Page 104 of Omega
“Harris, come on—” Kyrie started.
“Miss St. Claire.” Harris’s voice was cold. “I’m not asking. Get married. You’ve waited long enough. Take some pictures and send ’em along. That’ll be enough. We’ll have a toast to your happiness when I can get out of here.”
“He’s right,” I said. “You two shouldn’t have to wait. You deserve your happiness together.”
Harris shot me serious side-eye. “You think I’m letting you sit around at my bedside when your best friend is getting married? Think again, sweetheart. You’re going with them.”
“The fuck I am!” I said, almost shouting. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Kyrie, Roth…can you give us a second?” Harris didn’t take his eyes off me.
“Sure.” Roth stood up and followed Kyrie out of the room.
Alone, Harris pulled me closer to him, wrapped a hand around the base of my spine so I was flush against the bed. “Layla. I want you to listen to me, okay?”
“Fuck that, you idiot. I’m not going anywhere.”
He just smiled at me. “Babe. Youare. You’re going with them. You’re her maid of honor. Her best friend. You can come right back, but this is how I want it. I hate weddings anyway. I look stupid in suits and can’t stand sitting down for that long.”
“Bullshit. You’re a pilot. You’re used to sitting for hours.”
“Layla. This isn’t up for debate. You’re going.”
“You told Kyrie you were primarily a pilot with the Rangers. But then Thresh told me how you stood over him when that orphanage mission went bad.”
He blinked at me. “Change of topic. Okay. Um…well, number one, he shouldn’t be talking about that mission. It’s so classified only four people on the planet even know it ever happened. It would have started an international conflict if it had been public knowledge. Number two, what Thresh didn’t tell you was that I was only part of that mission as a pilot. I wasn’t with the insertion team. I was the extraction pilot.”
“He told me the helicopter was hit by a rocket.”
“It was. Took out the engine, went into a flat spin two hundred feet up. I rode it down and jumped clear just before it hit. Rolled my ankle and dislocated my shoulder and had the hair burnt off my fucking arms. He was already down by then, and most of the team was dead. The bad guys were swarming like fucking ants, and I owed Thresh my life, so I did the only thing I could. I picked up his rifle and held them off. Wasn’t much choice. It was that or let them capture us.”
“You jumped out of a crashing helicopter?”
“Not as badass as it sounds. More a matter of timing and knowing how to fall.”
“Harris.”
He grinned. “Okay, fine. Itwaspretty badass.”
“I’m staying.”
His expression darkened. “Layla. Please. The only thing I hate more than being bedridden is the idea of holding up Kyrie and Roth’s wedding. They’ve been through a ton of shit. I refuse to let them wait three or four months just for me. It’s not going to be a big deal anyway. Just them and you and Cal and the reverend on the beach on Roth’s private island. I won’t be missing anything, I swear. You do the wedding, party with your best friend, and then come back here to me.”
“Nick, I don’t want to leave you. What if something else happens?”
“Vitaly is dead. His daughter is dead. Cut is dead. There’s no one else to carry out the grudge. It’s over. You’re safe. They’re safe. You don’t need to be afraid, okay?” He cupped my cheek. “You can Skype me when you get there. We can…what would you call sexting, but with Skpe?”
“Skype-sex?” I suggested.
He shook his head. “Not catchy enough. I’ll think of something. Point is, you’re going. I’m just going to be sleeping for the next few days anyway.”
I sighed. “I don’t like it. I’m still adjusting to the idea that this thing between us is real. And now I’ve got to leave you when you’re wounded?”
“Thresh will be here and Sasha will be with you. Alexei and Andrei are with Kyrie and Roth. Nothing else will happen. And as for you and me…Layla, babe. It’s real.We’rereal. I really love you. Which is why I’m making you go.”
I rested my cheek against his. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Layla.”