Cara

 

“Son of a bitch!” Damian roared. “The balls on that guy. Are you okay, Cara?”

 

I sat on my couch, my knees drawn up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my knees. I'd stopped shaking for the most part, but my heart was still thumping hard within me. I still couldn't believe that Mendoza had shown up and tried to take me out of the hospital himself.

 

Damian paced the living room in front of me, while James and Jack stood near the door looking distinctly uncomfortable.

 

“And where in the hell were you two?” Damian snapped. “You were supposed to be watching her.”

 

Jack looked at James, who looked at the floor and cleared his throat.

 

“It's not their fault, Damian,” I said. “They were dealing with two of Mendoza's other men. Decoys, as it turned out. But how were they supposed to know that? They did what you asked them to do. Mendoza had simply been ready for it.”

 

Damian looked at the brothers a moment longer before he ran a hand through his hair and nodded. When he turned away, an expression of relief crossed the faces of both men. They exchanged a look with one another, and then when Damian has his back to them, they both shot me a look of pure gratitude.

 

It was the truth though. They'd done nothing wrong. They had addressed the threat right in front of them. They couldn't have known that Mendoza had a secondary plan in place. I was thankful to them for being there when I needed them. And of course, I was thankful to Roger – if not for him, who knew what Mendoza would be doing to me at that very moment.

 

A tense and uncomfortable silence filled my living room as Damian paced back and forth. He was looking stronger, and his color was better – meaning, he was recovering from his wounds rather nicely. Surprisingly quickly, but I wasn't going to complain. As callous and selfish as it sounded, I needed him to be as close to one hundred percent as possible for what was to come.

 

“Where is Austin?” Damian asked.

 

“He's spending the night at Mandy's,” I said. “I told her I'm on call tonight.”

 

He nodded. “Good. It's better that he's not here. I doubt they'd do it, but if Mendoza knows who you are, he might already know where you live, and could possibly try to grab you here.”

 

“The thought crossed my mind,” I said. “But he's also gunning for you still. He told me that he's going to make me watch him kill you. So, you obviously still have a part to play here. If he thinks we're both going to be here, he could still try to make a play.”

 

“That's why I had the prospects park their bikes in your driveway next to mine,” he said. “If they know we're here, they might be less apt to do something.”

 

I sighed. “I'm sure the neighbors are already talking.”

 

Damian shrugged. “Sorry. Not much I can do about that. My main focus is keeping you safe.”

 

I gave him a tight smile. Of course I appreciated that he was looking out for me. But at the same time, I was worried about what my neighbors would think. Long after this whole mess was over, I was still going to have to live there. Still going to have to see them day in and day out. And the last thing I wanted or needed was for any of them to think I was running with a biker gang.

 

But it was what it was. Like Damian said, nothing he could do about it.

 

“Prospects,” he said. “Grab your bedrolls. You're camping on the floor out here until this is over.”

 

I should have been mad that he'd made that unilateral decision without even asking me, but given the fact that they were putting their lives at risk to save mine, I really couldn't say anything.

 

The brothers nodded, and without a word, went out the front door to their bikes. Damian walked over and knelt down in front of me. He took my hands gently in his and looked deeply into my eyes.

 

“I'm sorry for all of this, Cara,” he said. “I can't even begin to imagine what this is doing to you.”

 

I sniffed as the tears welled in my eyes. I scrubbed them away with one hand, irritated that I was letting myself get so emotional about it all. I was tougher than this. Stronger.

 

“I know this isn't your fault, Damian,” I said. “You haven't done anything wrong. Nothing.”

 

He gave me a rueful smile. “Maybe not. But you're caught in the middle of something you shouldn't be caught in. And I need to get you out of this.”

 

A tear rolled down my cheek, and he used his thumb to wipe it away. “I'd appreciate if you could.”

 

He nodded as the door opened and the prospects came back in with their bedrolls. “Everything seems pretty clear out there right now,” James reported.

 

Jack nodded his agreement and dropped his bedroll on the floor next to the door.

 

“Are you both strapped?” Damian asked.

 

The brothers moved in unison, holding open their kuttes to reveal the two handguns tucked into shoulder harnesses.

 

“Wonderful,” I said. “Please try to avoid turning my house into the OK Corral if you can. I'd really appreciate it.”

 

The two men smirked but said nothing. “Make sure your weapons are loaded and ready,” Damian said. “And be sure the safety is on when you're in the house, knuckleheads.”

 

“I still owe you guys a home-cooked meal, but I think we need to take a rain check on that,” I said. “Will coffee do for now?”

 

“Coffee would be great,” James said. “Thank you.”

 

I nodded and stood up from the couch, heading into the kitchen. Damian followed me in and watched as I got a pot of coffee going. He said nothing, but when I looked at him, I could see the worry in his eyes – along with something else I couldn't identify.

 

“What is it?” I asked.

 

“We need to end this,” he said. “Sooner, rather than later.”

 

“And how are you going to do that?”

 

“I'm going to have to draw Mendoza out. Put a stop to this bullshit. I'm going to have to go talk to Mills first thing in the morning.”

 

“You said that's not going to be easy,” I reminded him.

 

“It's not,” he admitted. “I'm going to have to roll the dice and ask Mills for help.”

 

I sighed. “I'm still willing to act as bait.”

 

Damian shook his head. “Not gonna happen.”

 

“If it brings this whole fiasco to an end sooner rather than later, I'll do whatever it takes.”

 

Damian nodded, the expression on his face grim. “I'll keep that in the playbook. Just in case we need to throw a Hail Mary.”

 

I gave him a small smile. “Hopefully, you can come up with a better plan, but that's always in your hip pocket for safe keeping.”

 

Damian reached out and pulled me to him, wrapping me up in a tight embrace. I held on to him, letting my body be engulfed by his. Being so close to him made me feel safer and far more secure than I had been in quite some time.

 

And it was a feeling every girl could get used to.