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thirty-six

“No more MMA matches for you, Mr. Cardell,” the student health doctor informs me as she finishes splinting my fingers. “Not for a while, anyway.”

“I’ll take it easy.”

“You’ve got a few bruised ribs. That will take weeks to heal, so be kind to your body. Let your coach know that you can’t practice for at least two.”

“Two weeks?”

“Yes. Besides, these, uh, cuts that you insisted were from an MMA match will open back up if you go too hard and fast.” A grimace of pain comes over me as she tapes the last wound and stands back, then flicks off her nylon gloves into a pop-top trash can.

“But if you need to report anything to the police, they can access your medical records.”

I snag my T-shirt off the bed behind me, the twist of my torso sending another shock of agony over my chest. “I don’t.”

With a smug grin and narrowed eyes behind her thick glasses, she nods. “Okay, well, take some anti-inflammatories, drink lots of water, absorb some sunshine, sleep deeply, and hug your loved ones. But mainly…try to stay out of trouble.”

“Thank you. Will do.”

All I can think about is how I can’t fuck Pen hard and fast for two weeks. I slide off the examination table and head to the front, where she paces in the ugly motel waiting room. The vision of her makes my heart flutter. She rushes into my arms but is careful to squeeze me gently.

Her warm eyes gaze up at my face. “What did the doctor say?”

“I’m fine. Few bruised ribs and everything will heal.” I wave my new metal braces on my fingers. “Even the digits.”

Pressing her face into my chest, she mutters, “Good. I love those fingers.”

I place a kiss on the top of her head and smile. “I know you do, and I love you.”

“I’m taking you home and making you soup.”

“You’re not participating in Terror Tuesday?”

She sticks out her tongue. “Are you kidding? Who can think about Greek points now?”

Resting an arm over her shoulder, I lean against her as we wander toward the parking lot. “I’m going to tell the senate I fucked up. That I reviewed what happened and you didn’t use a weapon.”

A boisterous laugh comes from her belly as she glances up at me like she’s checking to see if I’m serious. “Why would you do that? It doesn’t even matter to me anymore.”

“Because I want to make it right. You deserve the points, Pen. I ruined it.”

She spins and halts in front of me, pressing her hands into my chest, which aches under the pressure. “You ruined nothing. I don’t care about the points. All I want is for you to get healthy. For us to finish up here and move on.”

Finish up here… I wonder how she must be feeling after seeing the evidence of her brother’s torture room. Finding Nico guarding me. Shooting him.

If I were one hundred percent, I’d probably have the strength to say something more.

This situation needs to be handled delicately, or the entire balance at Northview will shift into derision.

Things have always been terse between fraternities and the motorcycle clubs that fill their ranks.

But war is something we’ve always avoided for fear of death, or worse, from the society.

Our assignments are to take care of loose ends, and no one wants to become one of those. Brothers who go rogue or take matters into their own hands are the fastest to get shot between the eyes by initiates.

They’ll start with families, the ones closest to you. Make you die last, so you have to watch them burn alive before you meet the gods.

The way my girl hesitates before her next words makes me wonder if she’s thinking the same thing.

“I mean, move on to our beach house…and away from this city.”

A sad smile tugs at the corner of my lips. I need to focus on not being in so much fucking pain before I can figure out my next step. And how I can fuck Pen without cracking another rib.

She’s like a sexy nurse, the way she bumbles about the apartment, situating everything for me.

Especially after giving me a sponge bath.

If I lean heavily on the pile of pillows behind my back, I can almost take a deep breath without wanting to yell in misery.

The bandages wrapped around my torso help somewhat, but not enough.

With my broken fingers, I have no use of my hands.

“Here,” she says, easing to a sit next to me, a steaming bowl held out in front of her.

“What’s that?”

“Bone broth, and if you can handle it, some beef and noodle soup for later, too.” She lifts a spoon to my mouth, and I take it, the cramps in my stomach finally settling for the first time in two days.

My eyes squeeze shut at the pleasurable sensation of getting some food in me. “I can handle it.”

Her face lights up as I take more in, then she balances a cup with a straw for me. Reaching my neck forward, I take a few sips of cool water.

“I like you like this,” she says.

“Like what?”

She rolls her lips to hold back a smile. “All needy for me.”

“Fuck, pink cheeks. I’m desperate for you, honestly. You’re all I think about. You’re what…” A flashback to the last two dark nights, worried about how I’d get out of that room alive and back to her, invades my mind. “You kept me going.”

Setting the glass down on the nightstand, she stares at the sheet around my waist. “I’m sorry my brother did those things to you.”

I shrug. “He loves you and was trying to protect you, but he doesn’t realize something important.”

“What’s that?”

With all the metal and tape around my hands, I can barely feel her face when I caress it, but I try. “You can easily protect yourself, and you will never need protection from me.”

“Good, because I’d hate to break the rest of your fingers.”

I chuckle, but wince after a stabbing sensation follows it.

A knock sounds at the door, and Pen jumps to get it. Aiden strolls in with his eyes focused on me and his jaw set with a look I know too well. Henry enters just behind, making a beeline for the bed and jumping on it, then latching his arms around my neck until I groan.

“Sorry, sorry!” he says, then slides off the bed and heads over to the fridge, grabbing a few beers.

Aiden stands at the end and crosses his arms, not accepting Henry’s offered bottle. “Who did it?”

Pen keeps her gaze on my face, her mouth closed.

“There was a misunderstanding with some of the Marauders,” I explain.

Aiden snaps his head toward my girlfriend and waits, but she doesn’t speak.

“But it’s settled now. No need for any retaliation.” My voice is firmer this time.

“Sure, Ryan.” Aiden says it with a sneer, like perhaps I’m not going to tell him to kill Pen’s brothers in front of her but will later.

“I mean it. Don’t do anything.”

“You want me to sit back, you want Dad to stand down, after the Marauders took you and hurt his first-born son?”

My hand resting on Pen’s thigh squeezes her gently as much as I can muster. “Yes.”

“I can’t do that, Ryan.”

Henry drops a beer cap, kicks it under the sofa slyly, as if he didn’t, while his head whips back and forth between us.

“I’m sorry, Pippi, but your brothers need to pay,” Aiden says without inflection. He’s already got a plan for their destruction, I’m sure.

My girl stares at the ground and takes a deep breath. “I understand, Aiden, but this may cause worse problems. Not just for the Vipers, but for everyone at Northview.”

“That’s the thing,” I tell him. “Our families will be joined by the end of this academic year. Pen is appointed to me, and I’m going to marry her. Besides, Oz did help me a few times over the last couple of days.”

“ Helped you.” Venom drips from his voice.

“Yeah. He brought me food and water. Chatted with me. Kept me from losing my mind. I don’t think either of her brothers wanted to end me, but how would you feel if you thought someone messed with Olivia.”

“Hunter will go in the ground.”

“But why haven’t we done that yet?”

Aiden relaxes his shoulders and licks his bottom lip. “Because Father hasn’t given the order yet.”

“And why do you think that is?”

His jaw clenches for a moment. “It may cause other issues.”

“Exactly. Olivia would then get appointed to someone else… Someone worse . Hunter is a controllable asset. If he’s out of the picture, we may not be able to stop what comes after.

If you kill one of the Freidenbergs or a Marauder, the revenge they’ll seek will seep through the ranks.

There will be war between Delta and Theta for years.

And over what? Some bruises I could get in a rough hockey game? ”

A pause of silence passes. My brother lifts his chin and nods slightly. “You going to tell Dad that?”

“I’m sure he’d agree with me, but yes.”

“Fine.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay.”

I watch him carefully for any sneaking signs that he’s going back on what he’s saying, but he seems to have agreed.

“Great. Give me a hug.” Aiden’s different from most people, devoid of most feelings that are soft. He’s more about getting a goal accomplished in any way possible. But he’s not uncaring . Not for his family, anyway. And I know that will include Pen when the time comes.

As I lean forward, he gives me a short pat on the back, but deepens it for a moment, then sits back and stares at me. “If they had done worse?—”

“Yeah, I get it. Be glad they didn’t.”

When my brothers leave, I phone my father for a tense conversation about what happened. He’s not pleased to be in the dark about things, but I feel proud that he admitted I was right. No one should mess with the Marauders.

“Not yet.” He ends the call ominously.

I don’t tell Pen that, because I’m hoping by the time they see us together, that our families are united, everyone will calm down about this silly situation.

Pen gets a funny look on her face when she returns from locking the door. One hand rests on her hip as she studies me from the foot of the bed.

“What?”

Instead of answering, her smirk widens as she crawls up the bed seductively, and my cock jumps underneath the sheet, watching her body sway like a tiger toward me.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Playing with you.”