Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(180)

And now she was making sure my heart was free of guilt, too.

There was only one thought left.

“Marr—”

“Is this it? Nurse said Room Twelve-A.” Marcus’s profile appeared in the doorway. “Yep.” He smiled at me when we made eye contact. “He’s in here. Yo, Cap,” he motioned, pointing, “he’s in here.”

It was good to see the big bastard.

Marcus dipped his head and eyed everyone cautiously, taking in the roomful of people already crowded around us as though he was walking into an unknown shit-storm.

“Looks like you two are popular,” the skinny nurse with the weird black glasses said, smiling. She was messing with the machine that controlled my IV, hitting buttons and making shit beep.

Our captain skidded to a halt outside the door and then followed Marcus inside—both of them still in their ATTF uniforms.

“All right. You’re all set,” the nurse said to me. She flipped the bed control thing around the metal rail, locked me in, and shimmied past a blockade of cops. My leg was throbbing, my body felt like hammered shit, but I was glad to see so many people surrounding Erin and me with their love.

Officer Brian Sidel wrapped his knuckles on the door, checking to see if it was okay to enter. He had a bouquet wrapped up in cellophane in his hand. He gave me a quick nod and headed over to Erin, presenting her with the flowers.

Good.

It may take a while for Brian and me to patch the rift between us, but I was glad to see he was making an effort.

“How you feeling?” Marcus asked. He gave me a once-over, pausing on my bandaged leg.

My toes had a pulse of their own. “Like a million bucks.”

“Yeah? You look like shit, bro,” he tossed back, grinning.

“Thanks, man.”

Cap gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Glad to see you’re in one piece.”

Yeah, me too.

My eyes flicked over to Erin, watching her being sweet and social while probably suffering in private—just like I was.

She was alive and smiling. That’s all that mattered.

“Local PD needs to see you then,” Cap said. “You’ll have to give them a statement of what went down.”

“Yeah.” I scratched my head, finding the motion tricky with the IV line taped to my hand.

“So you dated this girl?” Cap asked.

I knew he was waiting for an explanation and was pissed that I got shot. “Barely.”

Marcus muffled his mouth with his hand, keeping his words private between us. “If you call getting a blowjob datin’, that is.”

Cap’s brow rose. “Yeah?”

There was no denying that. It was what it was.

I tried to sit up more, manning up to my mistakes. “Won’t be making that mistake again.”

Cap’s eyes flashed across the room, nodding in Erin’s direction. “Yeah. Hopefully she’ll make an honest man out of ya.”

The meaningful look Cap, Marcus, and I shared put us in agreement on that one.

“Your suspect is in custody, so I’d say that shit is over and done with,” Marcus added. “Same with our television careers.”

Cap nodded. “Miss Warner ain’t too happy with that but there’s nothing she can do about it now. Top of the food chain is involved now. She was in my office earlier. I told her that the safety of our officers comes first and I will not allow our team to be put in jeopardy.”

It didn’t take much effort to imagine Cap chewing out Melissa Warner. Shame I didn’t get to witness that. “Yeah? How’d she take that bit of news?”

“Not very well,” Cap said, “but I think she understood, not that I give a f*ck either way.”

It felt good to laugh.

Cap’s cell rang. He checked the screen. “Excuse me. I’ve got to take this.” He slipped past Marcus, almost knocking him into my bed.

I watched Sidel shake my dad’s hand. I hoped his gesture was sincere.

“Hey,” Sidel said to me, “how you feeling?”

“In one piece.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad to see it.” He offered his hand.

I shook it.

No words were necessary. Shit between us would get put behind us—in time. Felt good to take that first step.

“That was the crime lab,” Cap said, pocketing his cell. “They’re still running the recovered weapon and casings through Ballistics, but their preliminary findings indicate that the gun the suspect fired was the same weapon used in the shootings at Erin’s house.”

My gut sank. “You serious?”

Cap nodded.

Marcus drew in an incensed breath.

“Kara was the one…?” I wanted to puke. It was hard to f*cking breathe.

Cap crossed his arms across his chest and glanced over at Erin quickly, minding his volume. “Looks that way. We won’t know for sure until we see the final report but the score marks on the casings are identical.”

I rolled away from my woman and pegged them both with my gaze. “This shit stays between us for now. I don’t want her hearing that from Cherise. You get me?”

Marcus nodded.

“I need her to heal up. I got enough shit on my plate.”

Marcus gave me a reassuring pat. “No worries, bro.”