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“What?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make my political feelings known. It’s not professional.”

“You’re right, though. He’s a piece of shit masquerading as a good person. Someone needs to stop him before he becomes governor.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” She scowls at the TV before turning her attention back to me. “Let’s turn it off. There’s nothing you can do about him right now. The best thing you can do is vote. It’s the only way to stop people like him.”

I nod in agreement.

“Get some rest.”

“Did you call Scar?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

When she averts her eyes, I know it’s not going to be good news, but I ask anyway. “Is he coming to see me?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. But I did tell him you’re awake.” She pats my hand gently. “If you need anything, hit the red button.”

After she leaves, I try to control my racing heart so I won’t set off the monitors again. Minutes pass. Then an hour. He’s still not here. With every passing second, the hope in my heart starts to die slowly. If he loved me, he would have been here already. He’s not coming, so all I can do is cry myself to sleep. Which is exactly what I do.

I wake to the sound of boots clomping down the hallway. Disoriented, it takes me a moment to remember I’m in the hospital. The aches and pains come rushing back. I groan and try to find a more comfortable position.

“Which room is Julia Brant in?”

When I hear Scar’s voice, I sit up too fast, and a wave of dizziness overcomes me. My vision goes black before slowly returning. I blink, then open my eyes to find Scar’s gorgeous, soulful steel gray eyes gazing down at me. He’s standing beside the bed, holding a huge bouquet of red roses.

“I would have been here sooner, but I got caught up with some stuff,” he says apologetically. “How are you doing, babe?”

“Everything aches.” A million questions dance on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to ask any of them.

“Are you in pain? I’ll get a nurse.” He starts to leave my bedside, but I grab his hand. He sets the roses on the table by my bed before taking both my hands in his. The one with the IV sticking out of it hurts a little when I move, but it’s not enough to complain about.

“I’m okay.” I’m definitely not okay, but until I know why he’s here, I refuse to confess my fears about our relationship. “Where’s Max?”

“I drove him to Billings last night. His big brother, Joker from the North Dakota chapter, met us there. I would have waited until you were awake to let you say goodbye, but the feds are sniffing around looking for him. I didn’t want to risk it. If they get their hands on him, he’ll be sucked into the same system that failed my brothers and me. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Joker? Seriously?”

“It’s his road name. He’s a bit of a prankster but great with kids. He’ll make sure Max stays safe. Everyone in Underground Vengeance shares the same mission. We all want to do what’s best for the children we rescue.”

“I understand, but I wish I could have said goodbye. Max is such a sweet kid. I hope he’s able to recover from everything and go on to live a good life. Who will he be staying with?” I ask.

“Another family in the club. For security reasons, I don’t know who they are, but Joker does. Once you’re feeling up to it, we can ride out and see Max. Usually, we don’t ever make contact with someone we rescued, but we’re going to make an exception in this case.”

“This case …” My voice trails off. Is that all I am to him? Just another case?

Scar pulls a chair over to my bedside and sits, gently wrapping his huge hand around mine. I’ve never gotten over his size. He’s so big he makes me feel like a petite little thing, and I’m anything but that. I wish he’d crawl into bed beside me and hold me. I want to ask him to do just that, but I keep my mouth shut. He still hasn’t said anything about us. There might not even be anus.

“I need to tell you something.” The strain in his voice sends my heart into a freefall.

“Is it about Reaper? Is he dead?”

“No. He’s fine. He was wearing a bullet proof vest.”

“Thank God.”

“It’s something else...” His voice trails off.