Page 83 of Driven By Impulse

Hanna swallowed. “Maybe that was the part that scared me most of all.”

“And now?” Ash asked.

She shook her head. “Now, I’m completely terrified. But…this time, this time I’m not going to let it stop me.”

* * * *

By his third day in the hospital, Nicco would have endured all the pain in the world for the chance to breathe fresh fucking air. Dante and Saint had been to visit, and The Princes had been in and out of his room, but even with all the company and distractions Nicco was starting to get claustrophobic in the small hospital room.

“Can I please leave?” he asked Royal for the umpteenth time.

Royal shook his head. “Tomorrow morning and that’s final. Jesus, you bikers are going to be the death of me.”

“Aw, you think we’re sweet,” Jinx said, walking through the door, Grace Iverson behind him. “Big burly dudes who love their friends.”

“Yes, you’re single-handedly breaking down toxic masculinity,” Royal said drolly.

“I’m sorry, did Jinx just call himself big and burly?” Ash asked, as he and Hanna dipped into the room behind the others.

“It’s better than what you call each other,” Jinx replied. “There are some things a man can never unhear. Oh…Daddy…”

“Is there a…point to this meeting?” Royal asked, though his eyes did gleam with amusement. “I’m trying to advise rest and relaxation here and I’m pretty sure I just saw Niccolo’s heart rate spike when you said that.”

“Hey!” Ash sputtered. “I’m the only one who gets to call you that.”

“I give up.” Royal walked toward the door, but Nicco watched Ash grab his sleeve.

“Hey, Doc. Thanks for everything. The Princes have your back, no matter what.”

Royal glanced between Nicco, Ash, and Jinx, and nodded. “You guys do work worth doing. It’s an honor to help however I can. But you can repay me by…” He narrowed his eyes. “Never talking dirty in front of me again.”

Then he slipped out of the door.

“Oh, he’s repressed,” Ash muttered. “Anyway, pulling the stick out of dear old Doc’s butt isn’t the reason we’re here. Show him, Gracie.”

Grace smiled and handed Nicco a folder. “It’s all in here. All the transactions, all the time stamps, everything my husband did to help Ralston hide the money.”

“This is great,” Nicco said, looking through the many pages of columns and numbers. Maybe he was still concussed, or maybe it all just looked like random numbers at a glance. “So what’s with the faces?”

“We can’t connect it to Ralston,” Jinx said, taking the folder back. “Iverson was dirty as the day is long and we can prove that three times over, but with the evidence we have…Ralston technically hasn’t done anything illegal.”

“If I hadn’t killed him…” Grace’s voice was small.

“Then he would have kept hurting us,” Hanna said sharply. “He will never hurt you again, Grace. Never.”

Grace nodded. “Never again.”

“I’m going to help Grace get settled,” Hanna said.

“FBI relocation came through?” Nicco asked.

“More like Iverson’s money.” Hanna grinned. “There will be some papers to file and such, but we all know what happened.”

“I’m going to stick around for a while,” Grace said. “So, if you need help with any of those files…”

“We appreciate it,” Hanna said. She pulled Grace in for a tight hug. “And I’m just happy you’re okay. Thank you. All of you.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight