“Ya think?” Leo said sarcastically.
Eagle ignored him and walked around the bed to Smoke’s other side. “It’s about time you woke up from your nap,” he teased, then squeezed his friend’s shoulder before walking out with his arm around Taylor.
Skylar went to the side of the bed and leaned down and kissed Smoke’s temple. “I was all ready to take over as your wife’s breathing coach,” she told him with a small laugh. “But as much as I love Molly, I didn’t want to have to see that much of her in the delivery room.”
She hugged Molly, then approached Cassidy. “I love you, girl. So much.” She hugged her as well before following Eagle and Taylor out of the room.
Leo gave Cassidy a little push toward the bed. She walked as if in a daze. Smoke wasn’t out of the woods yet, but he was stubborn, as was Molly, so she had hope that he’d make a full recovery. She’d never been more relieved in her life than when Smoke’s eyes opened.
Well, maybe knowing Lloyd was dead—and she wouldn’t be forced to become a sex slave for a mansion full of drug dealers—was a tad better than this moment, but just by a smidge.
She felt awkward simply standing next to the bed, so she picked up Smoke’s hand in hers. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly.
“For what?” Molly asked.
Cassidy couldn’t hear anything but confusion in her friend’s tone.
“For Smoke getting hurt.”
Molly shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault, so you have nothing to be sorry for.”
It was also a relief to hear her friend sounding more like herself. For the last three days, Molly had hardly said anything.
Cassidy jolted when she felt Smoke squeeze her hand. Looking down, she clearly saw his fingers tighten around hers. She looked at his face. He still had a breathing tube down his throat, so he couldn’t talk, but his eyes opened for another brief moment and looked into her own.
The tears she’d managed to beat back earlier returned full force.
His brows furrowed slightly.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “We’re all okay.”
His head shifted on the pillow, and he looked over at his wife.
“I love you,” Molly told him, tears spilling down her cheeks. But the smile on her face was huge. She might’ve been crying, but they were tears of joy.
Cassidy squeezed Smoke’s hand before backing away from the bed. The moment between Smoke and Molly was beautiful and so heart wrenching, it hurt.
Feeling Leo’s arm slide around her waist, Cassidy turned to look up at him. The love she saw in his eyes made her knees weak. This man was her world.
And everything was going to be all right now. She just knew it.
As the nurses burst into the room, fussing over Smoke and happily exclaiming over the fact that he’d woken up, Cassidy waved to Molly before she and Leo slipped out of the room.
Leaning against the wall just outside, Leo asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah, I am.” And she was. Smoke recovering was the catalyst. She was alive. Mario was alive. She was finally with a man she loved, who loved her back. They’d already made plans to fly out to El Paso to see her parents after they got back from Mexico. Life had thrown a lot at her recently, but with Leo at her side, Cassidy knew she’d be all right.
“Ready to go get Mario?” he asked.
Cassidy nodded. They’d been dropping him off and picking him up at school the last few days, as neither had been comfortable letting him ride the bus. Cassidy may have wanted him to get back to his routine, but that didn’t mean she was ready to let him out of her sight any more than necessary.
There hadn’t been time for anything else between shuttling Mario and sitting at the hospital, waiting for word of Smoke’s condition. Cassidy was exhausted, mentally and physically.
“I love you, Cass,” Leo told her.
“And I love you. More than you’ll ever know,” Cassidy said.
“I know. Because I love you the same way.”
Chapter Twenty
The time to talk to Mario had come.
It was two days after Smoke had woken up, and the doctors had finally assured them that he would eventually be as good as new.
Mario had been in an extremely bad mood that morning. He’d snapped at Leo when he’d gone into his room to wake him, and he’d been stomping around Leo’s house as if he were five years old instead of eleven and a half.
Cassidy knew if she sent him to school, it wouldn’t go well, so at breakfast—when all Mario did was push food around his plate and refuse to meet her eyes—she turned to Leo and said, “Mario and I are going to hang out here this morning.”
Leo met her gaze for a brief moment, then nodded. “Sounds good. I need to meet with some detectives from the police department.”
“Everything okay?” Cassidy asked nervously.
Leo reached across the table and took her hand in his. “It’s fine. They just want me to read over their official report on what happened and make sure they didn’t leave anything out.”
Cassidy sighed in relief. “Okay.” She’d been scared to death Leo and his friends would somehow get in trouble for what had happened. The security video at the airport went a long way toward exonerating them. Even through the fog, the cops could tell that Lloyd had a gun to her head. Leo and the others had acted in self-defense.
The first night after she’d been kidnapped, all three of them had slept in Leo’s king-size bed together. Mario hadn’t wanted to be far from his mom, and Cassidy hadn’t wanted to be separated from either of them. He’d said he was fine sleeping in his own room after that night. But it was obvious to Cassidy that she needed to sit down with her son and talk about what had happened. It wasn’t like Mario to act out, and he was most definitely having a hard time dealing with everything.
“Is staying home okay with you, bud?” Leo asked.
Mario shrugged, but didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question,” Leo said, putting a bit of force into his voice. “I’d appreciate you using words to answer me instead of merely shrugging.”
At that, Mario looked up. “It’s fine,” he said. There was still a bit of belligerence in his tone, but at least he was responding.
“Good. Because I need you to look after your mom for me. She didn’t sleep well last night, had a nightmare, and she’s feeling a bit off kilter today.”
Cassidy nudged Leo’s leg under the table. She didn’t want Mario to know about her nightmares. She was embarrassed as it was that she was having them. She was safe, Lloyd and Martin were dead, and her injuries were healing. She had absolutely nothing to complain about and didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her.
But Leo ignored her not-so-subtle request to shut up and kept talking.
“Your mom is anxious about talking to you, but you’re old enough to know the details about what happened and why. I hope you’ll treat her with care as you have your talk.”
“Leo,” Cassidy complained, but he didn’t turn to look at her.
“Okay?” he pushed.
Mario looked from Leo to her, then back to Leo. Finally, he said, “I will.”
Leo nodded. “You gonna finish your eggs?”