Page 36 of The Riders’ Reign

“Ready?” I warn her.

She giggles again. “Ready.”

I unplug my cock from her pussy, setting her on the edge of the sink, and am I ready with the damp washcloth to prevent any mess. I take my time, gently wiping her clean and kissing her as I do so.

“I love you, Ace,” she tells me.

“I love you, too, Princess. So much.”

“You can leave me now,” she says. “I’m all good, and I need to pee.”

I kiss her then yank up my jeans and make my way back into the living room, giving her some privacy. I chug some of the water I’d brought for her and throw myself back down on the couch.

I hope she doesn’t start to feel bad about what we just did. We were lucky not to have been interrupted. Rook could have come back at any moment, and while he won’t mind us doing the dirty under normal circumstances, I don’t think he’d approve right now. Not when Jack is recovering from surgery and Ghost is missing.

On the side table, my cell phone rings. The screen shows a number I don’t recognize, but I answer anyway.

“Yeah?”

“Is that Ace?”

I recognize Vani’s voice immediately. “Speaking. What’s up, Vani? Is Jack okay?”

Camile reappears in the doorway, all put back together, and she slides next to me on the couch and grabs my forearm, her nails digging in to a painful degree. She widens her eyes at me, desperate for information, even though I know much the same as her right now.

“Yes, he is, well, sort of. I’ve already spoken with Saul, and he’s going to tell the rest of the club the very basics, but he asked me to tell you, and Rook, the details.”

I glance at Camile. “I’m with Camile. Do you mind if I put you on speaker?”

There’s a long beat and a sigh, but she says, “Okay.”

I press the speaker button, and her voice fills the room.

“The doctors came to speak to Dad, and I was in the room, too. It’s good news in the sense that the surgery removed any fragments, and he will recover. But the not so good news is that he’s going to need some light rehab, and he’s going to have to take it easy for a time. We all know that’s not Dad’s forte. Hence why Saul said to speak to you. Apparently, you’re one of the few people who isn’t terrified of my father. He says you might be able to make him see sense.”

I smile at her words. “I can try for sure.”

“Hey, Vani, it’s Camile.” Her features are strained, her eyes worried. “I am sorry for earlier. Truly. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I care for your dad so much, and I will try to make sure he doesn’t do too much as well.”

Camile nibbles at her nail, the silence on the other end of the phone stretching on.

“Okay, thanks, Camile. I appreciate that.”

The way Camile sags as she lets out a long breath makes my heart ache. She just wants her friend back, and I bet Vani wants the same, too, deep down.

I get why Vani reacted the way she did to Jack’s relationship. From what I understand, her mother’s death was horrific and traumatic. The girl will most likely still be suffering from PTSD due to it. Probably unaddressed, too, if she’s anything like Jack. They don’t seem the types to go for therapy.

“What exactly did the doctors say?” I ask.

“That the gunshot wound in his leg was a through and through, which is good. No broken bones, but there was some soft tissue damage and, obviously, blood loss. The damage will mostly need to be addressed through rehab and physical therapy. They cleaned up the wound and stitched him up. The gunshot wound to his chest needed the bullet to be removed, but they said it was very superficial and hadn’t gone too far. He should recover from that fairly fast.”

Camile clamps her hand over her mouth, and I understand why. Even though his wound was superficial, a gunshot to the chest could have killed him with just a few millimeters the other way. No wonder Rook was such a mess when he returned and covered in so much blood.

I can’t bear to lose any of these people I’ve surrounded myself with now. They’ve become my family, and I need them all to be okay.

“We’ll be so strict with Jack that he’ll hate us within days,” I promise Vani.

She laughs a little. “Yeah, maybe don’t make him hate you. And… um… maybe I can come over and get to know you all a little more. While Dad’s recovering. And perhaps we can talk, Camile?”