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“Okay.”

“I don’t know what she’s told you...”

“If she thinks you’re worth all this, then we know you are.”

He appreciated the benefit of the doubt when he hadn’t yet been able to prove to them he’d treat Lyricright. “If I didn’t have all this other stuff happening, I could be what she sees in me.”

“Then, finish whatever it is and be with her.” Melody made it sound so simple.

And he was so close.

“The nurse is here to check on her. Gotta go.” Melody hung up, leaving him feeling helpless.

Nick didn’t waste words. “Plane will be ready when you get to the airport. Once you land, Hawk will be there to helicopter you right to the hospital.”

“For real?” He couldn’t believe his cousin, Hawk, would do that.

Nick’s gaze filled with concern. “She looked really bad.”

He didn’t need the reminder. The image of her was burned into his mind.

His phone pinged with an incoming text. He tapped the video and watched the scene play out between Lyric and the obviously drunk and belligerent man who was taller and heavier than her.

“Damn.” Nick winced. “She took his ass down.”

“Not before he hit her.”

“I think she might be able to take you.” Nick grinned and smacked him on the back. “I like her.”

“I’m in love with her,” he admitted to his brother, knowing it like he knew his name. Feeling it like a living thing inside him.

“Yeah. I got that already. Go. There’s an agent out front ready to take you to the airport.”

“Thank you, Nick, for understanding and making this happen.”

“Nothing you wouldn’t do for me.”

Viper gave his brother a bear hug, then turned and sprinted out of the garage to the waiting car, leavinghis brother with the confused, distraught, and angry wife, who had to fake her own death to keep his cover intact.

He should have thanked her for her cooperation.

Nick would do it for him. His brother always had his back. Same went for him with Nick.

Now all he had to do was prove to Lyric that he had hers.

He desperately wanted to see the video of her getting hit by the car. He wanted to know if Rick was behind the wheel. It could be just some drunk leaving the bar, but he didn’t think so. Their bouncer was good at spotting the ones who shouldn’t be driving and stopping them.

And the way Melody described things, it sounded intentional.

Which meant whoever did it could come back and try again.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Viper saw the hospital helipad and breathed a sigh of relief they’d finally made it. He waited for his cousin to set the helicopter down before he turned to him, talking through the headsets they both wore. “Thank you for doing this.”

“You’re family,” Hawk said simply. “You need anything else, you let me know.”

“This was huge.” Viper leaned over and gave his cousin a hug and a hearty smack on the back. “You need me for anything,youlet me know.”