The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 6. What's Mine Is Mine

            I stared blankly at the wall of the hotel. My body still felt numb from the events that took place.

"Andrew?" Ace murmured. "You need to calm down. Maybe we should get back home."

"No," I spat. "I'm not leaving until every one of those fuckers are dead. You can leave if you want to, but I won't."

Austin stared at me worriedly and shook his head. "You're definitely a Garcia."

"At least wait until we have more backup. I can get a few guys out here. Look, I know that what happened is bad—"

"Bad?" I shouted. "It was a fucking catastrophe!" What's mine is mine, and when you fuck with what is mine, I get pissed off.

"Look, you're pissed off. I get it, but sometimes thinking smart rather than vengeful works out better," Ace said.

"No," I said and laughed humorlessly. "No, Dad. I'm way fucking past pissed off. I'm not leaving Jacksonville until every Latin King in this city is dead. I'll do it without your help."

Stormy and Abigail came into the room. Abigail put Stormy on the bed and walked over to me.

"Andrew, relax. Abigail is fine," Ace said. "Things could have been far worse. She's alive, and that's the only thing that matters."

I shook violently with anger. My breathing hadn't slowed since I dropped Abigail from four stories up. Ace had managed to catch Abigail by some fucking miracle, and both of them had fallen to the ground but weren't hurt.

"Ace, can you take Stormy out for some ice cream. I'll talk to him," Abigail said softly.

"No!" I snapped. "No. She's not leaving this room. Neither of you are until—"

Abigail threw her hand over my mouth, so Stormy didn't hear the violence that threatened to explode from my mouth. "Ace, Austin, please."

"I'll take care of her," Ace promised.

Ace grabbed Stormy and smiled at her. "What is your favorite ice cream?" he asked as he headed for the door.

"Chocolate," Stormy said.

"Chocolate? No way. Mine too," Ace cooed at her. Austin followed after him and closed the door.

Abigail kept her eyes on mine. She raked her fingers through my hair, which sent a shiver down my spine. "It's okay, baby," she murmured. "I'm okay. Look at me. I'm fine. I'm not hurt." She pressed her body against mine. Her long curly brown hair fell over her shoulder, and she smiled.

"But what if you hadn't been?" My throat tightened as I spoke. "What if you—"

"I didn't. Okay?" she said sternly. She stood on her toes and pecked me on the lips. "Calm down."

As everything sank in, I slowly calmed down, but an intense feeling bubbled up inside of me. Both of my girls were safe, and they were with me. Abigail didn't resent me for what happened today.

"Andy, what—" Abigail stopped and swallowed hard as she took in the intensity that had built in my eyes. I brought her hand to my cheek and inhaled the sweet scent of the perfume on her wrist. My lips brushed softly against her wrist, and my throat went dry.

It wasn't just about sex. I needed to feel her, to wrap my head around the fact that she was here with me. I needed her the same way I needed oxygen to breathe. The irrational thoughts that swarmed around my mind like a thousand bees dissipated, and suddenly it was just her. There wasn't any way to describe or compare her. Touching her was like touching Heaven, but somehow better than that.