An Eye For An Eye (Fast & Furious | Hobbs/OFC)

Chapter 21

"You'll need to—"

"Yeah, I understand, Doc," Elizabeth huffed. "No strenuous exercise. No sleep for the next twelve hours."

Elizabeth pressed her hands against her ribs and winced. By some miracle, she'd walked away without any obvious internal bleeding. The fractures would heal in their own time, so long as she didn't go picking fights with tall Polynesians or angry ex-soldiers.

"Thanks, Jay." Luke gave an appreciative nod as the corpsman packed his bag and exited the motel room. "I owe you."

"Get me a bottle of that tequila you like," he replied, "and we'll consider this one on the house."

"Sure thing." Hobbs chuckled, giving a thumbs up to the empty doorway. He'd crossed his fingers the ex-Marine wouldn't kick up too much of a fuss, and Luke had been right. A quick admittance of responsibility and some arm-twisting had Jay on his way inside of five minutes.

"So do I mark this down as conspiracy or coincidence?" asked Elizabeth, once Hobbs closed the front door. The lock clicked into place before Luke sat himself on the cushioned lounge chair and stared right at her. "I talk to Cipher, then suddenly I'm in an accident at your hands?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really." Even if Hobbs had intentionally struck her, the end result was the same. She was bedridden for two weeks, minimum. No arguments, no buts or maybes. Her body had taken a beating and it needed to heal. "Probably would've crashed into a tree if I hadn't hit you. You saved me the pain of completely ruining the car."

For the first time in a long time, she'd gotten distracted. Lost focus and let her thoughts stray from what was important.

"We're leaving tonight, so I can't babysit you. If you need something, use the radio," Hobbs said. He'd left her a handheld as a means of communication. Without it, Shaw would be completely cut off from the outside world.

Luke had seen the remains of her GPS and it wasn't pretty. There wasn't a chance in Hell she could repair the thing, nor Tej or anyone else. Her little scheme had run its course along with her equipment. "The comms guys will patch you through if necessary," he added.

"Does this mean I owe you?"

"No."

"Good."

"But it does mean no more bullshit," Luke said. "You're done, understand? You tried to go for Cipher's throat and you failed, so I don't want to hear a goddamn word about you breaking into any buildings or climbing on rooftops."

Done? She'd barely begun. Still, it was better to appease him now. There was no sense provoking Hobbs into stationing a guard outside her room, or cuffing her to the bed. "Fine," Beth grumbled. "It's not like I'll be doing much of anything once the bruises kick in."

"This isn't a joke, Shaw."

Wasn't it? The tall, muscular hero who'd so nobly dragged her out of the wreckage was a Fed. And she'd snuck into his room and slept next to him just the other night. Now Beth lay in her own bed, wearing only her sports bra and a loose pair of shorts, while Hobbs sat not five feet away.

Had Luke been anyone else, she might've tried for a sympathetic kiss on the cheek. Flirted a little and milked her injuries for all they were worth. Instead, Elizabeth wanted to kick him out of her room so she could go sit in the shower and mope like a bleeding idiot.

"I don't need a big brother lecture from you, y'know. Deckard and Owen are perfectly capable of giving one."

"Really? Because it seems to me, you do." Luke leaned forward, his fingers digging into the upholstery. "And since Mama Volkova isn't here to put her batinok up your—"