Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
He might have as well torn Zolt’s heart open with his teeth. “Leo… you need to rest. Don’t talk,” he whispered, leaning over as the coppery scent of blood stabbed his nostrils, but Hank pushed at his shoulder.
“You owe loyalty to your family first, Leo! What the fuck?”
Leo groaned and tore his eyes away from Zolt to look at his father. “Yes. Family.” Despite his whole body trembling, he reached into his jean pocket with bloodstained fingers and pulled out the stupid engagement ring that kept coming back like a curse. He swallowed, took a deep breath and pulled on Zolt’s hand to get it closer. “Will you marry me? Zolt?”
Zolt barely registered the groans all around them, focused on the dainty little ring set with diamonds. It was ridiculous. They’d only known each other for so long, and their relationship had been on the verge of breaking apart just twenty-four hours ago. For all they knew, Leo might be in serious condition, and this was what he wanted to do?
He really wanted to dedicate those moments to asking Zolt for a forever?
Their eyes met above the ring Leo attempted to push on Zolt’s thick ring finger, and Zolt took hold of Leo’s hand, directing it to the smallest digit, where the band slipped past his first knuckle before getting stuck.
“Only if you get well,” Zolt whispered, forcing the words out of his clenched throat as tenderness pulled him lower, until he held his cheek against Leo’s. “So you need to survive. I love you.”
Marriage was something so beyond his comprehension he’d never considered it in his future plans, but he wouldn’t have traded the ill-fitting lady’s ring for even the most luxurious life in the Caribbean
Leo clutched at Zolt’s arm with more strength than a man bleeding out of his shoulder should have, but the shake of his fingers gave away the seriousness of his state. “He’s family, Dad,” Leo mumbled as his mother stroked his hair, sitting by them with her lips clenched.
Hank didn’t get to say anything, because the distant howl of the ambulance turned everyone’s attention to the open gate. Some of the club members rushed outside to help the medical crew find them, but Zolt remained with Leo, holding on to him with all the strength he had while the tight golden band pulsed around his pinkie.
Stupid. Romantic. So Leo.
Within minutes, the cops arrived too, and had Trowley’s body covered with a bag by the time paramedics transported Leo to the ambulance. Everything in Zolt longed to be with him, but Leo’s mother got the privilege of accompanying him to the hospital, which left Zolt to stand on his tiptoes in order to make sure Leo was still conscious.
The police wouldn’t let them off the hook before gathering information either, so if Zolt didn’t want to get arrested on top of this whole mess of an evening, he would have to wait for his turn next to Hank. He could sense the club president’s tension oozing off his clenched fingers.
“So you wanted to claim the Jackal kill despite it being on Leo?” Hank whispered, eyeing Zolt’s new ring, which glinted despite the blood covering the diamonds.
Zolt took a deep breath, not yet ready for the grilling that would surely come now that Leo was out of commission. “Leo has too much to lose. I’m on my own. Nobody to mourn me, and he might be a father soon,” he said with a shrug.
Hank squinted at him and clicked his tongue. “And you’re accepting that ring?”
Zolt clenched his teeth, steadying himself for a punch coming his way. So it was a provocation, but he wasn’t going to beat around the bush after Leo so publicly declared their relationship. “Yes.”
Hank groaned but nodded. He discreetly pointed to yet more police cars arriving. “Once this is all over, if he still wants to sponsor you, we’ll talk about your involvement in the club.”
Half of Zolt’s thoughts were with Leo, and he could sense phantom pain in his own shoulder where Leo’s wound was still bleeding. But the other side of his brain was in fact processing Hank’s words.
The Smoke Valley MC club president hadn’t threatened to murder Zolt as soon as the cops left, but was instead offering Zolt a future. One in which Zolt would be a part of something bigger, of a family, where he’d be accepted as Leo’s husband, and where we wouldn’t have to keep his walls up at all times.
He had no doubt the police would take their time, and they were up for a long night, but as long as he got to see Leo safe and alive by the end of it, Zolt would be a happy man.
When Hank was approached by a cop, Zolt looked down at the silly gold trinket on his finger and couldn’t help a smile.