Rome: A Marked Men Novel (38 page)

I need you to know that. Please know that. What I said to Jimmy … it was stupid and thoughtless. I was

acting as dumb as he was. I’ve loved you from the beginning; I was just too cowardly to admit it. You’re

my family, my everything, Rome, you have to know that.”

Her voice dropped an octave and tears flooded her eyes again. All I could do was blink up at her. I

knew it before she said it. I was just being a typical stubborn and blind guy. She kissed me on the forehead

again and disappeared after telling me she would be back as soon as she could. She must have been

exhausted because my girl didn’t acquiesce that easily.

The nurse was back. She was taking my vitals and writing things down in my chart. She looked down

at me and smiled.

“That is one fireball of a girlfriend you got there. The OR team was drawing straws to see who would

go out and update her and your family. I think she actually had them scared.”

Sounded like my girl.

“One bullet in the neck that magically misses your carotid artery, another one that shattered a rib and

deflated your lung, and lastly one that lodged in your thigh just millimeters from your femoral artery … you

look like Swiss cheese, but you are so incredibly fortunate to be alive.”

She put the chart down on the end of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. She lifted a russet-

colored brow at me.

“When you make it through something like this, you can’t squander the second chance away. I hope

you know that. If you’re up to it, I’ll send the rest of your fan club in one at a time.”

I wasn’t up to it and didn’t make it past my mom and dad coming in and alternately crying and swearing

at me for five minutes. My eyes were too heavy and there was too much blood loss and pain meds in my

system for me to power through, and I was once again dragged into oblivion. The next time I managed to

pry my eyelids open, it had to be late into the next night. The lights were off and the only sound I heard was

the steady
beep, beep
of the machines checking my heart rate. The ventilator was gone, but I still had tubes

sticking all over the place and moving any part of my body besides my eyes wasn’t something I was excited

about.

“’Bout time you woke up, asshole. I’ve been waiting for a week to tell you how fucking pissed I am at

you.”

Rule did indeed sound seriously pissed, but he also sounded hoarse and all kinds of torn up. I wasn’t

sure why he was in the room when it was so late, but my brother had never been one to let other people’s

rules dictate his actions.

“I understand why you did it, Rome. I get that you couldn’t let anything bad happen to Cora or to the

baby, but for the love of God, did you stop and think what would happen to me if I had to bury another

brother?” His voice cracked and I wanted more than anything to tell him I was sorry, to offer him some

kind of comfort, but all I could do was blink rapidly at him. “I swear, when you are back on your feet I’m

kicking your ass and you’re going to let me.”

I would have laughed if I didn’t think it would turn me inside out.

“It took both Shaw and Ayden to get Cora to go to the house and clean up. You should have seen her.

She had more of your blood on her than you had in you. She had everyone worried she was going to run

herself into the ground. None of the nurses would come anywhere near her, and if you had died—” He had

to clear his throat. “If you hadn’t made it, Rome, I don’t know that she would’ve either; she was a mess.

She was forcing her will for you to pull through so hard I think we all knew there was no way you

wouldn’t make it. It’s a good thing you’re a fighter, brother. I wouldn’t want a pissed-off, pregnant

girlfriend haunting me for all of eternity.”

That was all nice to hear but none of it touched the fact that she loved me. Rule got up and hovered

over the edge of the bed. Those pale eyes were rimmed in red and he had more than a couple days’ growth

of stubble covering his jaw. He looked awful. I wanted to tell him I saw Remy, that I understood it all now,

but I still couldn’t make my mouth and tongue work. He nodded a little and rapped the knuckles that had

his name inked on them against mine.

“Thank you for not dying, big brother.”

It was entirely my pleasure but he was going to have to wait until I had a little bit more get-up-and-go to

tell him that.

He talked to me for another hour even though I couldn’t respond to him. He told me that Brite had

showed up as soon as they rushed me into surgery. Apparently Cora had lit into him the second she saw

him. My girl was mad that the shooter was in the safe arms of the law. The bloodthirsty little minx was all

for brutal biker payback, but Brite had talked her down. He had also pulled Rule aside and assured him

that, prison or no prison, the little punk would get his due. Torch and the boys would make sure of it. Rule

was pissed enough and just unhinged enough to approve of this eye-for-an-eye method of payback, I was

just glad the threat was gone. I didn’t mind taking a bullet for my girl, but if I had nine lives, I was down to

the last one after this stunt.

He told me that Shaw had been working night and day to keep my mom from going off the deep end.

Me getting shot had almost undone all the good that had happened with her since she started therapy. All

the guys were taking turns keeping an eye on me, or rather keeping an eye on Cora so she didn’t overdo it.

She didn’t want to go home, but they were making her now that I was out of the woods for sure. He told

me that she had yanked Nash’s nose ring, pulled Rowdy’s hair and socked him in the gut, when they tried

to make her leave before she was ready. It was funny, but it also made me happy to hear.

He talked to me until I fell back asleep, and when I woke back up, a doctor was buzzing around me

asking me a million questions that I could only slightly shake my head or tilt my chin down to agree or

disagree with. The consensus was that I was the luckiest bastard in the world and it was a miracle of fate

that I was still here. The pretty nurse popped back in a couple of times and I was poked and prodded more

than I ever wanted to be again in my life when Cora appeared like a punk-rock angel. I wanted to talk to

her, but every time I tried, I broke off into a fit of coughing that made my injured lung feel like it was full

of razor blades and barbed wire. I couldn’t even tell her that I would take a million bullets for her if it made

her look at me the way she was looking at me now. She fed me slivers of ice and kept touching any part of

me she could reach over the rails of the bed. It made me feel better than whatever the redhead was putting

in my IV bag. I had a lot I wanted to say, but in the interim I just kept writing down that I was okay, that we

were okay, on the tablet of paper we had resorted to for short conversations.

After lunchtime, Shaw and Ayden both showed up and tried to harass her to go and get something to

eat, which she flatly refused to do. They were forced to call in reinforcements, and before I knew it, my

hospital room was full of people. Rule and Nash walked in together, followed shortly after by Rowdy and

Jet. It took about fifteen minutes more for my folks to show up and ten more for Brite and Asa to make an

appearance. It was crowded, but everyone was just so overwhelmingly grateful that even though I couldn’t

talk or interact, I was awake and aware … it was palpable in the antiseptic-scented air. It was almost like a

celebration; only I was one big party pooper.

Cora curled her hand around mine and dropped her head down so that our foreheads were touching.

Her eyes were right above mine and any question I had about what or what might not be in my future was

answered right there. I would look into those eyes every day and know that any decision I made to make

her happy, to keep her safe, would be worth any kind of sacrifice or suffering I might endure on the back

end.

The chatter in the room was loud and I thought it was strange that the nurse made herself scarce once

again when she caught sight of Nash. Maybe she didn’t like the flames on his head; they did make him look

intimidating, but it didn’t justify the way she flat-out bolted when he told her a simple hello. If I could get

my face to work, I would’ve asked her about it after everyone cleared out for the night.

“Everyone that matters in one place.” I looked up at my brother as he leaned over the other side of the

hospital bed and looked down at me. I gave a slight nod and something flashed in his eyes. Oh, shit, I

totally knew what he meant by that. He walked the few steps across the room to where Shaw was standing

between Ayden and my mom and got to his knees in front of her. The entire room that had been full of

talking and laughing went silent.

Shaw put a shaking hand to her mouth and I heard my mom gasp.

“I don’t have a ring. I don’t have a pretty speech prepared. All I know is that I love you more than life

itself and I want every single person in this room to know that I want you forever, Shaw Landon. I love

you. Marry me.” Typical Rule: he didn’t ask, he just told her. “Be an Archer. Be mine.”

Crystal tears worked out of Shaw’s glimmering green eyes and she almost looked like she was going to

fall over from shock. Everyone held their breath because Shaw still hadn’t given Rule an answer. She was

just staring at him and then she screamed so loud that a couple of the nurses poked their heads in the room.

She was crying and laughing so hard she looked a little crazy. She would have to be, to be stuck with my

brother for the rest of eternity.

She launched herself at him so hard that they tipped over and Rule ended up on his back with her

holding him in a choke hold. A collective “awww” went up as she started to kiss him all over his startled

face. There was no doubt she wanted to be his wife as much as he wanted her to be.

“I’m always yours, Rule. I will so totally marry you and it would make me happier than anything in the

entire world to be an Archer. I don’t need a ring or a speech. All I ever need is you.”

I squeezed Cora’s hand as everyone cheered again as Rule kissed Shaw like they were alone and not on

the hospital floor surrounded by family and friends. Like everything I was learning, it was just perfectly

imperfect. Cora looked back down at me and dropped a kiss on my forehead as everyone else rushed to

congratulate my brother and his new fiancée. I was happy for him, proud of him. He had made the right

choice and had picked the right girl.

“I don’t care where we live, Rome. I just want to be where you are. I was trying so hard to make

choices that kept me from getting hurt again … it was weak and caused unnecessary grief between us. I’ve

been chasing my idea of perfect for so long I didn’t know what to do when it was right in front of me. You

were right, you are perfect for me because I’m just as imperfect as you are, but with you, it’s all just

flawless. I thought I was terrified of what would happen if I gave you my love and you decided you didn’t

want it anymore. That’s got nothing on watching all the life flood out of those beautiful blue eyes. I thought

I lost you for real, big guy, and my heart stopped. It wasn’t broken, it wasn’t hurt, and it flat-out stopped

working because I thought I was going to have to go on without you. I love you, Rome. I’m not scared of

letting you have all of it anymore. I’ll give you everything and then some more. I’ll give you everything I

have, big guy.”

That was all I wanted to hear. Too bad I still was all messed up and couldn’t tell her any of that

awesome mushy stuff back. She had already given more than I could ask for. She gave me myself back,

she was giving me a baby, she gave me herself, and that was all I really needed. Just like Remy said, just

like she had told me all those months ago, she was just going to have to
know
it. Just like I would
know
it

from here on out.

CHAPTER 19

Cora

Shaw was glowing, and not in the typical
just got laid and it was sooooo good
way. Her green eyes

were radiant and I think the smile on her face was contagious because Ayden couldn’t stop grinning back at

her, and I kept laughing. There was no missing the elegant and absolutely perfect solitaire diamond sitting

on a simple platinum band on her ring finger. She was happy, and Rule had done a killer job picking out a

ring that was just the right amount of rock and class.

“It’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you guys.”

We were back on the deck at Shaw and Rule’s house for a cool, fall barbecue before the full chill of

October set in, and this one was going a lot smoother than the last one. Rome was still in a badass mood,

but that had a lot to do with the fact he was on crutches and sick and tired of physical therapy, not because

he was mad at the world in general anymore. He was sprawled out in a lawn chair next to the grill, and he