The Rules of Survival (Mercer #1)

RoS Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Careful, Mercer. It almost sounds like you're feeling sorry for me."

I shoved him without thinking. "You wish, Montoya."

He gasped, and his exhale was a long groan. Clutching his side, he tried to remember that the concept of breathing should be second nature, not something you struggled to maintain.

"Sorry," I said, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Justice grunted and visibly forced himself to relax against the wall.

"Maybe lying flat would be better," I suggested, dumping the first aid kit and supplies onto the floor. I shuffled to sit with my back against the window, my legs pulled into my chest to give him more room.

"No. I just need a few minutes, then I'll get out of your hair."

I cocked my head to the side. He looked far from being ready to lift an arm, let alone being able to stand long enough to walk out. "I don't think you're going to be any better off in three minutes than you are now."

A snort preceded his answer. "Do I have a choice? I blackmailed my way into your house to get what I wanted. I have the disturbing feeling that if I shut my eyes for more than five minutes you'll take advantage of the opportunity and smother me in my sleep."

"Oh, but you know me too well," I replied, voice dripping sarcasm. "Though, I prefer using far more creative methods – I still haven't heard you scream yet. I think I'll aim for that as my end result."

"God help me," he muttered, though he didn't appear to be concerned.

I turned my nose up at him, all imperial like. "Unlike some people, my middle name isn't High King I Get What I Want. So if you need to, you can stay here for a few hours until you get yourself together. Because if you leave now with the intention of driving home, you'll probably pass out behind the wheel and take out some poor unsuspecting Chicagoan whose only crime would be being out on the streets with your dumb ass."

Justice lost the battle of keeping his lids up, and his response was so mumbled I almost missed it. "No. I'm not staying here. I'll be gone. Few minutes."

Yeah, right.

I watched as over the next five minutes his breathing evened out and the last bit of tension left his body. He looked extremely uncomfortable like he might wake up with a serious kink in his neck, but I didn't dare move him. He'd either wake up and snap at me, or he'd wake up in more pain than he already was. Why I cared one way or another was beyond me.

Crawling to the foot of Teresa's bed I leaned over and snatched a couple of the worn blankets from the floor. I draped one over Justice's sleeping form, and curled up at the top corner of the bed with the other.

The idea was to get some much needed sleep, but the reality was I ended up watching him like a hawk. I didn't intend to. It wasn't like I expected the guy to spring up and launch a surprise attack because first, he could wipe me off the face of the earth without bothering about sneaky tactics, and second, although he was dangerous, ruthless, and a threat with a capital T, I was starting to come to the conclusion none of it would ever be a problem for me.

Obviously he wasn't above using methods such as blackmail and half-truths to get what he wanted. But not once in the past three weeks had he ever laid a hand on me with the intent of doing me serious harm, despite trying my hardest to drive him to doing so. Reluctant as I was to admit it, I was safest with Justice lying by my side. And how much did it burn to admit? Not as much as I thought it would.