Chapter Twenty-Three

The beeping of a machine had Adira fluttering her eyes open. She stared at the tiled ceiling for a moment before turning her head. Hunter stared down at his phone as he scrolled. As if sensing her stare, he looked up and jerked upright when he saw she was awake.

"Baby girl," he said scooting forward. He took her hand in his. "Hello there."

"W-what," she mumbled, falling silent. She licked her lips. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," he told her. "You had surgery. Do you remember what happened?"

Her mind swam and it took a moment for a memory to surface. Then, when it did, she gasped and struggled to sit up. Hunter pressed a hand on her chest, halting her, but even if he hadn't done that, the pain would have prohibited any movement.

"My father shot me," she said softly. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"Are you in pain?" Hunter demanded. "Where's the nurse button? Damn it! Where the hell is the nurse button?"

At that moment, the door opened and Ares walked in, carrying two bottles of soda. When he saw Hunter distressed, he put the sodas on the sink counter and hurried over.

"What's wrong?" he asked anxiously. "Is something … Adira!"

"She's in pain," Hunter told him.

"N o— "

"Why haven't you pressed the intercom?"

"Dude, I'm searching for it!"

"I'm oka y— "

"It has to be around here somewhere."

"Guys, I'm okay." They didn't seem to hear her, so she got louder. "Hunter. Ares. Stop."

They stopped and looked at her. She gave them a wan smile.

"I'm okay. No pain."

Ares picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. "I'm so glad to see those baby blues, sweetheart."

"My father shot me," she whispered brokenly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"We know," Hunter said. "Look, we have some bad news."

She searched his face and then looked over at Ares. "What is it?"

"Your father, um. He…" Hunter's voice faded.

"He needed to be punished," Ares said flatly.

Something in his tone caused her to tense. "Has he been arrested?"

"No."

Then she knew. Just like that, she knew what his punishment had been, as well as who had dispensed it. She looked away, not sure how she felt about that. She wasn't even sure how she felt about her father anymore. It broke her heart that he was gone, but he'd already left her a long time ago.

"It's going to take me a while to sort through my feelings about him," she said. A lone tear trailed down her cheek and she wiped it away. "How?"

"He hung himself," Ares said stiffly. "His guilt was overwhelming."

"I see," she said softly. And she did. She had a choice to make. To go along with everything they were telling he r— or not telling he r— or bring the lie into the open.

"Wait, before you say anything, I want to tell you that Lori fucking lied," Hunter said. "I never told her I wanted you to work upstairs at Belladonna. I wanted you to work as the floor manager."

"We want you, Adira," Ares added. "For always. We don't want a toy or a plaything…"

"Well, we do want to play with your thing," Hunter interrupted and Ares shot him an incredulous look. Hunter only smiled and she smiled back.

Ares rolled his eyes. "So lame, but he's got a point. We want to be with you. Share our lives with you. We want all of us to live together full time."

"Maybe we can find a house," Hunter interjected. "And buy a really big bed."

Adira chuckled, which jolted her shoulder and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Ouch. Don't make me laugh. I was devastated when I thought we were over because I didn't want us to be over. I will never want us to be over because I love you both."

"We love you, too, baby girl," Hunter whispered and ran a finger down her cheek. "About your father…"

"No," she said. "My father was obviously a disturbed individual who let the sin of greed take over. I, for one, do not want to think about him anymore."

"Are you sure, sweetheart?"

She nodded. "Very. I'm not about to lose my new family to my old one. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," they said together.

Adira sighed and closed her eyes. "Then, when I'm better, we'll go house hunting."

She opened one to eye to peek at them, and grinned at their very happy faces.