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Chapter Five

Globe

N ot even seconds later, Irene is passed out over my shoulder. She wasn’t heavy to begin with, but now that she isn’t squirming around, she’s a lot lighter.

Walking to the main clubhouse is lengthy, and I’m pretty concerned with how much blood she’s lost while still losing more. Since she’s passed out and not able to say her needs, it increases the anxiety.

“Man, she seems like she’s bleeding more,” Matteo says as pressure lands on my shoulder, stopping me.

“Let’s adjust her to a bridal carry instead, give her body a better ability to flow her blood.

” Not sure what exactly that means, but it sounds smart and makes enough sense to me.

Nero and Matteo both work to gently fold her over my shoulder and into my arms. This position isn’t easy, but the color on her pale face returns slowly.

Matteo glances at the wound with fascination, an odd but familiar look crossing over his face as I hike her higher in my arms. He shakes his head, looking away from the river on her arm.

“I will hold her arm while you walk,” Nero demands as we start moving again.

“What do you think happened with the girl?” His question has been ringing in my head since the moment she ripped out of my arms to go check on that scream.

Nothing could have prepared me for seeing Irene being shot.

It didn’t seem fatal at the time, yet her being pale and passed out isn’t helping me feel any better.

Nero holds the back door to the clubhouse, letting me slide inside easily with him in tow.

“Not sure,” I answer, my head conjuring all sorts of things that are probably not even close to what happened. “Matteo, call Shark and let him know that shit hit the fan at the agency. Inform him we have Irene coming to medical. Nero, call Doc.”

Nero appears uneasy as he lets go of her arm but does so quickly to make the call. They both suddenly become frenzied in their conversations, and as we round another corner, we are met with another member.

“Shit, what happened to her?” Viper hisses as he pauses in front of me. I sidestep him and simply keep going.

I huff. “Walk and talk.” Fuck, medical should not be this far into the clubhouse. I swear I have been walking for twenty minutes. With limited lung capacity, I recount what happened from the time she flew out of my arms to right now.

“Let me go get Shark-” Viper starts.

“Already on his way,” Matteo says, cutting him off.

A clean bed comes into view, and my straining muscles thank me.

Setting her down as gently as I can, Doc storms toward us with a nurse on his heels.

Neither of them appears to be in a ‘fuck around’ mood, so I dive into what happened all over again.

“I want a CBC and BMP pulled for stat analysis, CRP, ESR, and PV pulled in twelve hours. Saline drip to start, and let’s grab an antibiotic…

does she have any allergies? Blood type?

” He asks the group as he and the nurse work side by side to prepare Irene.

They look like they are about to take her back for a fucking life-changing surgery, and my heart beats a million additional times at the thought of losing her.

“Iodine, penicillin, and plastic tape,” Shark reads off his phone as he comes down the hall hauling ass.

Nothing like learning about a person through a medical emergency.

“Swap the iodine swab for pure alcohol, clindamycin for the antibiotic instead,” Doc tells the nurse as she quickly works to swap the material cart out. As she comes back, whatever she sees makes her face pale to the shade of pure white.

“What?” I demand as the compulsion to protect Irene grows stronger, the pressure inside of my chest demands justice on her behalf. Bringing my fist to the spot, I find it does nothing to soothe the ache.

“The wound is deeper than I anticipated. The call did not make it seem this deep. Nothing to worry about, though,” he explains confidently. “Prep three-zero absorb suture. Let’s do a deep horizontal mattress suture.”

“A-positive blood type,” Shark announces to Doc, who seems pleased.

“Thank you, Pres. That will be all from you. Please leave.” His hand waves toward the door as he focuses on her again.

Something inside of me wants to force him to let me stay, that she needs to have me there with her when she wakes to ensure she isn’t scared.

Before I can act on anything, Viper has a death grip on my bicep and drags me out.

I don’t put up a big fight. Instead, I let my mind wander to the female lying unconscious with blood pouring from a wound that didn’t appear too deep.

In my shitty thirty-two years alive, I have never once felt like this.

Fuck, not even my tattoos made me feel this alive when I was under the needle.

Nero’s hands rake through his hair in frustration, and I can’t stop the snarl that leaves my throat. “She shouldn’t have to be alone!” I bark out to the group, not really aiming at anyone in particular, but the look Viper gives me has my confidence waning.

The obsession.

“Shit, you have it bad,” he drawls with a shake of his head. “Doc is more than capable of taking care of her.”

Matteo stares at me as I fight the stupid feelings that are growing inside of me. His eyes look as if they are trying to see into my soul. Little does he know that my soul has been ripped out by one accident and placed in the hands of the bleeding female.

Fuck, I’m usually not this chaotic. My thoughts are all over the place as I try to get myself together. What if she dies and I never get the chance? What if she doesn’t feel the same? All it took was just a look for her to knock me off kilter.

“What do you have?” Maverick asks as he sits down next to me at my desk. I adjust my glasses and glance over at the screen.

“Kastilof is on the run again, but we are working to pinpoint his location once more. He realized we were onto him previously, so that forced him back into hiding.” Cursing under his breath, Mav leans his head into his hands, almost like he isn’t sure what to do at this point.

Honestly, I’m right there in the same boat with him.

Turning my attention back to the screen, I continue to keep the awkward encounter to a minimum.

“He frequents several locations around the area, even big-name casinos. Pretty sure Black Viper’s MC spotted him yesterday at one of their local bars. We will find him.”

The door to my office creaks open as a female walks into the room.

Her deep black hair almost looks blue, but her face is currently masked with utter frustration and irritation.

Her deep gray eyes threaten to swallow me whole if I look into them for too long.

Fuck, I must look like a fucking stalker because I have to literally rip my eyes away from her to stop myself.

How had I never seen her around here before?

Turning away from her, I go back to looking through footage on the computer.

“Maverick, here’s the paperwork you asked for.

Kastilof is a slippery son of a bitch, huh?

” She chuckles mirthlessly, and the sound has my head snapping back to her.

When she looks back at me, and our eyes connect, my entire body dances with electricity.

A second later, she shakes her head and steps away.

Mav and her exchange words, the file she is holding suddenly being slapped against his chest before she books it out of there.

“Who was that?” I ask in awe. She definitely wasn’t afraid to tell him off.

“Irene?” he responds, his voice rising in question.

“She works over at the agency. She’s the head of case management.

” Fuck, not only is she beautiful, but she’s fucking smart.

What can’t this female do? The feeling in my stomach hollows out as the temptation from within begins to set-in-stone. She is mine.

“Fuck,” I grumble and slide down the wall.

Plopping on my ass, I drop my head between my knees.

I’m never this far out of my field. I’m playing a totally different game with rules I’m not familiar with.

If I don’t focus on something new, and fast, I might see myself going back there to ask if Doc needs an extra hand just to ensure my girl is safe.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I stand before I get too comfy. “Matteo, let’s go work on getting that footage so Irene doesn’t have a conniption.” Matteo nods and follows me out, Shark’s voice sending Nero off to do his own tasks.

“Who knew a flesh wound could bleed so much?” He asks after several moments of silence.

I hold our office door open and let him pass.

Even with his breezy demeanor, I can see his shoulders bunched under his shirt.

The light gray colored tee-shirt stretches tightly to the point I can slightly see the designs covering his flesh.

“What kind of tattoos are those?” I question, moving my thought process away from the terrors threatening to eat my mind.

The last thirty minutes have been us festering about her pale unconsciousness, the smooth skin on her body that was several shades too light for her natural complexion.

Her raven hair shimmering under the too-bright fluorescent lights cast an eerie glow, one that seemed to match her general mood.

It was almost a sense of déjà vu.

Matteo’s brows pinch downward as he assesses his chest and shoulders. Obviously he’s confused about how I would know since he’s looking at himself while trying to piece together my question.

“They are geo-mandala style. The pattern looked dope in the shop. Got them before everyone else jumped onto the trend.”

My mouth moves faster than my brain. “Can I see them?” Shock registers on both of our features as I attempt to backtrack. “Shit, never mind,” laughing at myself as I turn on my heel and shut the door to my office.

I have no fucking clue what has gotten into me.

Ever since we brought Matteo into our group, I haven’t been able to keep my thoughts clean.

They are dirty and wicked, which isn’t professional and has no sense of reciprocation from him.

He’s fucking hot, there’s no squandering that thought, and with my openness to men, it doesn’t affect me much more than usual.

However, I have no idea who he is attracted to, and I would much rather not have him tucking tail because of a slip of the tongue.

Lately, I have felt as if eyes watch my every move. Something inside me says they belong to Matteo, but my hopes aren’t going to get too high.

For a split second, I give in to the possibility that they do belong to Matteo.

Sliding my eyes closed and tilting my head back, I let the fantasy take over.

I imagine myself sinking to my knees before him, but not before licking my way over his taut body.

My own cock stiffens at the thought of taking his in my mouth and swallowing it while Irene eats my ass.

Suddenly, the entire scene is in my head, playing to perfection.

Like a chain, Irene pounds into my ass with the perfect-sized strap while Nero fucks her perfect cunt.

My palm lands on my hardened dick, and I squeeze it, hoping to deflate it. I know it won’t. The scene far too real for me to let this slide, and I moan.

“Globe?” A knock reverberates through my office and has me immediately snapping out of it.

Fuck. Think of anything else.

Granny panties?

Blood.

Fucking them all in the blood.

No.

Watching Irene roll around in the red substance while we drill into her with fervor.

“Globe?” He knocks again, his voice sounding desperate.

Clearing my throat, I sit up straight and tuck myself tightly under the desk. “Yeah?” I call and wave him in.

Matteo opens the door softly, and the fucking man basically presents himself for my perusing.

Shirtless and tatted, I’m fucking speechless.

Naturally tanned skin holds tightly against his perfectly sculpted body.

Geo-mandala patterns span across his chest and shoulders, my mouth watering at the sight.

Shit, he’s hotter than my imagination. Nothing in my head serves him justice. He doesn’t say anything as my eyes peruse the expanse of him.

“I got these right after my first run. It was the biggest cut of profit I had ever seen after being patched in,” he explains, his eyes burning into mine as I meet his stare. “The first run was almost my last…” there’s a haunted look in his eyes, one that I know far too well.