“Bad things happen to everyone,” Amy said a few minutes later as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. “But the protection of the Aces prevents them from happening far more often than it causes them. Remember that.”
I nodded, thinking about the way the men had said goodbye to their wives less than an hour before. I wished I had asked Will to stay, but I was terrified that he would have said no. That would have been infinitely worse than facing this alone.
“Let’s get you fixed up,” Amy said as we got out of the car. “Once you get that hard cast on, you can show Will who’s boss.”
Chapter 18
Will
I only made it an hour before I signaled the guys to pull off the highway.
My chest had felt tight since the moment I’d caught a glimpse in my rearview of Molly racing out of the clubhouse to watch me leave, and the farther away we got, the worse it was. When we’d finally hit Oakridge I’d known, but it had taken me a bit more time to get my head straight.
I wanted to catch the fuckers that killed Duncan. The urge was almost painful in its intensity, and the thought of walking away made my fingers twitchy and my skin tingle. It went beyond a little payback. I had to know that they were no longer on this earth, not only because they’d killed Dunc and had beat the hell out of Molly, but because they’d seen her vulnerable and scared. They’d made her that way. They didn’t get to live. It was as simple as that.
“What’s goin’ on?” Dragon asked as I shut my bike off. “You good?”
I shook my head and ripped my helmet off in frustration. “Can’t do it,” I croaked, scratching at my beard.
“What?” my dad asked, pulling off his shades. “Can’t do what?”
“Can’t go with you.”
“You alright?” Hulk asked as I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
“Molly’s havin’ surgery today,” I said, tapping my helmet against my knee. “I shouldn’t have left her.” It was the first time in years I’d backed out of a job. The words tasted like gravel in my mouth, but my chest felt instantly lighter once they were out.
The worried frown on my dad’s face morphed into a look of relief.
“Fuckin’ took you long enough,” Hulk joked, shaking his head.
“What?” I asked in confusion, looking around the group.
“Man, you fucked it up last time,” Dragon grumbled, leaning back on his bike. “Been takin’ runs you didn’t have to, leavin’ your girl for some fucked up reason that you’re not coppin’ to.”
“I was doin’ my job,” I ground out.
“Son,” my dad said, taking a pack of smokes from his pocket and lighting one before he continued. “You been racin’ toward some shit and I can’t even see where you’re headed. Takin’ blame for shit that woulda happened one way or another.”
He’d said it before, taken me aside and told me that the shit that happened a few years ago hadn’t been my fault, but it hadn’t been true then and it wasn’t now. I wasn’t going to argue with him, though. That wasn’t what this was about.
“Molly’s havin’ a hard time,” I said instead, changing the subject.
“It was Brenna or one of the kids?” Dragon said quietly as he held out a hand to bum a cigarette off my dad. “Wouldn’t have left, either.”
“Not just the surgery,” Hulk said with a nod. “Molly’s been through some shit. Needs her man with her, not ridin’ across the state.”
“They need to pay for this shit,” I said, digging my fingers into my tired eyes. “Needed to make it happen.”
“How’s that workin’ out for ya?” Rock asked from behind me.
“Fuck off, Rocky,” I shot back. If it wasn’t for his shit, we wouldn’t even be on the Russians’ radar.
“Head on back,” my dad said, interrupting us with a jerk of his head. “We got this.”
“You sure?”
“Boy, we been doin’ this since before you were a twitch in Grease’s pants,” Dragon replied, scoffing. “Good to have ya, but pretty sure we can handle it without ya.”
“I was givin’ you another hour before I beat some sense into ya,” Hulk said quietly. “You see your woman come runnin’ out of the clubhouse when we left? Need to take care of your family, man.”
“You’ll let me know when you got ’em?” I asked. As I put my helmet back on, I was already regretting my decision. I was itching to get back to Molly and Rebel, but the urge to find those fuckers hadn’t gone away.
“Send you a picture,” my dad said with a wide grin. The rest of the guys chuckled.
I gave him a nod and fired up my bike, turning it toward home. I didn’t watch them leave. I couldn’t. They were going to take care of my business. Those men were mine. They’d fucked with my woman and kid. I should have been the one to teach them a lesson. Instead, I was riding away from them.
The closer I got to Eugene, the more anxious I was to get there. I knew Molly’s appointment had already started, and I had no idea if they’d had to knock her out or not. The idea of her getting that bone set or waking up without me there made nausea rise in my gut.
“Will?” Amy asked, getting to her feet as I strode into the waiting room. “What happened?”
I gave her a small smile and leaned in to kiss her cheek when I reached her. She was a good woman. She’d come into the family when I was a kid and had stepped right into a grandmother role like she’d been there the whole time.
“Nothin’ happened,” I replied gruffly. “Molly in with the doc?”
“Yeah, we got here late, so they had to fit her into another slot,” she said with a nod. “They just took her back.”
“Thanks,” I said. I was already walking toward the receptionist’s desk.
After a full minute of arguing with the woman, I ignored her squawking and rounded the desk. They didn’t keep the door locked to the back offices, so I just walked right in.
It only took me a couple seconds to find her.
“Hey, baby,” I called as I pushed the door to her room open. She was sitting on the hospital bed, her arm completely unwrapped and looking like shit, and she was sweating like she’d just run a mile.
“Will?” she said in surprise, her voice shaking. “What’re you doing here?”
“You’re here,” I said simply. As soon as I reached her, she leaned against me heavily, breathing a sigh of relief. The nausea in my gut disappeared.
“I’m freaking out a little,” she said, tipping her head back to look at me.
“Why?” I murmured, leaning down a little to kiss her. She tasted good, like always, but I didn’t like the way her swollen lips felt. They didn’t feel like hers. I’d never say that out loud, though.
“I’ve got a low tolerance for pain,” she replied ruefully, her lips pulling up into a crooked grin.
“You had a baby,” I reminded her with a laugh. “You can handle gettin’ your arm set. Piece a’cake. They numb it and it’s over in a minute.”
“You broke your arm when we were eleven, right?” she asked. Her legs were practically bouncing against the side of her bed, and her good hand was jittery where it wrapped around my back.
“Yep,” I answered. “Took off on my dirt bike, even though I was told not to—” Molly laughed. “—and wiped out in less than ten minutes. Pretty sure if I hadn’t walked back to the clubhouse with my arm danglin’ at an angle, my dad woulda beat the hell outta me.”
“Why weren’t you supposed to be riding?” she asked distractedly. I was pretty sure she just wanted me to talk so she didn’t have to think about getting her arm fixed. Poor baby.
“Dad had been workin’ on it and the handlebars weren’t tight,” I confessed.
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, no is right. Fuckin’ stupid kid mistake.” I rubbed my hand against her back, trying to get her to relax a little. She was stiff as a board. “Funny thing about the whole thing was my mom gave my dad hell about it. Askin’ why he hadn’t finished the project and shit before I got ah
old of it.”
“Your dad must’ve been pissed.”
“Pretty sure he was just glad I didn’t kill myself,” I mumbled as the doctor came into the room.
“Okay,” she said cheerfully. “Let’s get that arm fixed up.”
I thought Molly was going to hyperventilate.
* * *
“You think everythin’s okay now,” Molly mumbled an hour and a half later as I lifted her out of Amy’s car and carried her into the clubhouse. She was slurring pretty good after the drugs the doctor had given to calm her down. Jesus, she’d almost given herself a heart attack over a procedure that was easy as shit. I didn’t know what she would have done if I hadn’t been there. “Everythin’s not okay now, Will. Is not okay.”
“Alright, sugar,” I said calmly, trying not to laugh.
“You did me dirty. So dirty.”
“Let’s talk when you wake up, yeah?” I asked as we passed Farrah and Casper sitting on one of the couches.
“Dirty,” Molly said even louder, making Farrah smirk.
“Where’s Reb?” I called over my shoulder. I wasn’t stopping. Who knew what the fuck would come out of Molly’s mouth?
“Melanie took her to your mom’s to play with the girls,” Farrah answered. “They’ll be back in a few hours.”
Good. Hopefully Molly could sleep that anxiety shit off. Between the pain meds and whatever other shit they’d given her, she was out of it.
“Just left!” Molly was mumbling as I used my shoulder to open the door to my room. “Ghosted me. Thas what thas called. Ghosted.”
“You’re lit,” I said, the truth of her words making me sweat.
“Shouldn’t forgave you.” She held on tight as I tried to set her on the bed, and I ended up half on top of her, trying hard as hell not to crush her. “Where’s Reb?” She looked frantically around the room.
“She’s with Mel,” I said soothingly, moving so I wasn’t on top of her anymore. “Hangin’ out with my mom.”
“Oh, good,” she sighed, moving her bleary gaze to me. “She didn’t want me to leave her today.”
“Understandable,” I said softly as she rolled toward me, dropping her heavy cast on my chest.
“She doesn’t show it, ya know,” she said insistently, her eyes tearing up. “She doesn’t say it when she’s hurt, but I can tell. I can tell. I’m her mother. I can tell.”
“I know you can, baby.” God, she was killing me.
“I know when she’s sad.” She nodded her head sloppily. “I know when she’s scared and happy and mad.”
“That’s ’cause you’re a good mama,” I replied, pulling her closer.
“I can’t die,” she told me seriously, her face suddenly lucid. “No one else can tell when she’s sad.”
“You’re not gonna die.”
“Almost died,” she mumbled, pressing her face against my chest.
“That ain’t ever gonna happen again,” I told her, my voice breaking. I grabbed her hair and gently pulled her face from my chest. “You believe me?”
“Those guys—”
“Those Russians are dead men. You don’t ever have to worry about them again.”
“Okay,” she said tiredly, her eyes drooping.
“You ready to sleep for a bit?” I asked, letting her face burrow back against the side of my chest.
“Yeah,” she said blearily.
“Alright, Moll. Sleep, sugar.”
I dropped my head back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Fuck.
“Good job, nephew,” Farrah’s soft voice called from the doorway.
I shifted my head to the side and realized I hadn’t closed the door and my aunt had been standing there watching us.
“I’m glad you got your shit together and came back.”
“Why does everyone keep sayin’ I didn’t have my shit together?” I asked, looking back at the ceiling.
“Baby, you’ve been ridin’ hell bent for leather for years. And I get it. When I was around your age, I went off the fuckin’ rails. But at some point, you gotta lean on the club and let them carry the weight for a while.”
“Is that what you did?” I asked, glancing at her.
“I let Cody carry it. Your great-gram, too.”
“Just wanted to take care of those fucks,” I admitted. “Kills me that I’m not.”
“I get that, too,” she said softly. “But you’re needed here at home. Sometimes you gotta let your brothers have your back, Wilfred. That’s the only way this works.”
“It’s not Wilfred, it’s William,” I corrected quietly, a familiar sentence that I’d said to her a million times before.
“Oh, right. Well, that’s boring,” she replied with a soft smile. The little joke was her I love you to me. It always had been. She left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t relax. I wondered where the boys were. If they were getting close. If those Russians were still holed up in the hotel or if they’d moved on. I really hoped that they hadn’t. It made me sick to think of the boys getting there and not being able to find them.
Molly shifted, and I reached down to pull off the sling she had wrapped around her. It didn’t seem to bother her, but the way she was laying meant that it pulled pretty tight on the back of her neck. Her cast ran all the way up and over her elbow and she was going to have a hell of a time doing anything.
I was looking forward to helping her in the shower, assuming she even let me help her. I hadn’t been deluded enough to think that she was going to let me skate by without bringing up shit from the past, but for some reason, I’d thought she’d forgiven me already. She’d been letting me take care of her for the past few days and hadn’t said shit about it, and I’d assumed that we were going to let that shit go for now.
Apparently, I was a stupid asshole, because from the crap she’d been saying as I carried her inside, we were far from forgiveness. Not that I blamed her. I’d fucked up big time when I’d taken off without a word.
“Wanna get down?” Molly mumbled against my cut, startling me.
“What?”
“Wanna get down?” she asked again.
I couldn’t help the rumble of laughter that came from my mouth. “Nah, sugar, I’m tired. Let’s sleep for a bit.”
“Fine,” she groused. Two seconds later she was asleep again.
* * *
“You find ’em?” I asked, answering my phone that night. Molly had woken up groggy but lucid, and she’d been laying on my bed watching Rebel play on the floor for the past hour. I’d tried sitting with her for a bit, but eventually I’d had to find something to do. Currently, I was reorganizing shit behind the bar.
“Found ’em,” Hulk said, his voice low. “But we’re gonna be here a bit longer.”
“Why?” I asked, something in his voice making my gut churn.
“Kozlov’s got lots to say, man. Fuckin’ tons of shit to say.” There was a message in there somewhere, but I had no fucking clue what it was.
“You need me up there?” I asked, glancing toward the hallway leading to my room.
“No. Stay where you are.” Someone said something in the background that I couldn’t hear, and the phone was covered up, because there was silence for a few seconds before Hulk came back on. “I’ll call you back, man. Stay there—it’s all good.”
I stood there staring at my phone like it was going to bite me. What the fuck was that? Something was happening in Ontario and I had no fucking clue what it was.
“Hey,” Molly called, coming from the hallway holding Rebel’s hand. “We’re hungry.”
“That right?” I asked, a smile pulling at my lips, the phone call pushed to the back of my mind. They looked so damn sweet together. Moll’s hair was messy as hell and she was in nothing but yoga pants and one of my t-shirts since she couldn’t get the cast through the arm of any of hers, and Rebel was already dressed for bed since she’d come back to the clubhouse covered in makeup. Lily
and Rose hadn’t been watching her too close when she was in Rose’s room with them. “Whatcha hungry for?”
“Pizza?” Molly asked, looking down at Rebel. “Sound good to you, princess?”
“Pizza,” Reb answered, lifting her eyebrows up and down.
“I love it when she does that,” Molly confessed, laughing. “And now she’s figured it out, so she does it whenever she wants something.”
“You know what’s up, huh, Reb?” I asked, hopping over the counter. “Got Mama wrapped around your finger.”
Reb did the eyebrow thing again, followed by a goofy smile.
“You’re cute,” I told her, lifting her into my arms. “You want pizza?”
“Yes,” she said seriously, all silliness gone.
“What kind do you guys like?” I asked, glancing at Molly.
“Cheese.”
“Boring,” I sang, making a face at Reb. “Don’t you want anchovies?”
“No.”
“Pineapple?”
“No.”
“Pepperoni?”
“No.”
“Fine,” I sighed, poking her little belly and making her double over in exaggerated annoyance. “I’ll get you cheese pizza.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and was about to dial the local pizza place when my mom, Tommy and Rose came in the front door. There were a few guys around, a couple in their bedrooms and one in the garage, but no one else was, so it was weird that my family just showed up.
“What’s goin’ on?” I asked as Rose ran toward me.
“We’re staying here tonight,” my mom said, frustration clear in her voice.
“Why?”
“No idea.”
“Can I play with Rebel?” Rose asked, lightly grabbing Reb’s foot.
Molly opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Reb was shaking her head no, her hand going straight for my beard as she laid her head on my chest. I grinned superiorly at my little sister, making her roll her eyes.
“I think she’s too tired, hun,” Molly said in apology.
“That’s okay,” Rose replied, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she turned to walk away.
“You guys have dinner?” I asked my mom as she reached me.