Page 191 of Unchained

Dear God. This woman will put me in an early grave.

“Gianna, baby. I love you. Can we please get out of these hell tunnels?”

She wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes, almost making me choke. “I told Dom once that I’d blow these fucking tunnels up one day. And I think that day has finally come, Colt. It’s over.”

I hold her tighter. She’s guarded a lot of what happened to her growing up; I’m not sure if I’ll ever know the full extent. She can tell me when she’s good and ready, and I’ll be there. I’ll listen. And I’ll blow up whatever the fuck she wants to blow up.

“It’s over, viper. It’s over, and no one is ever going to hurt you again. You hear me?”

She pulls back, wiping her tears away. “Because I’ve got a big, strong cowboy to push me out of the way of a bullet?”

I nod. “Yeah. And you got a whole army above ground that followed me here to bring you home. Your family might have hurt you, but now you have ones that would die for you. You’re one of us, G. One of us, forever.”

Her eyes flutter closed. I know she despises being vulnerable. I think crying is one of the top three things she hates. But I’d bet all my money that deep down, she needs this.

“We’ve taken out anyone at all the properties. The cemetery is clear. Let us know how to proceed,” Mikhail says through the comms.

“I have Tate and Dom. We’re heading to the hospital now,” Hunter adds.

“I’ve got Gianna. We’ll be exiting through the cemetery. I will need a ride,” I say back.

“I’ve got an armored truck nearby. Alexei will wait for you; I apologize for him in advance,” Mikhail tells me.

Oh, Gianna is going to love this. She can continue her flamingo negotiations, and today, if she wants a damn flamingo, she can have a flock of them. I do not care.

Whatever my wife wants, she gets.

“Are you hurt, G?” I ask quietly.

She’s watching me intently. Almost calmly. She shakes herself out of her thoughts. “I’m fine, Colt. Except for my broken nail. Let’s get the hell out of here. I’ve got a sheep on a ranch that needs my attention.”

“Just a sheep that needs your attention, hmm?”

She drags her nail against my cheek. “And a very, very needy husband.”

“Needy. Desperate. Obsessed. Madly in love,” I mutter against her cheek. “All of the above.”

Gianna slept through Alexei yapping all the way to the airstrip. I had to carry her exhausted body onto a private jet. She didn’t wake through the whole flight or the transfer into the SUV.

I’m taking it as the highest form of compliment that she trusts me to keep her safe. That perhaps I am her safe place now.

She’s spent long enough fighting; I want her to live now.

“Colt,” she groans, her head in my lap as Xander drives us back to Sterling Ranch. Home.

“Yes, baby. I’m right here,” I murmur, stroking her hair.

“Am I okay? Why can’t I stay awake? My eyes are so heavy.” She tries to hold her eyes open with her fingers and bursts out laughing.

“You’ve had a hell of a fuckin’ day, G. Your body is fighting you to rest, so listen.”

She snuggles up on my lap. “Say please.”

“Please, wife. We’re nearly home.”

She lets out a yawn and starts drawing lazy circles on my knee. “I broke a nail; that’s more devastating than seeing all my uncles dead.”

I bite back a laugh. “A nail can be fixed.”