Craving Cecilia (The Aces' Sons 6)

“Gram saved me,” she continued. “And Grandpa and Grandma Vera. They saved me. I had people to protect me.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said, swallowing hard.

“It does matter,” she said, even softer. “Because you were the only one who could’ve gotten to Rose in time.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” I said dismissively.

“Don’t do that,” Lily ordered, her tone firming.

“I didn’t,” I said emphatically. “It wasn’t a conscious decision. If I would’ve thought about it, I would’ve saved my own ass first.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” she said. “Because you did the same thing today. You didn’t save your own ass today.”

“Leo was closer,” I tried to explain. “I wasn’t sure which way to go, and—”

“Bullshit,” she said, coming at me. I held back a yelp as she wrapped her arms tightly around me, overlapping against my sore back. “You protected him when he couldn’t protect himself,” she whispered into my ear. “Thank you, sissy. You saved him for me.”

Closing my eyes, I let go of Mark and held her against me, tucking my face into her shoulder. She smelled familiar, like family. Like Lily.

“I really didn’t mean to,” I whispered back, soaking up the feeling of my sister’s hair against my face, her head resting against mine.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, one of her hands lifting to smooth the hair down the back of my head. “You still did it.”

We held each other quietly for a moment. It was the first time in years that I’d had any physical contact with my little sister that didn’t feel forced. You don’t realize how important that is, or at least I hadn’t, not until it was gone.

“Well,” I said, pulling back as I got myself under control. We had an audience, and as much as I liked the fact that she’d hugged me, their eyes felt like they were burning holes in my skin like tiny lasers.

“The doctors say he’ll be okay,” Lily said, stepping away slightly to give me the space I desperately needed. “As long as he doesn’t get a really nasty infection. They have to do skin grafts, though, and try to fix his hand and wrist. They think he must have reached out to break his fall then the bike went down, and he slid pretty far, which is why he—” she got choked up and cleared her throat. “That’s why the road rash is so bad. But thank God, most of it is superficial.”

“They’re pretty sure they can save most of his fingers,” my dad said, putting his arm around my shoulder, completely unconcerned with my need for personal space. “Except the pinky. Gonna be a long road.”

“Good,” I said, uncomfortable with the shift in conversation and the sudden welcome into their closed circle, but nodding anyway. “That’s good. I’m glad he’s going to be okay.”

“Brenna and Mom are up there,” Lily said. “In case they have any news, but he’s in surgery now, so we’re all just waiting. Everyone forced me out here to get some fresh air.”

“I know you want to wait with ’em, baby,” Mark said, lifting Olive’s carrier a little. “But you need to get off your feet and Olive doesn’t need to spend the night in the hospital.”

“Okay,” I said, relieved that he’d given me an out. If Lily needed me, I’d be there absolutely, but Jesus, I needed a little space. I needed some quiet. A few moments to let the day sink in. A little time to cuddle Olive and assure myself that things were different now, that we were both okay and safe.

I desperately wanted to climb into bed with Mark and the baby and shut out the world for a few days.

“Woody said you were shot today,” Rose said uncomfortably as she stepped forward. “Are you okay?”

“Just sore,” I replied. “I was wearing a vest.”

“Lucky,” she murmured.

“This one likes to be prepared,” I replied, tilting my head toward Mark. “We’ll see you later.” I turned to Lily. “Keep me updated?”

“Of course,” she said, her lips tilting up on one side in a half-smile.

“Get some rest,” my dad said, kissing my forehead. “I’ll see ya in the morning and we’re gonna talk.”

I nodded. It was time to come clean with my parents about what I’d gone through in the aftermath of the shooting all those years ago.

I didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as Mark turned me around and led us away, so I was surprised at the pair of black boots that stood between me and the parking lot. I looked up to find Dragon standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

“They might not have known,” he said, jerking his head toward Lily, “but I saw what you did today.”

I nodded jerkily, the pain in his eyes making my stomach twist.

His hands came up and cupped each side of my head gently, almost reverently. “I owe ya, sweetheart.”