Doc.”
I furrow my brow. “Doc?”
“Yeah, you can’t go to the hospital with a gunshot wound unless you want the cops to swarm you like maggots on rotten meat.” Phoenix winks at me. “But it’s okay. We’ve got a guy.”
“You people really do live a crazy life, don’t you?” I whisper with a shake of my head.
“It’s not always crazy. Only about ninety-nine percent of the time,” Xander says, wincing as he shifts against me.
“Is this going to be our normal?” I ask, stroking the side of his face.
“I don’t think I can walk away now, Char. I know what I told you, what I thought I wanted, but I need to take my place.” His jaw twitches. “Can you handle that?”
I bite down on my lower lip. “I know I can’t handle being without you,” I murmur. “And that I need you in my life.”
The corners of his lips curl upward. “I love you, Char.”
“I think you proved that to me ten times over tonight alone.” I kiss his cheek, gripping onto the lapel of his destroyed tux. “I can’t believe you just took a bullet for me.”
Phoenix starts to usher everyone toward the back door. “Save the mushy shit for after Xander is patched up. We don’t want him bleeding out down here with the rest of this fucking scum.”
Xander
I hobble up to the front door of Doc’s house about twenty minutes later, Charlotte’s arm tight around my waist, and Jase following behind us. Phoenix and Dad stayed behind to deal with the mess we left behind, including Blaine.
Chase and Asher really came through for me. They showed their loyalty and didn’t ask any questions. They had total and complete blind trust in me right when I needed it most, and I owe them big.
“Consequences.” It was the one word I managed to utter as Jase and Charlotte rushed me past Chase.
He just gave me a silent nod in return, and I know he’s remembering our last conversation in the cafeteria.
I think he finally gets it.
Chase and Asher did a good job of keeping Blaine quiet thanks to some box cutter threats and a lot of duct tape, but he’s gonna need some extra convincing to keep his damn mouth shut about what went down tonight.
Convincing in the form of blackmail pictures of his father ass-ramming strippers. And there’s always an attempted rape charge we can have slapped on Blaine if he needs more reason to turn the other cheek.
The story is an easy one to concoct, especially if you have friends in high places, which we do.
If Blaine has any hope of keeping his hands on the money his father had left, he’ll watch his step, especially since the partnership between Carl, Moretti, and Charles pretty much went up in smoke when we blew them into the next life.
He doesn’t have much, but what he does have will go up in smoke if he plays his hand wrong, something Phoenix will make crystal clear.
When we left the event, it was in full swing. A soundproof basement and silencers helped the firefight stay under the radar, although everyone upstairs was too boozed up to notice the host was nowhere to be found. Once she pulled herself together, Cammy hung back to explain away Charles’s absence to anyone sober enough to ask.
I’ve got to hand it to her.
I dropped the gun next to her, not a hundred percent convinced she’d use it. But she surprised me. For years, she’s played the victim, never speaking up, never challenging Charles, accepting his abuse, always afraid to pop her bubble of a life. Tonight, she grabbed life by the balls and didn’t give a shit about consequences. She took down the monster who killed her son. She made him pay for his sins. She was a total badass.
I have no doubt she’ll make a good business partner.
After tonight, I don’t think she’s gonna take shit from anyone anymore.
It’s about damn time.
The door creaks open after a few short knocks, and the wrinkled face of the old-timer who has been our go-to guy for underground medical attention for years grins at us.
“Xander.”
I nod. “Doc.”
I’ve always only known him as the Doc. I don’t know his real name and never asked. He fixes shit up and makes sure we’re drugged enough not to feel pain. That’s good enough for me.
“Come in,” he says in a hushed tone. Jase claps him on the back as he walks in behind us.
I clutch my shoulder, wincing with every