Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Snap out of it!”
“Christ, Stitches.” Was that Henry? What the fuck was he doing here? “Now’s not the time for fuckin’ movie lines.”
“Look. It had to be done. I left the hospital in the middle of my shift. Second doc in the ER was understanding, and it wasn’t too much for him to handle for an hour or so, but I could still get fired. If I am, I might as well have some fun out of this before I get my fuckin’ license pulled for abandonment.”
“The man’s worried about Danica, Stitches. Leave him be.”
“Oh, yeah? Worried, huh? I heard what he did. The whole fuckin’ club knows. According to him, he doesn’t feel anything for her but a healthy dose of lust. If that’s the case, he’s acting fuckin’ crazy and needed his head smacked.”
I sat up, my head pounding, my muscles aching. “Motherfucker.” I stumbled to my feet and turned back to the house.
“You under control now?” Stitches asked, stepping in my line of sight to the house. “‘Cause if you’re not, you need to go back to the fuckin’ cage and calm the fuck down.”
“Where’s Dani?”
“She’s in the house with Lemon.”
About that time, a feminine voice filled the air around us.
“Deacon!” Apple flew from the house straight into the big man’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I’ve got you, honey. You’re safe.”
“They broke in a-and started yelling!” she cried, shivering against Deacon as she told him what happened. “I d-didn’t c-call the p-police for help, D-Deacon. I s-swear I d-didn’t!”
“I know, baby. This ain’t your fault.”
“Will Dani be OK?”
“Stitches will take care of her. She and Lemon are in good hands.”
“They sh-shot her, Deacon!”
That was all I could take. I rushed on to the house, following Stitches as he entered. Lemon sat on the couch with an ice pack on her face and a killing glare for one of the police officers.
“You better pray I have to go to the hospital, motherfucker,” she said through gritted teeth. “If they release me here, I’m comin’ after you.”
“Threatening people isn’t helping, Lemon,” Henry replied to her calmly. “Let me take care of this.”
“Where’s Dani?” I snapped as I stepped around Henry to look at Lemon.
“In her bedroom. They shot her.” She turned her glare back to the police officer she’d been giving hell.
“We thought she was ready to kill you and your sister,” the officer tried to explain.
“And when I told you she wasn’t?”
“I wasn’t sure if you were her or one of the hostages. All I knew was there was an adult terrorizing two girls. Then your sister came at me.”
“Well, who wouldn’t?” Lemon replied. “She thought someone was breaking in, trying to hurt us! She was defending us and you fuckin’ shot her!” The longer she spoke, the louder Lemon got. Finally, she threw the ice pack she’d been holding to her swollen face at the officer with a frustrated screech.
Henry met my gaze. “Danica’s going to be OK. Scared to death, but OK. Go take care of her. I’ll try to keep Lemon from killing anyone.” It sounded like it was a real possibility.
I nodded and turned to go deeper into the small house. It wasn’t hard to find Dani. There were EMTs and police near her room. I could hear Stitches talking to her and Dani’s voice answering him. She sounded in pain and stressed.
When I entered her room, her fearful gaze landed on me. Her breathing quickened and seconds later, she dissolved into tears.
“Wylde,” she breathed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Where you hit?” My throat was tight and I barely got the words out.
“My arm. It’s not bad.”
“She’ll be OK. Gonna get her to the hospital for an X-ray and some antibiotics. Probably’ll need a few stitches too.” He still probed her arm, dabbing it with some gauze.
“Why ain’t the EMTs in here doin’ this shit?” I pointed to Dani’s arm while Stitches continued to clean and dress it.
“I put them and the cops out. They were stressing her more. Figured I could do as good a job as they could.” He gave me a wry look. “I am a doctor, you know.” He went back to work. “Bullet passed through her arm. As long as her bone wasn’t hit, she’ll get to go home in a few hours.”
“Not home,” I snapped. “Back to the fuckin’ clubhouse. You and the girls.”
To my complete and utter shock, Danica didn’t argue with me. Just nodded her head. “OK.”
“Apple is with Deacon,” I told her. “Lemon is giving some cop out there hell while Henry’s trying to keep her contained. If Stitches says Lemon can go, I’ll have Clutch and Deacon take them back to their room at the clubhouse. My brothers will watch over them.”
She nodded. “Thank you, Wylde. I’m sorry we’re a bother.”
“Honey, this ain’t your fault. But I swear to you, I’ll find out who did this.”