Mad Delights (20 page)

Chloe fluttered her eyelids open once, twice, blinking away the double vision until the ceiling she stared at came into focus. Pain itched at her subconscious and it hurt to breathe. But it was the antiseptic smell and the beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor that alerted her to the fact that she lay in a hospital bed. Slowly, she turned her head. The oxygen cannula tube under her nose crunched a little as she realized she was a patient. Then the reason why she was a patient came rushing back into her memory, causing her to gasp.

A body filled her line of view and she glanced up to see a worried expression filling Romeo’s face. Dax squeezed in behind him, and she smiled faintly at both of them.

“Do I look as bad as I feel?” she whispered.

Romeo ran a gentle finger over her cheek. If memory served correctly, the same cheek Bizerk had hit.

“You’re going to be all right,” Dax answered.

“How’s Boone?”

“He owes you,” Romeo said. “You saved his life.”

“I’m sure he saved me too, by getting me to the hospital.”

She shifted a little and grimaced at the pain. Not much, which surprised her, and she flicked a look at the pain pump next to her bed. Morphine. No wonder Romeo liked the stuff. She licked her lips, and Dax must have sensed her thirst, because he reached for the cup and pitcher on the table in the corner. A second later, he held a straw up to her lips and she sucked in cool, refreshing water. Her scratchy throat eased.

“Where was I shot?”

“Right lung,” Romeo replied. “Lower lobe. You’ve been out for a day and a half.”

She’d had a patient once who’d been shot in a lung. He hadn’t made it, so Chloe was extremely happy that she hadn’t followed his fate. Her mind automatically went through the procedures that would have been done. An endotracheal had probably been administered, which accounted for the rough feeling in her throat. Somewhere on her right side was a chest tube, no doubt, draining the fluid from her damaged lung. She wondered if Susan had been the OR nurse during the surgery to repair the damage and remove the bullet.

Oh, the irony.

IVs dripped antibiotics and nutrients into her veins, and she knew she probably looked like death warmed over. But Romeo and Dax stared at her with relief in their eyes. She raised her hands toward them, and each man took hold of one, holding tight. She drifted back to sleep, content.

* * * *

The next time she opened her eyes, her grandfather stood at the foot of her bed. The light outside the window announced that she’d slept through the night. She blinked, hoping he was just a figment of her nightmare, but he stayed. His regal features were a cold mask as he surveyed her from head to toe.

“You assured me you could care for Kaiya,” he said in Japanese. “And yet I find you unable to care for yourself.”

She sighed. She so didn’t want to deal with him right now. “I got shot in the lung and you wish to hash this out now?”

He stared at her.

She rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she continued. “I didn’t shoot myself, Grandfather. Besides, I saved a man.”

“Another one of your obsessions?”

“No,” she muttered. “But thanks for always throwing that in my face.”

“Can you really blame me when I’ve had to bail you out of trouble twice?”

She compressed her lips into a flat line. They always went around in circles with this. “Is Kaiya here?”

“She is in the waiting room,” he replied. “I’m determining if she should leave with me and go back to Los Angeles.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Kaiya needs to be out from under your thumb.”

He gave a type of deep-chested growl. “Every time someone has stepped away from my thumb, as you put it, it always ends badly. In the course of my life, I’ve lost my wife to rivals, my son to his hate-filled wife, my daughter and son-in-law to a drunk driver. I almost lost my deaf granddaughter to a human trafficking ring and my other granddaughter to mental demons.”

“Don’t forget the bullet in the lung.” She couldn’t help the sarcastic comment rolling off her tongue. Sarcasm was her defense mechanism.

He leveled a dark glare on her. “Do
not
try to be humorous.”

“Sorry,” she said, although she wasn’t the least bit sorry. “But, Grandfather, your life is all about crime. I grew up knowing the violence under the thin veneer of civility you exude, so don’t blow smoke up my ass and be offended because I was shot saving a man. Not when your body count touches the heavens. Did you bring the money and the guns?”

He nodded, once.

“Then we’re done,” she said wearily. “I forgive you, all right? I forgive you for the circumstances that made me as I am. All I wish for now is to never see you again.”

“Family is important—”

At that moment, the door opened and one of her grandfather’s men stood guard, holding back a very pissed off looking Romeo and Dax.

“Move the hell out of our way!” Romeo growled. “That’s our old lady.”

Her grandfather nodded, and the guard stepped aside, allowing them to enter. Dax shoved the bodyguard with his shoulder in a manly confrontational way as he passed. Boone pushed in after them.

“They are my family now,” Chloe said. She switched to English so the men could understand. “This man is Hiro Matsumoto. My grandfather. He’s come to deliver the guns, money and the new club accountant.”

“Say what?” Boone demanded.

“I got you an accountant, Boone. You needed someone competent to do your books so I found you the perfect person.”

“Wait, Chloe,” Romeo said. “Not just anyone can be a treasurer for the club. Our finances aren’t exactly—”

“She’s my cousin,” Chloe said. “Kaiya knows what the family business means, as well as the importance of silence.”

Boone shook his head. “If she blabs her mouth, it’s all over—for all of us.”

“She’s deaf.” She raised an eyebrow. “Start learning sign language.”

“I don’t know if I want her to stay with such men,” Hiro said in Japanese.

“English,” she told him. “And of course Kaiya is staying.”

They stared at each another, and for a moment, she remembered those long forgotten Japanese traditions, dressed in a traditional
kimono
gown, participating in the tea ceremony
sado
and listening to the musical chime of a
biwa
. That was a lifetime ago, and she was no longer that type of Japanese girl. Her gaze met Romeo’s. Her future now lay with the Men of Hell, and the two men who had managed to capture her affection. Did she love them? It was really too soon to tell, but she knew it wouldn’t be long until they were completely ingrained in her heart. This was nothing at all like Nathan.

“These men are what you want?” her grandfather asked in English.

Without taking her eyes off Romeo and Dax, she nodded.

Hiro sighed. “As you wish.
Mou osoi node watashi wa kaeri masu
.
Watashi wa kore de shitsurei shimasu.”

It’s getting late, I must be going now. Excuse me for leaving first.

Out of nowhere, tears welled up in her eyes. He’d said the traditional Japanese goodbye phrases. She wiped at the wetness on her cheek, hoping like mad that she was having an allergic reaction to something. That was preferable than having feelings for the old man who had chosen his dynasty over his family.

“
O-ki wo tsukete
,” she whispered.
Take care of yourself.

He nodded once more, turned and left. The door swished closed softly behind him.

“That sounded like a goodbye,” Dax said.

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “It was.”

“Is that what you want?” Romeo asked.

“I both love and hate that man.”

She looked at Boone, wanting a private moment with her men, and, thankfully, the big guy gave an understanding nod and departed.

“After my bodyguard and unexpected stay in the nuthouse, I thought I had my obsessive tendencies under control,” she said. “But my last tangent was over a doctor I worked with, named Nathan. He would talk to me during surgical procedures and tell me how horrible his wife was. Feed on my sympathy in an attempt to seduce me. And it worked. We’d have quick, hot moments of sex in the sleep rooms reserved for doctors working double shifts. Unfortunately for him, I had my little limerence problem.”

“What happened?” Romeo asked.

“I thought he was in love with me,” she replied. She hated to admit just how stupid she had been. “I thought he needed me. It was my bodyguard all over again. When he told me she wouldn’t sign the divorce papers so we could be together, I… I took matters into my own hand. I kidnapped her. Tied her up. Threatened her unless she signed. That’s when I found out there weren’t any divorce papers. She was a completely innocent woman, and I was the biggest fool on the planet—again.”

“The fucker,” Dax muttered.

Chloe flashed him a thankful smile.

“I was arrested,” she said. “Fired. But before they could prosecute, my grandfather showed up and persuaded Nathan and his wife to drop the charges.”

“Persuaded?” Dax questioned.

“In a purely monetary way, of course,” she said sarcastically. “Once again, I was institutionalized, then he brought me back to his home while I
recuperated
from my ordeal. It was while I was staying with him that I discovered the file he had on you, Romeo, and the Men of Hell. And that is all of me. Every single ugly scar.”

Dax lifted her hand without the IV hooked up, and kissed the back of it. Romeo leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“No, baby,” he said. “No ugly scars at all.”

* * * *

Boone exited Chloe’s room after the old man and watched as he walked regally down the hallway. Yakuza mafia were a lot more refined than he’d thought. Matsumoto stopped briefly at the entrance to the waiting room before bowing. Then he was gone, two bodyguards following in his wake.

When he approached the room where Gabby waited for him, he heard his taciturn friend laugh. At least he
thought
it was a laugh. He’d not heard Gabby laugh in so long he’d forgotten the sound. Most people thought Gabby couldn’t talk, but the truth was, he was deaf in one ear and many times he simply didn’t hear what was being said. He was also afraid that his speech wasn’t as crystal clear as it used to be and he was afraid of what people thought. His friend had suffered much in the past, but he’d saved Boone’s life, and Boone owed his friend everything.

Boone peeked into the room and saw him signing to a young Japanese woman sitting demurely next to him. She was tall, very thin, with a face so angelic it made him want to weep. Out of nowhere, a fist punched him in his gut, and all his breath exited in a whoosh. She turned her almond-shaped eyes his way, so dark and fathomless that he almost drowned in them, and his heart thundered away. He didn’t know what to think or say. He just stared at her like a big dumb ass.

“Her name is Kaiya,” Gabby said, his rich baritone scratchy from disuse.

Boone had the oddest feeling that he’d fallen, although he wasn’t sure in which direction. And he wondered when he would find his equilibrium again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“You should be resting,” Kaiya signed as they approached the entrance to Wheels’ house.

Chloe had been out of the hospital for over a month now, which meant six weeks of being coddled as if she was made of spun glass, constantly being asked how she felt, and worst of all…no sex. Instead, she, Dax and Romeo had talked. Hours and hours spent getting to know each other.

“And you need to be out of the hotel.” She changed the subject, knowing perfectly well that her cousin would read her lips. Her lung had inflated nicely without any sign of infection and she grew stronger every day. But enough was enough, damn it.

She put the key in the lock and turned the knob. The door swished open with a small creak. Nothing some oil couldn’t fix, but she figured it wouldn’t bother Kaiya one way or another. Chloe wasn’t being crass. That’s just how it was.

The sound of bikes rumbled over the suburban landscape and Chloe glanced down the street. It only took a moment for Romeo, Dax, Boone and Gabby to cruise into sight. Chloe rolled her eyes and nudged her cousin, thumbing at the men who pulled up into the driveway. This was getting ridiculous. She couldn’t even pee by herself anymore.

“You are in a relationship with two men,” Kaiya said in sign.

Chloe frowned, wondering where this conversation was heading. “Yeah. So?”

“Do you think Boone and Gabby are open to the same arrangement?”

“What?” Chloe asked sharply. “Why?”

Kaiya was the epitome of virginal purity. Her face, her bearing, her eyes… She had always been the calm one. The good girl. Hell, for a long time Chloe thought her cousin bathed in holy water every day just to hold onto her angelic disposition.

“Because I want them.”

Chloe blinked, for once at a loss for words. Her cousin wanted not one but
two
men? Did she even have a clue what that meant? What it entailed? These were men, not boys, and they would expect things to be down and dirty. She shot a quick glance at Gabby, seeing his scar and imagining what had to have happened to leave such a mark. Boone was tough, but Gabby was cold.

“Uh, do you know what it means to be with two men, sweetie?”

Kaiya gave her a no-shit look. “I’m not a virgin, although I think you think I am.”

Chloe opened her mouth to say something about that stunning revelation. What the hell did Kaiya mean about
not
being a virgin? But before she could ask her question, the men walked up, effectively shutting down her shock. But this wasn’t over. Chloe was very determined to find out who’d had the audacity to defile her baby cousin. The horrible thought that she might have been raped during her abduction settled in the pit of her stomach and burned like acid.

“So,” Romeo said. “You’re going to transform Wheels’ house?”

Chloe shrugged. “Seemed like a good place for Kaiya to live.”

He and Dax shared a glance.

“Just Kaiya, right?” Romeo asked.