“I’m fine, really!”

I’d heard Quinn say that at least a dozen times. I stood just outside the privacy curtain in the E.R. as the attending doc looked her over again. He shone his penlight in her eyes, made her track his finger. He pressed his thumbs against her cheekbones feeling for tiny broken bones around her eyes. She couldn’t see me. As far as she knew, I was long gone. I’d given her one last look when they loaded her into the ambulance but stayed away though it tore my guts apart.

“Thank you,” Quinn said. The doctor was professional, but a little starstruck himself. He was young with dark brown hair that he wore a little longer than most doctors.

“Okay. But if you feel light-headed, nauseous, or anything’s just off over the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, you let me know.” He clicked his penlight off and slid it back into his breast pocket. I jerked back, moving further down the hall. When he opened that curtain, I didn’t want her to see me. As the doctor came out, he closed the curtain behind him. His step faltered as he saw me about midway down the hall.

“Are you responsible for her?” he asked, pointing behind him.

I hesitated. The answer bursting inside of me was yes. Hell, yes. But not in the way he meant. I’d asked her to leave to keep her safe. Not an hour later, she almost died and it was all because me. Yes. I was responsible for all of it.

“No,” I said, keeping my voice low so she couldn’t hear. “I was just ... leaving.”

The doc cleared his throat, sensing the awkward tension. Then he excused himself.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Forever, I’d have nightmares about Fitzie walking out of that Airstream with his gun at her back. Just like Bear would dream about Mama Bear and how long it took for him to get to her.

Feet shuffled on the floor behind me. I turned. Quinn’s driver stood in the hallway, hat in hand. I turned and took a firm grip on his arm. I led him down the hall where Quinn wouldn’t be able to overhear.

“You get her straight to the airport. You make sure she gets on that plane.”

He narrowed his eyes and jerked his arm out of my grip. “I know what my job is, sir.”

I let his tone go. Let him be angry. As long as he did what I told him. As long as Quinn got as far away from Port Azrael as possible and fast. For my part, we had plenty to clean up, what with Moose’s death and now Fitzie’s. The Port Az P.D. had a ton of questions, but they’d already gotten what they needed out of Quinn. She was free to go.

Quinn’s driver pushed his way around me. I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. I knew the best thing I could do for her was make a clean break and just walk away.

“Dom!” Shep came around the corridor. Shit. Quinn might have heard but there was no help for it now. I turned back. She didn’t come out from behind the curtain. If she had heard, she chose to keep her distance.

Mama Bear had been admitted for observation to a room upstairs. Bear was with her. We’d take turns standing guard outside her door. Bear didn’t want to be too careful. A.J. Moss and his crew lit out of Port Azrael as fast as they could. Good riddance to them. I hoped we wouldn’t see them again for a damn long time. Though I knew that was too much to hope for.

“Is she gone?” he asked.

“Going,” I answered.

“You say your goodbyes yet?” Shep’s eyes searched my face.

“No. Just ... I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Ma’s asking for you.”

“She’s awake?” My heart soared.

“Yeah. Come on, man. Don’t keep her waiting.”

My heart tore in two as I followed Shep to the elevators. A clean break. That’s what we needed. Quinn might hate me for it but at least she’d be alive to do it.

My steps falling heavy on the marble floors, I walked behind Shep and paused just outside Mama’s hospital room. She was sleeping The left side of her face was purple, swollen, and misshapen. She had stitches through her eyebrow.

Bear sat at her bedside, his eyes red-rimmed and his hands still shaking. I thought maybe I knew at least a little of what he felt. He’d been with Mama for going on thirty years. He’d be lost without her. And it had come too damn close today.

“She just fell back asleep,” Bear said. “She was asking for you. Sit for a while. She flits in and out.”

So I sat. Bear held Mama’s hand as she slept. She looked so peaceful. A couple of the other guys came in and out bringing food and coffee for Bear. Mama stirred a few times but didn’t come fully awake again for almost two hours. When she did, her eyes lit up as she saw me.

“Hey, Mama,” I said. I was careful when I hugged her, but her grip was strong, bone-crushing even. It felt good.

“He’s really dead?” she asked. “That fucker’s dead?”

“Yeah.”

“You shot him?”

I shrugged. “I shot at him. I think it was A.J. Moss’s bullet that actually killed him. Lucky fucker. Quinn was too damn close. He could have killed her. I can tell you, he didn’t give a fuck either way. For that alone, I’d like to …”

“Enough,” Mama said. “We’ve all had enough close calls for one day. And Moose …”

Her eyes misted with tears. I’d barely had a chance to process everything, let alone losing Moose. He was a good kid. Solid. It would have taken him a few years yet, but he had a good chance of patching in when he matured a little. And I’d trusted him with Quinn’s life. He’d paid for it with his.

“We’ll take care of his family,” Bear said. “I don’t give a damn if he had a patch or not. We’ll take care of them.”

Mama reached for Bear’s hand and squeezed it. “Good. Now what about Quinn? I want to see her with my own eyes. I was mostly out of it when Fitzie took her, but she had me scared to death.”

I shot Bear a look. “Uh ... Mama ... she’s gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?” She glared at me.

“She got checked out. Given the all clear. She’s got a driver taking her back to the airport. She’s getting on a plane for Paris. She’s going back to her life.”

Mama crossed her arms in front of herself. Even with one eye swollen shut, she could still manage an evil death stare straight at me. “Her life.”

“Yeah. I let her go.”

“Uh huh.” She looked from me to Bear. Shep stood in the doorway and he too suffered her withering gaze.

“She’s better off without all this baggage.”

Mama adjusted the thin blanket covering her. When Bear moved to help her, she waved him away. “Let’s see, her life. She got man-handled by a producer until you stepped in and stood up for her. She can’t walk three feet outside without being mobbed by photographers. And despite all of that, she went away with you, walked down the street with you on her arm. She stuck around with you lot and pitched in at the clubhouse in the middle of a full-on lockdown. She didn’t have to do any of that. And even when you chased her away, she came here ... with me ... to check on Wendy.”

“Mama ... Quinn doesn’t belong here. You know it.”

“Don’t tell me what I know. I’ll tell you what I know. You love her.”

It was my turn to fold my arms in front of myself, as if it could shield me from Mama’s frontal assault. “Of course I love her.”

“Right. And she loves you. You know that too, right?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then clamped it shut. Mama threw her hands up. “You ever tell her?”

I looked at Bear for help. There was none forthcoming. He cast his eyes to the floor. Shep backed out of the room behind me. Mama pointed a finger at me. “So you just decided all of this for her. Sent her packing and she didn’t even get a vote? Look. I get it. Walking away from each other is the safe thing to do. And maybe this knock on the head is clouding my judgment. But, honey, if you don’t tell her you love her and give her the chance to decide for herself, you’ll regret it forever.”

“Mama …”

“What are you still doing here?” she asked. “For heaven’s sake, Dom. Go after her. Go fast. Quinn’s not some doormat. You push her away enough, she’s going to stay gone. I blame myself a little. I tried to stay out of it. But I almost died today too and that tends to make a person see what’s most important. Bear’s my life. He’s my heart and my soul. And he’s worth every damn thing we go through for each other. If you love her like that, you need to tell her.”

“Mama …”

“Domino. That girl loves you. Like crazy, stupid love. We all see it. Is your life messy? Of course. But so is hers. And she was willing to risk all of it for you. So go. She might not stay. Hell, if she’s smart, she won’t. But you owe it to her to tell her the truth. She’s worth fighting for. So go!”

I looked at Bear. He gave me a shrug. “You think this is a good idea?” I asked.

Mama wrinkled her nose at him. “Your life, Dom. But ... yeah ... that girl loves you.”

“Dom,” Mama said, smiling. “What are you still doing here? Go after her.”

Bear came to me. He thumped my back. “Give me your piece, Dom. You can’t get through airport security with that thing. If you go fast enough, you just might make it.”

Something snapped open inside of me. I knew instantly it was my heart. I was trying to do the right thing. Letting Quinn go probably was the right thing. But it was busting me up inside. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. The only thing I could do was run.

I climbed on my Harley and hit the highway at a blistering speed. I drew every dirty stare as I pulled up to the curb. The valet yelled after me. I threw a hundred-dollar bill at his feet and ran through the revolving door. Domestic flights to New York went out of gate seventeen. From there, she would catch a connecting flight to Paris.

It took every ounce of patience I had to wait through the security checkpoint. With each passing second, my heart dropped. The last flight out left in fifteen minutes and they’d just announced a final boarding call. But with five minutes to spare, I made it to the gate.

The flight attendant at the counter gave me a smile. He was short, pudgy, and wore short sleeves under a blue vest.

“Ticket, sir? We’re just about to close the tunnel.”

“What? Uh ... no. I’m here to see my ... uh ... my girlfriend off. I don’t have a ticket.”

His face fell. “I’m sorry. All passengers have already boarded.”

I put my hands on the counter to keep them from shaking. The guy’s face turned white. I knew what he thought. I knew what he saw. People made assumptions when they saw this patch.

“You’re sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “This flight was overbooked. If you’re interested in flying standby, I can help you out with that.”

I smiled. This was crazy. Mama was crazy. No, it was more than that. This was fate. “It’s okay,” I said. But it wasn’t. It might never be again. Still, every time I closed my eyes, I saw the terror in Quinn’s as Fitzie brought her out of that trailer. That was on me. That would always be on me. This time, Mama was wrong.

“Maybe he doesn’t need to. Is there still time to transfer my ticket?” The voice beside me cut through me. I was afraid to look up. Afraid to breathe.

When I did, Quinn was standing there. She waved her ticket in the air.

“Oh,” the attendant said. “You said you were canceling it. It’s non-transferable. I’m so sorry.”

“Hmm,” Quinn said. Her eyes misted with tears. I couldn’t let go of the damn counter, afraid I’d wake up or float away if I did.

She was here. She was standing right here. And she hadn’t gotten on the damn plane.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

We walked away from the counter. I put a light hand on her arm then took her carry-on bag from her.

“I know you wanted me to, but I couldn’t just leave like that. Not without talking to you again. Not without …”

“I love you,” I said. “Dammit. I love you.”

She touched my face. Joy gripped my heart. “I know. And you should know I love you too.”

“You shouldn’t,” I said.

“I know. But I also know I’ve never had anyone willing to fight for me the way you do, Dom. Even with all the chaos around you ... around me ... I’m safer with you than I am without you. You’re the one person in my life who doesn’t want something from me.”

I shook my head. “Lady, you’re crazy. Don’t you get it? I want everything from you!”

A single tear fell from Quinn’s eye. But her smile melted my heart. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her close.

I’d almost lost her. She’d nearly slipped away and I almost let her. Never. Never again. If she let me, I’d never let her go.

“I love you,” I whispered through kisses.

“I love you too, Dom. God help us both, I love you too.”

“You’d really do it?” I asked. “Your career, your movie? You’d stay here instead?”

She laughed. “I’m crazy for you, Domino. But I’m not crazy-crazy! But Paris can wait a few more days. And I don’t know how we’re going to work everything out. But ... I also know you’re worth trying for.”

I picked her up and spun her in my arms. She was mine. She was right. And she was worth trying for too.

There was a smattering of applause at the other end of the gate. We drew a crowd. Quinn always drew a crowd. But this time, I was at the center of it with her and I would never let her go.