all of it,” Will said when Dragon finished speaking. “I found Rose’s bag at the house.”

I stared at him for a minute, wondering what the fuck he was talking about. When realization hit, I damn near jumped out of the bed. Every muscle in my body tightened, and the pain was so fucking intense that I had to hold my breath to keep from screaming.

“Fuckin’ Copper?” I asked for clarification. I had to be sure that was what he was trying to tell me. I had to know.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Will replied. “Don’t know cause we couldn’t ask them, but workin’ theory is that they were only supposed to grab you. Took Rose with ’em to keep you cooperative, but were probably ordered to leave her be.”

The fact that they’d left Rose alone had confused the hell out of me, considering they knew I’d do whatever I had to in order to keep her safe. I thought back to the shit they’d asked me about, mostly money and transport routes we used, neither of which I could answer. I didn’t deal with club money beyond getting my cut of the profits, and our routes changed constantly because we weren’t fucking idiots. Realization hit me like a sledgehammer. They hadn’t needed to know anything—they’d just been fucking with me, trying to make me feel even more helpless than I was. That fucking pussy had hired people to do his dirty work because he was too chickenshit to face me himself.

Wait a second…

“Why couldn’t you ask?” I said in confusion. “I only took one of them out. Did the other one bail before you got there?”

Dragon and Will shared a look.

“Found the one you took care of on the pool table,” Dragon said quietly, watching me. “Other one was dead in the yard.”

“Man, I never made it up the stairs,” I argued.

Will’s lips twitched, irritating the hell out of me. “Rose took care of the other one.”

“Say what?” I said in surprise.

“Used a pair of gardening shears,” Will replied.

It took everything in me not to let my mouth drop open in surprise.

“Stuck ’em so far into his eye, damn near hit his skull on the opposite side,” Dragon said proudly. He looked at me. “If you hadn’t noticed, we raise strong women.”

I understood the pride because I felt that, too. But I also felt concerned as hell for Rose. Killing a man wasn’t something a normal person just brushed off like it was nothing, and Rose was more sensitive than most—even if she tried to hide it.

“Keep an eye on her,” I ordered Will.

Jesus, I could feel exhaustion pulling me under, and whatever pain medicine they’d given me was starting to wear off.

“We’re already on it,” he assured me. “She won’t be alone while you’re in here.”

“She know this was Copper?”

“No,” Dragon said firmly. “Only me, you, and Will know. Waited on you, see how you want to proceed.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Brother,” Dragon said, “I might be your president, but this was personal as fuck. You tell me how you wanna do this.”

“Rose doesn’t know,” I said, looking at her brother. “She’ll blame herself and be all torn up about it.”