Page 120 of Riot’s Revenge

Every time her hands landed on one of my brothers, I remembered the first night I’d met her. The same sharp expression and steady hands. The same woman who ordered a room full of bloody bikers around like we were mildly inconvenient children.

Only now, she was wearing my ring, my kutte. She was my wife, and I had no fucking idea if she still wanted to be.

Spider left, followed closely by Keno. Link was next. Neither had gotten injured but stayed nonetheless. Tiny got three stitches and complained about every fucking one of them and Maria threatened to give him another three if he didn’t shut up.

Reaper was last. He sat on the edge of the bed while Maria cleaned a cut near his eyebrow.

“What happened?” Maria asked him.

“Boot caught a tripwire. Realized as soon as it touched and managed to get out of the worst of it. Don’t think it went off properly, but something caught me here, got Finn too.” He pointed to a small gash in his forehead.

“Uh huh. Hold still,” she muttered.

“I am holding still.” He shuffled further on the bed.

“You’re talking.”

“Didn’t realize my mouth was attached to my eyebrow.”

Maria gave him a look, president or not, Reaper wisely shut up.

A few minutes later she taped gauze into place and stepped back. “Done.”

Reaper stood, he looked at her, then at me and something passed across his face. He pulled Maria close and hugged her while I pushed down the caveman in me.

“Glad you’re okay nurse.” He pulled back and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m okay. Now, go find Lucy. She’s been going out of her mind,” Maria said.

He nodded and walked toward the door, stopping beside me long enough to grip my shoulder. “She’s still here, brother.” He muttered low enough for only me to hear.

My throat tightened. “Yeah.”

He squeezed once and left, the door clicked shut behind him and we were left in silence. Just me and Maria. I stared at her. She started clearing away the bloodied gauze and wrappers and pulled out new ones.

“Sit down.”

I didn’t move. I was scared that if I did, the dam would break, and she would tell me she was done with me.

“Riot.” She finally turned around. “Would you please sit down so I can look at you?”

I pushed away from the wall, not toward the bed, but to her.

Her eyebrows pulled together. “Riot, the bed is⁠—”

I grabbed her and she went rigid in my arms. I buried my face against her hair and held on. I didn’t give a fuck about my ribs, I didn’t give a fuck about anything except the fact she was alive and safe and still there.

For a few horrible moments, she didn’t move, then I felt her hands against my back. Tentative at first, before her fingers curled into my shirt and she buried her face into my neck.

My eyes burned. Fuck. I tightened my arms around her.

“I thought I’d lost you.” The words came out rough, I could hear the pain in her voice. Her breath caught against my neck.

I swallowed hard. “There isn’t anyone else for me, Nurse.”

Her body stiffened again, I closed my eyes, drinking in the feeling of her in my arms. “Hasn’t been since I chose you.”

She pulled back just enough to look up at me, her eyes were wet and that fucking killed me. “Then you have a lot of explaining to do.”