Chapter 53 Mila In a race, we sped down the coastal road, back to Deadwater. Arran might have used subterfuge to get Convict back, but he was giving a clear message to whoever watched us returning home. The four big, black vehicles drove in a tight formation, fast and direct. No one got in our way. I cradled Convict's head on my lap. His breathing was steady and his temperature okay, but a red mark stained his temple. God only knew from what. Arran had been on the phone to a medic who'd told us to take him straight to hospital. It terrified me what they might say. I stroked his hair and tried to control my spiralling panic. We rolled into Deadwater's Scottish suburbs and crossed the bridge to the English side, arriving at the hospital's Accident and Emergency drop-off. Tyler opened the back door, but it was Arran who collected Convict from the seat and carried him to a waiting gurney. A fifty-something doctor whisked us straight into a consultation room without batting an eye at the crew members who populated the ward after us. She questioned us, ran tests including a CT scan, then moved us into a private room to await the results. Still, he didn't wake. Quietly, I panicked over him being here and not safe in the warehouse. Was he a wanted man? I didn't think he'd been under arrest, at least not officially, but running away from the police while on probation couldn't help that cause. I twisted my fingers together with anxiety. Arran held up a sentinel's position next to the door. "He'll be okay. Other than hating being here." "What if he isn't?" "He has the hardest skull of anyone I ever met. He took enough hits to it as a kid." My heart squeezed. "But he wouldn't know if it hurt, would he? What if he missed the warning signs? What if I did? Then the police hurt him somehow." He'd run with Kane, who'd vanished since, then passed out the moment he got into the car. I didn't know if it was the effort or some other combination of factors, but the fact he still hadn't woken terrified me. I picked up his hand and held it, a drip in the back keeping him hydrated. "He left this morning before I woke. Why was he in Leith? Do you know?" The intimidating gang leader twisted his lips. "No. But I know where he was seen being put into the back of the police car. My informant told me he appeared unconscious, then." He named the road and the building Convict had been outside of. Our Marchant dockside warehouse. I couldn't make sense of it. Why not wake me if that's where he intended to go? Realisation crept in. "He didn't want me there because of what he might find. It has to be." Arran made a sound of gruff agreement. There was pity in his eyes. My emotions churned all the more. I gently set down his hand then paced to the window and jammed my fingers into my hair. "If he was hurt because of my family, I won't forgive them. I won't forgive myself. I brought him into this mess. If the man I love⁠-" "Whoa. Now she finally says it?" I spun around. Convict pushed up onto one elbow, scrubbing his eyes with his free hand. I rushed to his side. "You're awake." He reached out and pulled me onto the bed with him, then eyed Arran. "In the nicest possible way, please fuck off for five minutes." His friend watched for a beat, relief in his smirk alongside a dozen questions. He left us anyway. The door closed, and Convict palmed my cheek. "Say it again." I pressed my lips to his. He took over, holding me to receive his devastating kiss and showing me he felt the same desperation I did. Then he broke away. "Again, Emilia." "I love you." Convict held up his finger and marked the air. A point to him. Yet another game. I burst into tears and hugged him hard. "One more time," he demanded into my hair. "I love you. I should've told you." The wonder in his eyes and his smile of happiness nearly broke me. "I don't deserve you, but I'm keeping you anyway." He tipped his head to the door. "Pull that curtain around and get naked. We have four minutes left." I choked on my tears and laughed. "You've been out cold for two hours. No way am I getting your blood pressure up again. Or anything else for that matter." "I need you. I've waited all my life for someone to love me." My heart swelled, and I stroked his cheek, flushed red with warmth. "Then I'll spend the rest of my life showing it to you so you never miss out again." A knock rattled the door. Arran opened it a few inches without looking in. "The doc's back. If you're given the all clear, I'll get you out of here." Convict allowed me to hop off the bed, but I kept his hand held tight in mine. The doctor entered and ran her critical gaze over Convict. "Mr Locke, I'm glad to see you're conscious. Tell me what you remember." He glanced at me then spoke of getting caught trespassing and tasered by the police. The next thing he knew was waking up in the safe house. The mark on his forehead was from electricity? Nausea churned my belly. The doctor listened carefully. "I've reviewed the results of your scan. Considering the injury, you were lucky. A Taser incident like that could cause a fracture, haemorrhage, or even seizure-like activity. However, I am glad to say I discovered no new fracture and no bleed. You are concussed, though. That is likely the reason for your loss of consciousness. I recommend remaining here in the hospital where we can keep an eye on you." Convict shook his head, his lips flattened. "No chance. Tell me what to look out for?" She sighed though didn't seem surprised. "Headache, confusion, balance issues, and any other instances of loss of consciousness, then you need to be coming straight back in here. Do you understand?" He blinked. "Perfectly, thanks. Can I go?" "Against my better judgement, yes." He punched the air. Arran's phone buzzed. He read the screen. "What do you know, Detective Dickhead is in the building. Want to say hi?" Immediately, the doctor stood. "I need to see other patients. Stay out of trouble, Mr Locke." I stared after her. She'd been paid off. More and more, I understood the sphere of influence the skeleton crew wielded. But I didn't get Arran teasing about Chief Constable Kenney. "We need to go," I said. Convict watched his friend. "Or not. Is he here alone or mob-handed?" "Tyler says alone." "Let him come in." I swung my gaze between them. "What are you doing?" Convict squeezed my hand. He'd never let go. "Showing him that the tables have turned. I won't run scared in my own city." The door opened, and Tyler ducked under the frame, his expression stony. He and Arran vanished into the private bathroom. Through the gap in the door, Shade guarded the opposite side of the corridor. I knew Manny and others to be around, too, but that didn't settle my rising fear. I'd only just got him back. I wouldn't let him be taken again. A stomping came down the hall, then the door burst open. The big police officer entered the room. On the bed, Convict reclined. "What, no fruit basket? I want my grapes." Kenney's lip curled. He didn't even glance at me. "We weren't done talking, as I recall." "Didn't take you for clingy, but I was well over your bad breath in my face." "You little shit. I should⁠-" "You should what? Lie to my crew about me? Try to recruit me as a narc? Cover up for trafficking?" Kenney stalled. Likewise, I'd gone still. Convict kept hold of my hand. "I mean, on the scale of bad cop to Netflix True Crime documentary, you trying to persuade me that Arran hated me is nothing compared with ignoring my telling you about a trafficked woman." Kenney's jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Right, of course. Just a casual threat to have me thrown back in jail for crimes I didn't commit. Classic banter. You were on fire this morning. Real highlight reel stuff. Sorry to piss on your parade by leaving early." "Like I said, we weren't done talking. Tell your bitch to get out and I'll finish my piece." "His bitch is going nowhere," I snarked back. Finally, Kenney glanced my way. Something strange passed over his expression, then he switched his focus back to Convict. "A Marchant? Ironic, considering your shared background. Still want her here if we're exposing exactly what you reported to me? Be a shame to ruin this little love-in when she hears what you colluded with her family on. Do you want to say or should I?" Convict's gaze darkened. "You knew the Four Milers trafficked women who came in on boats. How many of them did you save?" Wait, what? Arran took a single, menacing step into the room, Tyler at his shoulder. "Where the fuck do you get off, Kenney?" The cop's shoulders rose an inch. "Hiding in dark corners, Daniels?" Arran tilted his head, the effect unnerving. "Don't forget, I know where you've buried the bodies. Piss me off any more and watch your career go up in flames. I'll gladly give up your usefulness to see you behind bars for life." "Don't forget it works both ways. We had a deal," Kenney snarled. Arran's tone stayed glacier-cold. "And you took my fucking crew member off the street, nearly killing him. Now make your choice. Push this or get the fuck out of this room. I'm dying to see what you pick." The cop swept his gaze across us all, swore, and stormed out the way he'd come. Tyler and Arran pursued him to the hall, and I gazed down at Convict. "I'm not going to like what you have to tell me, am I?" "No. I'm sorry for that." "Can we at least go home first?" We left the hospital and travelled the short distance back to my apartment, Arran promising a guard overnight and a full discussion the following day. We kicked off our shoes, and Convict guided me to the bedroom. On the rug in front of the silvered mirror, he peeled off my t-shirt. "We have all the time to talk tonight, but if I don't get my hands on you, I'll have a heart attack. Forgive me for breaking our four-hour rule?" I raised a shoulder, letting my bra slide off that he'd unclipped. The flare of lust in his eyes generated pure need that coasted through me. "I'm guessing there's some kind of penance you pay in this circumstance?" He kissed my throat. "I can think of something." I was certain he could. This time when I was fully naked, I had no bandanna concealing the view of his hands and inked-up arms roaming my body. His feverish attentions to my flesh. "On your back, I need to look into your eyes," he ordered. I obeyed, welcoming him into my arms and the cradle of my hips. I loved this man. Wait, I needed to say it. I tore my mouth from his. "I love you so much." "Tell me. Exactly. I need to know." I stroked his dark hair from his eyes so I didn't miss a single reaction. "I love your carefree spirit and how wild and adventurous you are. I am crazy about the way you're such an open book. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and I'm the luckiest woman in the world that this heart is mine." Convict shivered. I wasn't done. "You are loyal, faithful, and you're so giving." He bucked against me, and I groaned, already wet. Needing him more than I ever thought possible. "Every time I want anything, you're there. You are the kindest and most thoughtful man I've ever known, and although you say you don't deserve me, it's the other way around. From the very start, you've been all in, and I was the one holding back. All those big statements you made, that I was yours, that you were keeping me, that you loved me, I doubted it all. Except it was true." He pressed his lips to mine. "I've got one to add to the list: I'm marrying you one day." Damn. I whimpered. "All my doubt changed the moment I thought I'd lost you. I couldn't bear it. I'm so sorry for not sharing my heart earlier, but it one hundred percent belongs to you." Convict ran his hand down my leg and picked it up, curling it around his back. He repeated the act with my other leg then fitted his dick to my entrance. He drove inside me and groaned. Echoing the sound, I closed my eyes against the strength of feeling, so great I never wanted to recover from it. When I opened them again, he stared down at me, his emotions right there in his tortured expression. "I changed my mind." I blinked. "What about?" "I've decided I do deserve you. In fact, we deserve each other because we fought everything to make this work. I love you. I'm yours, always. Now hold on tight while I fuck that knowledge into you so neither of us ever forget." He filled me, teased me, then put on a burst of speed that sent me so far over the ledge, I almost lost my mind from the pleasure. When he came, I held him to me, too aware of his head injury. "Still alive?" I asked. "If I'm not, Hell looks nice." "Then let's stay." "If you're here? Always, little gangster." Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.