“I think you’ll be an amazing veterinarian,” Rev said encouragingly.

“And how can you tell?”

Cocking his head, he stared at me for a moment. “There’s something about you that says you have a caring nature.”

“Except when it comes to my parents.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself about them. Lots of people have complicated relationships with their families.”

“Do you?”

Rev smiled. “How quickly you forget—my father killed my rapist, gave up his church, and divorced my mother. I would say that makes for complications, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head. “But you still got along with your father, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. He was a good man despite his faults.”

“You seem to get along well with Bishop.”

Rev grinned. “Ah, yes, my dear, sweet baby brother who should have been here half an hour ago with dinner.” After he laughed, he added, “Yeah, he’s my best friend. Along with our older brother.”

“What about your mother?”

The amusement in Rev’s face was replaced with such a look of admiration and tenderness that it caused an ache in my chest. “She’s my hero. Everything good and decent that I am is because of my mother.”

His endearing words, along with the conviction with which he spoke, momentarily left me speechless. I couldn’t help wondering just for a moment what it might be like to have such a woman as my mother. “She sounds like an amazing person.”

“She is.” The corners of his lips turned up in a smile. “She’s probably one of the reasons I’m still single. She’s spoiled me too much.”

“So there’s no girlfriend or wife back home?”

“No. There isn’t.”

Although I couldn’t explain why, his answer gave me a sense of relief. Hitting him with his question from earlier, I asked, “How is it that a man as handsome as you is still single?”

He grinned. “Stop it. You’ll make me blush.”

I couldn’t help laughing at his teasing remark. He was such a paradox—a tender, gentle soul wrapped up in a handsome, yet hard and gruff exterior. “Seriously, though. I might’ve only known you for a few days, but I can tell what a good, decent, and caring man you are. Not to mention the easy-on-the-eyes bit.”

Rev ducked his head shyly. “I don’t know why other than I got my heart broken a couple of years ago.”

My fists clenched at my sides, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to scratch the eyes out of a girl I’d never met—the girl who had dared to break Rev’s heart. “That’s a shame, because you deserve someone who makes you happy, not someone who hurts you.”

Rev’s head shot up at my comment. His intense stare made me regret what I said. He opened his mouth to say something, but the hospital room door burst open and silenced him. Bishop blew in laden with food bags.

“Finally. What took you so long?” Rev asked. He stood up and started to reach for some of the bags, but Bishop jerked them away.

“Oh hell no! Don’t you even begin riding my ass about how long it took. Do you know how fucking far we had to go to find a car?” He paused dramatically. “An hour.”

“I’m sorry—” Rev began, but Bishop shook his shaggy blond head wildly back and forth.

“Did I mention how during that hour I had to ride bitch with Ghost so that I could drive the car back?”

The corners of Rev’s lips twitched like he was fighting not to smile. “That sucks, man. I’m sorry. I really am.”

“You better fucking be,” Bishop muttered. He then sidestepped Rev to come over to the bed. He plopped a McDonald’s bag down in front of me. “The only good thing about driving an hour away was fucking civilization.” His blue eyes narrowed on mine. “I hope you like McDonald’s.”

I could tell he was just waiting for me to complain. “I love McDonald’s, and I haven’t gotten to have it in forever. Thank you, Bishop,” I said sweetly as I reached for the bag.

His shocked expression was somewhat comical. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome.”

As I unwrapped a cheeseburger, my stomach growled noisily. The moment I bit into it, I moaned in delight. “This tastes amazing.”

Bishop grinned. “Glad you like it.”

Rev came over to the bed. “You got anything for me?”

“There’s at least five cheeseburgers in there,” Bishop replied before he went over and plopped down in the chair Rev had been sitting in.

With a wink, Rev asked, “Mind if I have a cheeseburger, or do you think you’ll devour them all?”

I laughed. “You can have three. I think two will be my limit.” I glanced over at Bishop. “Unless you want one.”

He shook his head as he rubbed his stomach. “I ate on the drive back.”

With Bishop taking the only chair, Rev surveyed the room to figure out where to sit. “You can sit on the bed if you want,” I suggested.

He contemplated my words for a moment before he finally eased down on the edge. A few minutes went by with just the sounds of rustling wrappers and chewing.

“So what happens when we get to El Paso?” I asked around a mouthful of cheeseburger. It struck me in that moment that my manners would have appalled my mother.

“You get on a plane home to Virginia, and we get our asses back to Georgia,” Bishop replied.

My hand froze as I was bringing the cheeseburger to my mouth for another bite. “Back to Virginia? But what about College Station?”

Rev started to answer me, but he was interrupted by Bishop snorting contemptuously. “Sorry, sweetie, but there is no College Station for you anymore.”

Rolling his eyes, Rev said to Bishop, “Did anyone ever tell you that your tact sucks?”

Bishop shrugged. “Truth is the truth.”

I swallowed. “But I have an apartment in College Station and a life.”

“Well, that life is over. As for your apartment, I’m sure we could get some of the Texas Raiders to pack it up for you.”

Now it was my turn to snort. “You have got to be kidding. A bunch of strange bikers pawing through my things? I don’t think so.”

“Fine. Since you’re too good for bikers’ help, get some of your daddy’s people to do it. The only sure thing is you’re not staying in Texas on our watch.”

“Why not?” I challenged.

He sat up straight in his seat. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Bishop,” Rev growled.

My gaze flicked between the two brothers before I narrowed my eyes at Bishop. “No, actually, I don’t get it. I guess you could say my view of things is a little skewed after being in captivity for the past two months.” I added, “So why don’t you enlighten me?”

Bishop stared at me for a moment. Then a grin stretched across his face. “You know, I think I like you.”

“Lucky me,” I snapped before I could stop myself. I wasn’t sure what had come over me. In the past, I never would have given attitude to someone like Bishop.

He laughed. “You remind me of my sister-in-law, Alexandra.”

“Why is that?”

“Because unlike the club wh—women, she doesn’t take any shit from me.”

“I like her already.”

Rev chuckled at my response. “I agree with Bishop that you guys are a lot alike.”

I put down the rest of my second cheeseburger. “Maybe I should come to Georgia with you two and meet her.”

Both Rev and Bishop’s mouths dropped open in shock at the same time. “Huh?” Bishop asked.

“Well, apparently I’m not supposed to stay in Texas, although I don’t know why not. I sure as hell don’t want to go back home, so Georgia sounds good.”

Rev took a long gulp of his Coke. As he wiped his hands on his napkin, he appeared to be contemplating just how to respond to me. “Texas is Diablos headquarters. You aren’t safe anywhere in the state, but especially not in College Station, where their traffickers do their prospecting.”

Just the thought of the Diablos sent a chill prickling over my skin and sent my heart racing with the sudden tension. My bite of cheeseburger felt lodged in my throat, and it took two tries to swallow it. The room dipped and swayed a bit as I heard myself asking, “You think Mendoza is still alive?”