Bash and I both rushed forward. My brother-in-law pulled back the curtain and we found Hawk sitting straight up in bed, his fingers tangled around the IV in his arm, ready to rip it out. “Where the fuck is she?”
He had tears rolling down his face but his eyes were those of a predator who was trapped and only wanted to get to his mate.
In less than a second, I took in the monitors attached to my brother—that were going crazy because of his heart rate, and the IV that was pushing fluids and blood back into him that he was about to rip out. One nurse was shaking with pure terror but she was at least trying to keep Hawk from hurting himself more.
“Calm down,” I commanded as I reached Hawk and grabbed the arm that didn’t have the IV attached to it.
Hawk’s muscles were tense, as if he were ready to fight me, and I tightened my hold. Bash took his other arm and between the two of us we got Hawk pushed back down onto the mattress, but it was a hell of a struggle to keep him there. Despite the blood loss and obvious pain I knew he had to be in, Hawk was hyped up on the adrenaline of needing to find Gracie.
“Where is she, Jet?” Hawk demanded, his voice hoarse. “Is she okay? Is she safe?”
“Calm the fuck down and I’ll tell you,” I promised, but the truth must have already been in my eyes because Hawk only started struggling harder.
“Is she alive? Tell me she’s alive,” he roared and pushed against my hold.
“Hawk!” Raven was in front of him now. He jerked at the sound of her voice but seemed to calm down enough that I wasn’t having to struggle to keep him down. “Stop, you’re hurting yourself. Look. You’re bleeding.”
I glanced down to find two bloody spots on the hospital gown the nurses had put on him. He’d popped his stitches.
“I don’t give a fuck. Where is she, Raven? Where is she?” His tears were falling faster and his voice cracked as a sob raked his body. “Tell. Me.”
“They took her,” Raven told him, and his entire body went stiff. “The Italians took her, Hawk. We think they’re working with her grandfather.”
“Let me up.” His voice was calmer now, his tears instantly drying up. “Get off me.”
Confused by the sudden change in my brother, I actually loosened my hold and moved back a step. After a few seconds Bash did the same. His gaze zeroed in on the two nurses standing behind Bash, as if they were using him as a shield. “You. Get that fucking doctor back in here and stitch me up.”
“Hawk…” Raven tried to intercede. He was too calm, too quiet. We all knew that when Hawk was like that he was at his deadliest.
“Now.” He raised his voice just enough that the nurse flinched and rushed to do as commanded.
“Don’t do something stupid,” Raven urged. “You just got out of surgery. You’re in no shape to do what I can only imagine you plan on doing.”
“Go to the clubhouse, Rave. Be with your kids.” Hawk glared up at the ceiling. “Tell them Uncle Hawk loves them.”
“Stop it,” she pleaded. “Don’t do this.”
“Get her out of here, Bash.”
Bash moved to wrap his arms around her waist. “I’ll take you back, baby.”
“No,” she cried and fought against his hold. “Hawk, you can’t. Let the others go. You aren’t in any shape to go. Please. They’ll kill you.” Bash lifted her into his arms. “Put me down. You can’t let him. You can’t… Hawk!”
Her voice faded as the door shut behind them and I turned my attention back to my still motionless brother. “What do you want me to do?” I knew there was no use in trying to convince him otherwise. All I could do was help him as much as possible and watch his back.
“Tell Ciro to have me a gun waiting. And my knives.”
“What about Santino?”
“Fuck Santino. I’ll deal with him later. I have to find Gracie first.” He closed his eyes, squeezing them tight. “I’m gonna need Uncle Jack and Trigger.”
“Bash sent them down to stake out Santino’s compound.”
“So call them and tell them this is more important.” His voice was devoid of all emotion and that scared me more than anything else right then. He was shutting everything else down. Out. As if he were preparing himself for the worst. As if he were actually planning on not coming back. “Send someone else and see if Colt can get me on the first flight out.”
Chapter Nine
Felicity
I was in the kitchen helping to make sandwiches for over a hundred people when I heard her rage-filled scream.
The sheep who I was helping stiffened but I just continued to mix the chicken salad I was making. I might not have been around Raven in over a year, but I still knew her. She hadn’t changed that much since I’d been gone. The angry screech of her scream told me that much.
Licking a smear of the salad mixture off my thumb, I reached for a dish cloth and wiped my fingers just as the door to the kitchen opened and in stormed my best friend. Around me, the sheep shifted anxiously. With one look at Raven’s beautiful—and very angry—face, the other women started murmuring excuses and quickly left the room.
I continued the job at hand as Raven moved across the room and picked up a heavy-duty pot before throwing it at the opposite wall. It made a loud banging noise as it connected and then rolled away. I pulled out the entire loaf of bread and started putting the sandwiches together, not bothering to look at her as she continued to rage.
Another pot, quickly followed by a frying pan, hit the wall right before a plastic mixing bowl landed in the same spot.
“What the fuck is going on in…here?” Spider took one look at Raven’s face and turned to exit through the door he’d just stuck his head through. “Never mind. Bash, what the hell did you do this time?” His voice trailed off as he went in search of his friend and Club president.
Her breathing labored, Raven moved back to the island where I was working. Only then did I lift my eyes to look at her. Her face was pale, her eyes glazed with angry tears. It was the tears that had me dropping the spoon in the bowl and reaching for her. I wrapped my arms around her small waist and pulled her close. “What happened?”
She was trembling, but she let me hug her. “He’s barely out of surgery and is already tossing out orders so he can leave. He’s going to get himself killed, Flick.”
“Hawk?”
She nodded her blond head against my chest. “He’s too calm. Too dangerous like this. They’re going to go to New York and my brother is going to die and he doesn’t even care.”
I didn’t know what to say to help her right then so I just held on to her. I felt her tears soak through my shirt but didn’t mind. I hadn’t been this close to the woman who had always been the sister of my heart in far too many months. I couldn’t even remember when she’d last let me hug her. Not even when Bash had left her had she let me comfort her. She’d gone to Spider instead.
That was the trouble when you and your best friend were complete opposites in most things. Raven had always kept her emotions tightly in check whereas I was the kind who wore mine on my sleeve for the majority of my life. Holding her now was a bittersweet moment for me.
After only a few minutes, she lifted her head and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Will you go with them, Flick? Please? I need someone I trust looking after my brothers and I can’t go myself because of Max. And fucking Bash has put me on house arrest.” She shook her head and glared at the kitchen door as if she could see her husband through the thick wood.
“Why New York?” I was lost. Obviously they had learned something but I had no idea what it was. If it was the senator, wouldn’t they just go to his house or even Washington, DC? Senators worked in DC, right?
Raven blew out a tired sigh and dived into telling me what had happened that morning. How Hawk had been shot and the Italians had snatched Gracie. The bombs had been decoys and the real target had been poor Gracie. She even told me about Gracie’s father’s will and the money she was supposed to inherit if she followed
the stipulations—to marry someone her grandfather and uncle approved of. Yeah, I was pretty sure Hawk was losing his mind thinking about that right then.
“When Bash carried me out of the hospital, Doc Robertson was just walking in the door. Hawk is going to release himself from the hospital even though he just got out of surgery to repair the torn mess of his shoulder and back. How is he going to shoot when his shoulder is like that, Flick? How?” Her chin trembled and she closed her eyes before another tear dared to fall.
“I don’t know, honey.”
“Will you go?” Raven’s voice was pleading and I knew that it was costing her to do so.
“Yes,” I assured her without giving it another thought. I would do anything for her, but I was going for myself just as much. Hawk and I might not be the best of friends any longer, but I still cared about his stubborn ass.
Raven threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. “Thank you,” she whispered.
I held on to her for another moment before pulling away and smiling at her. “Since you scared off the sheep, I guess you get to help me finish up lunch.”
“Great,” she muttered but went to the sink to wash her hands.
By the time we had the sandwiches finished along with some fresh fruit salad and a French onion dip for the chips, Uncle Jack and his men had arrived. I carried in the heavy tray of sandwiches and noticed the old man up in Bash’s office with a few of the other brothers. Raven set her own platter down and followed my gaze.
“Is it true? Is Uncle Jack really Gracie’s grandfather?”
Raven nodded. “Yep.”
“Huh. Didn’t see that one coming.” I stepped away from the table just as the brothers started lining up to make themselves a plate.
Raven let out a small laugh. “Yeah, well there are even bigger surprises if that blows your mind.”
My brows lifted. “For real? Like what?”
“Nope. I can’t tell. Hawk would kill me.” She grinned and snatched a sandwich before the first brother could reach them. “But keep your ears open. I’m pretty sure that shit is going to hit the fan before this week is over.”
~*~
Jet got to the clubhouse at just after one that afternoon. He wasn’t alone. Doc Robertson had driven Hawk home and had a huge list of dos and don’ts that he expected Hawk to follow.
Yeah, right. Like that would happen.
He handed over two bottles of medicine to Raven, who just as quickly gave them to me and pushed me in front of the doctor to listen to the signs I needed to watch out for in case Hawk got sick. “If he starts showing any signs of fever, get him to a damn hospital, Flick. Or if his wounds start bleeding make sure they get stitched up again. The idiot should still be in the hospital getting more blood transfusions but he refused. Make sure he eats so that his body will replace the blood he lost.”
“I’ll do my best, Doc.”
“I know he probably won’t take the pain meds, but they’re there just in case. Spike his drink or something if he gets out of hand. The antibiotics are a must, though. The risk of infection is bigger than he could imagine. Make sure he takes all of them.” He glanced at his patient and grimaced. “The nurses couldn’t get him to take the first dose and he was already walking out of the hospital before they could sneak and give him a shot of it through his IV. The surgeon gave him some during the surgery to repair the torn muscles but that isn’t enough. Do what you have to do to get them in his system.”
I nodded. “Will do.”
He gave me a small smile. “Good luck, Flick. You’re going to need it.”
“Yeah. I’m aware of that much.”
He laughed. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart. Take care of yourself.”
Once the doctor was gone, I stuffed the bottle of pain meds in my pocket and took out the two capsules of antibiotics before putting the bottle in my other pocket. I poured a glass of tea and went up to the office where Hawk had gone as soon as he’d walked through the door with his brother.
Jet stood in the doorway and I paused long enough to take in the sight of him wearing his cut again. Damn it. What was it about that damn aged leather vest that made this man even more appealing to me? Jet Hannigan was without a doubt the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on, but that vest only heightened my awareness of him.
His eyes caught mine and I wasn’t as quick to hide my reaction to him as I normally would have been. I saw the desire flare in his olive-jade green eyes. He straightened and held out his hand for me. Helplessly I placed my hand in his and let his heat soak into me for a moment, savoring the electricity that shot up my arm and straight through my heart before moving to the most intimate part of my body.
I gave myself five seconds of it before pulling away and forcing my brain to block him out as I got down to the job at hand. Gritting my teeth, I glanced at Hawk, who was sitting in the chair in front of Bash’s desk. He lifted his head when he noticed me standing there and I offered him the glass of tea.
“What’s this?”
“Something to drink so you can take your antibiotics,” I informed him.
He put the glass on the edge of the desk. “No,” he said and went back to talking about Santino and his men.
If he thought I was just going to go away, he was out of his mind. I’d made a promise to Raven to take care of her brothers and that meant this stubborn-ass man as well. “We can do this the easy way, where you take them on your own, or the hard way. Please don’t make me do it the hard way.”
“Go away, Flick. I’m busy here,” Hawk growled.
I looked at Bash who was sitting in his chair, looking dangerous as always but amused. “Get up, Pres. We’re going to have to do this the hard way.” Bash smirked and got to his feet. “Be careful. We don’t want to bust his stitches.”
Bash nodded as he walked around the desk. Hawk glared up at him and started to get up, but thankfully Uncle Jack was standing close and grabbed his arms, locking him into place. Bash dropped down onto Hawk’s lap, careful of his two wounds. I figured his sitting on Hawk was a lot better than him trying to hold his shoulders down and risk busting the stitches open. I nodded at both men as I grabbed the glass of tea.
“Fuck you guys,” Hawk snarled as he tried to pull out of Uncle Jack’s hold. Normally he would have been able to without even trying, but he was in pain and the loss of blood had made him weak. “Don’t you fucking do it, Flick.”
“You can still do this the easy way, Hawk,” I assured him as I offered him the capsules. All he had to do was swallow them and I would go away until it was time for us to leave for the airport.
“Get off me, Bash.” His roar echoed through the room and out into the clubhouse. The entire building went quiet and I could just picture all eyes pointed up at the office.
I shrugged. “Okay. The hard way it is.” I grabbed his hair in one fist and pulled his head back a little rougher than actually necessary. He yelped as I tugged a few hairs free and then used his open mouth to my advantage. I shoved the two capsules into his mouth and poured in a small drink of tea before covering his mouth and nose with my hands.
He struggled against my hold, but I held firm and after a few more seconds he had no choice but to swallow. Shaking my head at him, I released him and headed for the door. “See you in twelve hours.”
Jet caught my hand as I passed and I let him hold it for a moment, once again savoring his heat, before leaving the men to discuss business.
Chapter Ten
Jet
Planes weren’t a form of transportation that I was used to taking. Having spent my entire life in the Club had put the “ride or die” mentality into me. I rarely drove a cage, using my bike to get me from point A to point B the majority of the time. This was only my third time flying and I wasn’t anywhere near excited about it.
Luckily the plane wasn’t crowded so the eight of us were spread out and comfortable. That wasn’t the problem. It was my tossing stomach and the edginess from what was going on that had me
glancing around the tin box with wings like the caged wolf I was.
Uncle Jack and Trigger were in a hushed but heated conversation a few rows back, but I could guess what they were talking about. Uncle Jack was taking his granddaughter being snatched about as well as anyone could expect. His old Irish ass was already discussing with Trigger how he wanted to kill the bastards. As for Trigger, I only knew what Hawk did. That there was a chance that Gracie was his daughter and not Craig Morgan’s. Hawk and Trigger had decided to keep that little bit of information to themselves after Trigger had made his confessions. They were probably wishing they had spoken up about her possible paternity long before now, though. If they had, then maybe the Morgans wouldn’t have bothered to snatch Gracie.
Spread out around the rest of the plane, Raider, Colt, and Matt looked like they could sleep the whole way to New York. Hawk wasn’t so lucky. He hadn’t touched the pain pills Doc Robertson had prescribed when he had reluctantly discharged Hawk a few hours before. He had only taken the antibiotics because Flick had gotten Bash and Uncle Jack to sit on him long enough for her to force them down his throat.
From his seat across the aisle from me, I could tell he was in some serious pain and I didn’t know if that was contributing to the green tint to his face or if he got just as sick when flying as I did. I’d downed two Dramamine before climbing on board the plane, but that shit wasn’t doing what it promised to do.
Beside me, Flick shifted as she flipped the page of her magazine. Hawk was pissed that we had brought her, but I hadn’t put up nearly as big a fight as I could have about her coming with us. I hadn’t wanted to leave her behind and there was no way I was going to stay when my bother was walking into the unknown. Bash had wanted to come, just as much as Raven had, but both had to stay and deal with the shit storm still brewing after the Italians had targeted us.