“He’s jealous around you, Sophia. When you kissed Zero, he was angry. He wanted to hurt him. I need you to make him jealous and to make him want to fight.”
Sophia started laughing. “You really think making Edward jealous is the key to waking him up. To keeping him alive and free from drugs?”
“By having the other Skulls here he’ll see them with you. I’ll let them all know it’s just an act. You don’t have to f**k any of them to get me what I want. You’ll make sure Edward is nothing on the drugs.” Lash caught her face in his hands. “Do you want my brother and I don’t mean as a friend?”
“Yes.” The word was a mere whisper, but he caught it.
“Then you need to make him believe he’s got a shot with you. All Edward has ever wanted is you. Kate was a means to be with you.”
“You’re reaching,” Sophia said.
“I’m not. Give him the idea you two could be together. Don’t bring your insecurities into this. Be the woman you want to be, and then Edward will fight this.”
They were all silent for a moment.
“Okay, fine, I’ll do this, but you better make sure all of your men know I’m not fair game.”
Sophia pushed past him heading toward the other room.
“You’re being serious about this?” Zero asked.
“What’s the matter? Afraid you can’t handle it?”
“I can handle anything the club throws at me. I just hope Sophia can handle Edward. This is going to be a tough couple of weeks.”
Lash nodded. “You can flirt, kiss, even stroke her, but don’t go too far. Sophia is taken.”
Zero held his hands up. “I wouldn’t cause any harm.”
“I saw the way you were looking at her. Don’t.”
While Edward was still in the club, even barely, Lash was going to look out for his brother and protect what was his, even his woman.
Chapter Six
Sophia watched as Edward shook on the mattress. Lash had left a couple of hours ago, and Zero was sat beside her. The biker had taken the first night watch with her. She’d never seen Edward like this. Leaning forward onto her knees she fought the urge to go to him. Lash had forbidden any comfort. It was horrid, and she hated not comforting him.
“Are you all right?” Zero asked.
While she watched the man on the mattress, she felt his eyes on her.
“I’m fine. I’ve got to be fine. This is all I’ve got left to do. Lash has seen to that.”
“Do you really think you can walk away after this?”
“I don’t know.” She turned to look at him. “I’ve got to take Lash’s opinion that we can fix Edward and that he wants me. Last time I checked the world doesn’t work that way.”
Running fingers through her hair she stood up heading toward the stove. She poured some milk into a pan.
“I’ll have a hot chocolate,” Zero said.
She went about making them both a hot chocolate.
“I saw Nash, not Edward, with Kate. He couldn’t stand her half the time, but whenever that woman mentioned she needed to go home and if someone would give her a ride, he was always there. No one was allowed to take her home but him.”
Stirring the chocolate into the milk she stared straight ahead of her. “What are you trying to say?”
“He was getting there to be with you. When you came to the club that day badly bruised, he was beside himself. You’re everything to him, Sophia.” She turned and handed him the cup of hot chocolate. “You may not think it, but I know you can get him through this.”
“What if this radical detox doesn’t work? We don’t even know why he got addicted in the first place.”
“We’re getting the drugs out of his system, and then we’re going to see about everything else. Lash won’t go easy on his brother.”
She sat down, taking a sip of the chocolate. An empty bowl lay beside the mattress ready for when he vomited. She’d placed a blanket around him to make sure he wasn’t too cold.
“I wish this had never happened.”
“It did, and now we’re dealing with the consequences of that. Lash knows his brother better than anyone.”
She nodded, watching the bed again. This was the first time she’d spent a great deal of time with any of his friends.
“What was Kate like at the club?” she asked, turning to him.
Zero looked uncomfortable. “You don’t want to know.”
“He spent a lot of time with her away from me. I need to know what he saw in her, if he saw anything at all.”
“She f**ked everyone, Sophia. Her mission in life was to have all of The Skulls’ dicks inside her. I wasn’t into her, and she hated me for it. Edward just gave it to her because she was easy.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“What? Why?”
“I needed to hear that. You’ve just confirmed I’m nothing like my sister. I couldn’t sleep around, and I don’t make it my life’s ambition to f**k everyone. Thank you.”
“You’re one strange chick.”
She finished her drink. “I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I’ve got a bed in there as well. I’ll give you twenty minutes for privacy.”
“Okay.” She left him alone, going through to the other room. In the corner, far enough away from the bed was where one of the Skulls was going to sleep when they stayed with her at night. She missed her apartment, the comfort of being off the floor.
Pulling her clothes off she quickly put on her nightclothes and climbed under the sheets. Without fail Zero walked in twenty minutes later. She watched him put his gun on the floor beside him and start to strip. Turning away, she gave him the privacy he deserved and closed her eyes.
In the other room she heard Edward whimper. Biting her lip, she stayed in bed waiting for sleep to claim her. This was the first time she’d been about to sleep in a room with a man.
She wasn’t completely innocent like Edward thought she was. She’d had sex before but had never actually spent all night in bed with a man. After the appalling sex she’d left the guy’s room immediately, not wanting to see him again. The first time was supposed to be the worst.
The sex had been so bad she’d not even gone looking for more.
Soon she felt sleep claim her.
The sound of vomiting and screaming woke her up. Jerking up in bed, it felt like she’d just fallen asleep. She scurried out of bed. Zero was also getting out of bed.