A breathless laugh slipped from Jake now, some of the tension that had claimed him slipping out with it. “Yeah. I guess I should have known.”
Neil nodded and moved forward. “How are you?”
Jake shrugged. “Okay now, but I got banged up pretty good. My side of the SUV was crushed like a stomped-on pop can. I lost a lot of blood and I was trapped, but Dante and Tomasso weren’t far behind us and pulled me out.” He smiled crookedly. “They peeled the metal away as easily as peeling an orange. My leg was sliced pretty much straight through, but they managed to get me out without it coming off completely, and then they put me in their van while they handled the scene. Fortunately, they’ve been keeping their blood in the back of their van since arriving at Nicole’s, and they started feeding it to me the minute they could get away from the police.”
Neil’s eyebrows rose. “Hell, I didn’t know the accident was that bad. I’m glad you didn’t lose the leg.”
Now it was Jake’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t it have grown back? I’d think the nanos would feel that two legs were necessary to be at peak condition.”
Neil looked surprised at the question. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of an immortal losing a limb. I know a couple who have suffered a bad enough wound the limb was hanging by a bare thread of skin and it healed. But I don’t know if the nanos are capable of actually replacing a whole limb.” He smiled wryly, and added, “And since the only way to find out is to cut off a limb and wait, I don’t think I really want to know.”
“No,” Jake agreed.
Neil hesitated, and then said, “Actually, when I asked how you are, I didn’t mean physically. I can see you’re recovered from the accident.”
“Oh,” Jake flushed. Neil meant was he over the snit he’d been in since waking up to find he was an immortal . . . or really since he was eighteen and found out about immortals. Had he accepted the turn and emotionally adjusted to it? Was he willing to be welcomed back into the fold of the family and stop shunning them like lepers?
“I’m sorry,” Jake said finally. “I realize now that I acted like an ass and you guys deserve better.”
Neil tilted his head slightly. “So you’re okay with everything?”
“Yeah,” Jake said slowly, “I think I am.” Smiling apologetically, he admitted, “Having to explain everything to Nicole helped me see things more clearly.”
Neil glanced to Nicole at the mention of her name and Jake did as well.
Reaching out, he brushed her cheek. “I’ve been running around thinking you all were monsters and that I was too now that I was immortal. But telling Nicole that I hadn’t changed inside and that I was still the man I used to be before the change, with the same beliefs and feelings as I had before . . . Well, I realized that was true . . . and that it was probably true for all immortals. I mean, Mom was still a great mom, and Roberto was a good father to us both and you were a good brother. The only thing that changed when I found out about immortals, and that you were all members of that select group, was me. You didn’t change in your attitude to me, but my perspective and how I treated you guys changed. Explaining it to Nicole made me realize that immortals are just people, but with some extraordinary gifts.”
“Then thank God for Nicole,” Neil said with feeling.
Jake chuckled and reached out to take her hand where it lay on top of the sheets and hospital blanket. “Yeah. Thank God for Nicole.”
Neil moved closer to the bed and peered down at her face silently for a moment, and then announced, “She’s pretty.”
“She’s fricking beautiful,” Jake corrected and added softly, “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah, you’re in love,” Neil said with amusement and when Jake glanced to him with surprise, he shrugged and said, “She’s pretty bro, but I’ve seen prettier . . . and so have you. So it must be love that is making her the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met.”
“Love,” Jake murmured with a frown as he peered back at Nicole. He liked and cared about her. Nicole was a good person, with a big heart and an almost naïve trust in the goodness of people. She was also creative, talented, and funny. Jake found he was often smiling or laughing with her. He had fun with Nicole. Hell, he’d even had fun shopping with her today and Jake wasn’t a fan of shopping. But in love?
In lust, maybe. He would accept that. The woman was hot. She smiled and he got a semi erection. She touched him, even just a brush of her fingers on his arm, and that semi turned into a full-on nuclear erection. But when she kissed him? Forget about it. His blood immediately went south leaving his brain a bloodless blob incapable of functioning.
“Isn’t the combination of all of that what makes up love?” Neil asked quietly, obviously reading his mind.
“Maybe,” Jake allowed, and then argued, “But we’ve only known each other a matter of days. It can’t be love already.”
“Man,” Neil said with disbelief. “You’ve spent most of your life around immortals, have even been one yourself for seven years now, and yet still think like a mortal.”
“I’m not sure—” Jake began.
“Time means little to immortals and absolutely nothing when it comes to life mates,” Neil said, interrupting him.
“Ah.” Jake smiled crookedly. “So Dante and Tomasso told you about that too?”
“About Nicole being your life mate? Yes.” He peered at her and then said quietly, “I’m happy for you . . . envious too,” he added with a small smile. “But mostly happy for you. Especially since her arrival appears to have helped you deal with things.”
“Do I need to apologize again?” Jake asked wryly. “I probably should. I haven’t been fair with you and Mother, or Roberto and the others.”
“We understood you were struggling with it,” Neil said quietly. “We wished we could help more, and were sorry you felt you needed to be alone to handle it, but we understood.”