Page 9 of Grim's Gem
“Mother fucker!” I yell as a knife flies past my head and stabs into the wall not three inches away. I hear Jade snicker. She's been doing that with every inconvenience since I walked under that ladder. First, someone dinged my bike with their car door (I had to hold back from killing them), then someone swerved into our lane on the ride over here, and now the damn knives. I refuse to believe it's because of that damn superstition.
“What the hell?” I ask, looking at Halle, who is going for another knife, while Loki glares at her.
“Pet,” he warns, but that doesn't work for her this time. I quickly grab Jade's hand and pull her to the side as another knife is thrown at Loki's head. He dodges it just like the first, but I think it slashes across his cheek. That's confirmed when blood trickles down the side of his face. Of course, he doesn't even pay it any attention.
“Pet, stop throwing the fucking knives. You're going to dull the blades.” He rolls his eyes.
“Dull blades are the least of your concerns, mister. You better be worried about a punctured nut sack,” she seethes.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” I ask the room. Everyone seems to be sitting around ignoring these two, but my face was nearly nailed to the wall, and I want to know why.
“All I said was she needed to fucking rest. She’s been stressed since the…” Loki stops himself before he can say miscarriage, and we all wince, knowing how hard this has been on both of them.
“Actually, fucker, you’re wrong. You didn't say I needed to rest. You said I couldn't go on the next run. You are not sitting me out of all the action,” she says, putting her hands on her hips.
“It was just a suggestion, Pet. I figured…” he starts, but stops when she points a finger at him.
“That's where you were mistaken. You figured anything about me. When was the last fucking time I was predictable?” Well, she's got us there. The whole room is silent because we know that Loki just lost this argument with that one statement.
“Umm… You have blood…” Jade says, and when I turn to look at her, she's pointing at her cheek while watching Loki. She looks a little green, and I forgot she was sick with all the shit going on.
“Fuck,” I curse as I grab her and carry her quickly to my room.
I take her immediately to the adjoining bathroom and set her down. The minute I do, she runs to the toilet and makes gagging noises. I start the tub, wanting her to relax and settle a bit. When she's done throwing up, I pull her to me and brush her hair out of her face.
“Why don't you get in the tub and try to relax? I’m going to get you some crackers and ginger ale. I’m also going to grab a swabfrom my office downstairs. I’ll get one of my brothers to drop it off at the hospital for testing later today,” I say.
“Testing?” she asks.
“The flu went around the hospital. Actually, that's why I haven't come and kidnapped your sexy ass sooner. I was stuck at the hospital for nearly two weeks straight because our other doctors were out. Then I got it, which took me down for a while. It's been hell. Throw in that I haven't laid eyes or, more importantly, hands on my woman in nearly a month. Let's just say I’ve been going a bit crazy,” I tell her honestly.
“Oh no. You were sick? I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I would have totally nursed you back to health,” she says, pouting. I chuckle before grabbing the edge of her shirt and slowly lifting it above her head. Her breath catches, and I groan as I realize her nipples are hard points standing right in front of me.
“If you weren't sick, I would throw your sexy ass down on the bed and make sure you can’t walk tomorrow. Then you wouldn't be able to run out on me. Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job wearing your ass out last time,” I say, leaning down and growling into her neck. It makes her giggle, and that sound does something crazy to my heart.
“Get in the tub, Clover,” I tell her before backing out of the bathroom. Before I can get the door shut, she speaks.
“Clover?”
“Yeah, clovers are lucky, and you're my good luck charm. Plus, a jade stone is supposed to bring you luck,” I explain.
“But you don't believe in all that superstition shit.” She looks at me, surprised.
“I think I might start to,” I tell her, winking, then shutting the door. I place a shirt on the bed, reaching for the drawer with my sweatpants. On second thought, the shirt should be big enough—no need to cover her up more than I have to. With a grin spread across my face, I leave my room and go down to my office.
“Yo, Grim. Can I get some ointment and a bandaid from you?” Rodeo asks, breezing into my office as I pull out the swab for Jade. I will have one of the brothers drop it off at the hospital tonight. I can have the techs rush it, so the results should be in tomorrow.
“Yeah, of course, Brother. Everyone okay?” I ask, opening the drawer two down. Just as I'm about to pull out a regular bandaid, Rodeo speaks up.
“Yeah, Paisley fell and scraped her knee. She swears she's fine, but Rome saw blood and had to make sure it gets cleaned and bandaged up.” Rodeo chuckles while still rolling his eyes. I chuckle along with him.
“That kid sure is overprotective,” I comment.
“Yeah, fits in just perfectly around here. I swear he truly is Loki’s son, and you can't convince me otherwise. No way those crazy genes ran in two different families.”
I laugh outright at that one because, yeah, it's true. If it weren't for Rome's dark skin tone and that I was there the day Loki and Halle saved him and Rae, I would need a DNA test to prove Rome isn't Loki's biological son. Thinking about it, I never thought I would see the day Loki would look at a kid with so much love and adoration, but that's exactly how he looks at both Rome and Rae. Hell, he even looks at Paisley that way.
I return the plain brown bandaid to the drawer and pull out the pink ones with a little sun shining on them. I toss that and the ointment to Rodeo before heading out.