Silent Sons MC Box Set

by Ambere Sabo

  Tugging her hand, I pull her over to the pantry. Opening the door, I reveal a lower shelf with all her favorite snacks. It had to be done. The last time she couldn’t reach something, and I wasn’t here she climbed the stepstool to try to get whatever it was she wanted. Constance, our housekeeper, almost had a heart attack seeing her up on it.

  She turns to me with a smile lighting her face. “I love you.”

  “And I you, my love,” I say before leaning down and kissing her.

  Pulling away she leans her head on my chest and with a sigh says, “Are you sure you have to go on this trip?”

  “I wish there was someone else that could go in my place, Alex,” I say into her hair. “I’d give anything not to have to leave you right now. But I’ll be back before you can even miss me. Then our little one will be here. Have you decided on a name yet?” I ask leaning back to look her in the eyes.

  Shaking her head, she replies, “Not yet, but I have it narrowed down to three. I’ll have an answer for you when you return.”

  I kneel in front of her belly and place my hands on either side. Our baby kicks me hello. “You hear that little one. Your mama has almost picked out your name. You make sure you’re good to her while I’m gone. And let her rest some. And don’t come before I get back. I can’t wait to meet you, my precious.” I plant a kiss in the middle of her belly and blink back the tears that cloud my vision.

  ***

  Present day…

  I should’ve stayed with her. I should’ve told my father the business could wait, but with money missing, there was no getting him to see reason. He wanted to know who was taking what belonged to him, and he wanted to know immediately.

  It only took me three days to find out where the money had gone. I wanted to leave as soon as he had the name, but he insisted he needed me to stay while he questioned his lieutenant. I knew all the facts, and he needed to know if there was anyone else involved. Anyone else who’d need to lose their life. I knew the longer we fought, the longer it would take for me to get home. So I agreed. It took another two days to flush out everyone involved. Finally, I could go home to my Alex.

  Chapter 19

  Alex

  Eleven years ago…

  “Alright, alright I’m coming,” I yell to whoever is knocking on the door. They better have a very good reason for waking this pregnant woman from her nap. Sleep has been so hard to come by these last few weeks.

  The little one growing in my tummy is out of room, and he makes sure his mama knows about it every chance he gets. Adan says he’ll be a futbol player just like he was. With the amount of kicking he does, I don’t doubt it for a single second. Only two more weeks, then I can finally hold him in my arms. I can’t wait.

  Looking through the window, all I can see is a man with flowers, and it makes my heart soar. Oh, Adan. Opening the door for the delivery, I sign for the beautiful bouquet of lilies and orchids. After shutting the door, I take them to the dining room.

  “Oh Lena, look how beautiful they are,” I gush, as I come into the room. “Your brother is such a romantic.” Adan has made fun of me from the start for talking to Lena, but I know she’s here with us. Whether she can answer me or not doesn’t make a difference. I feel her.

  The pain that rips through me is something like I’ve never felt before, and the vase falls from my hands shattering on the floor as I clutch my stomach. After a few minutes of trying to breathe through it, the pain still isn’t stopping, and I’m beginning to panic.

  The panic button! The security panel Adan installed has a panic button. It takes me longer than it should to make it to the front door, but every movement I make is like fire searing through me. I push to call for an ambulance, knowing there’s no way I'll make it to the phone to call for help. The agony has stolen my voice. I won’t be able to tell them what’s happening. I pray they still send someone. It seems like centuries before I hear the sirens, but finally, help is here. I close my eyes, comforted by the knowledge that someone’s coming to save us.

  “She’s waking up,” someone seethes. “I thought you gave her enough to keep her unconscious through everything?”

  I don’t understand what’s happening. Who’s that talking? When did I fall asleep? Why does my body feel so heavy? Even my eyelids seem to weigh a ton.

  “There’ve been some complications we weren’t expecting. I think she went into distress, and that’s why she called for help. You’re lucky we intercepted the call. It’s taken longer than I’d like to get them both stable, but her contractions are coming closer together. He’ll be here soon.”

  “You’d better hope you’re right or the boss will have both our asses. That child is supposed to be the heir to everything.”

  Stay awake, I have to stay awake. It’s all I can think right now. These people, whoever they are, are here for my child. My baby. Something that’ll happen over my dead body.

  Slowly opening my eyes, I try to figure out where I am. I need to figure out how to get away from these people. I don’t know what they're talking about. My son isn’t the heir to anything. They must have us confused with someone else. But I highly doubt they’ll listen to reason.

  My eyes crack open. As they dart around the room, I realize I'm in our bed at home. If only I could get to the closet. Adan keeps a gun in there. He’s taught me how to shoot over the years, and while at the time I hated it, I thank God for it today.

  Damn! I’m attached to some sort of IV. Reaching over, I rip it from my arm. The blood that seeps out with it, makes me queasy, but that doesn’t matter right now. Quietly, I scoot to the side of the bed, but aside from the strange men in my house, there's one other thing I didn’t account for—whatever they gave me to knock me out. When I try to stand, my legs turn to jelly, and I fall. I manage to twist just enough not to fall directly on my stomach, but the motion causes pain to rip through me, making me cry out in pain.

  “What the fuck was that?” one of the men yells.

  They're coming. Footsteps thunder into the room, as I crawl to the closet, cradling my belly. Praying the gun is still in the shoe box on the floor, I fumble with the lid. I reach it just in time to lift my heavy arm and fire. Hitting mystery man one in the stomach, I take a shaky breath. I never thought I’d have to shoot someone. I was aiming for his head, but it’s the best I can do right now. Any shot hitting a bad guy wanting to hurt my baby, I’ll take.

  “Fuck!” the other man hollers as his friend clutches his stomach and collapses against the side of our bed. With a second bullet, he’s dead. A contraction hits before I have the chance to fire another round. I scream out in pain knowing he’s coming.

  My son is coming now, and I don’t have time to get away.

  The other man tries to come around the bed as his friend bleeds out on the floor between us.

  “I’ll shoot you too, don’t think I won’t,” I scream at him.

  “Please let me help you. I’m a doctor,” he pleads.

  “Why should I believe you?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “Because your baby’s almost here, and I won’t be the one responsible for his death. I’d rather you kill me right here, than have him do it after he finds out we failed.”

  I don’t have time to think it through when another contraction comes.

  “It’s too early. First babies aren’t supposed to come early. My husband isn’t back yet from his business trip.”

  “I’ve delivered many babies over the years. Believe me, they come when they’re ready whether it’s their due date or not. I can help you.”

  “Fine,” I scream out. The fear of losing my son overrules any mistrust I have in this man.

  “We need to get you to the bed,” he says, coming the rest of the way around the bed. Rolling to my side, I use the wall to pull myself up to my knees, but it’s the most I can do. The doctor comes over and helps me to my feet.

  Shaking my head when he tries to get me back in the bed, I refuse to move forward. “I won’t give birth ne
xt to a dead man.”

  “But it'll be the most comfortable,” he starts.

  “The bathroom will be fine,” I grind out through the pain of another contraction.

  Nodding, he looks down at the gun I still have clutched in my hand. I don’t know how this man ended up in my home today or who he thinks I am, but he’s just as scared as I am. He swallows deeply as we pass by the body of the man he came with. The doctor’s face drips with sweat, and his hands shake as we slowly make our way to the bathroom.

  It takes me less than thirty minutes to deliver my baby. My beautiful baby girl. A complete surprise. I guess ultrasounds aren’t always accurate. As soon as she’s on my chest, my hands trace her face and quickly catalog her features, making sure she’s perfect. She has Lena’s full, heart-shaped lips. Tears fill my eyes. God sent us a little piece of what we lost. When I’m certain she’s OK, I shoot the man in the head. Then I rest, holding the only person in this world who matters to me besides Adan. My sweet angel. The perfect blend of me and my love.

  Chapter 20

  Adan

  Present day…

  Eleven years ago, everything changed. I lost my way. And I still haven’t found it again. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I found when I got home from my trip…

  ***

  Eleven years ago…

  Walking up to our home, I’m anxious to see Alex and hold her in my arms. I’ll never stay away from her for this many days ever again. I know something’s wrong the minute I get to the door. It stands slightly ajar, something Alex would never do. After her parents died in a home invasion gone wrong, she’d asked for a top of the line security system. Something I couldn’t deny her. How could I explain that what happened to them would never have happened if I hadn’t called in the hit? She makes sure the door is locked, and the system is armed as soon as she gets home every time without fail.

  Seeing the smear of blood on our entryway floor stops my heart in my chest. “Alex! Alex, where are you,” I shout as I run throughout our home. “Please answer me. Where are you?” My voice wavers with emotion and fear. God, where is she? I know I have no right to ask, but please save her. Take me instead. I’ll give my life for hers. Just let her be OK.

  It takes only moments, but it feels like an eternity when I find her covered in blood on the floor of our bathroom. She’s barely breathing with our baby clutched to her chest. There’s a dead man in the bathroom with her, slumped down by the bathtub. My gun rests on the floor next to Alex. What the hell happened in here?

  The baby stirs, and all thoughts leave my mind as I watch little fingers curl. I’m in awe. I reach with one finger and trace a tiny cheek. “Oh, mi Amor. You didn’t wait for me to get home,” my voice wavers with emotion. “Alex, sweetheart. You’ve got to wake up. You can’t leave me. I’d be lost without you,” I plead.

  She moans. My eyes jump from our little miracle to her face. Her beautiful eyes take me in. “You’re home,” she smiles.

  “Yeah, I am.” I press a kiss to her lips.

  “Did you meet your daughter yet?”

  “My daughter? I thought we were having a boy.”

  “I guess they were wrong. You’re not disappointed, are you?” She shifts so I can see our baby’s face.

  “Never. She’s beautiful,” I whisper when I can see all of her tiny features.

  “She didn’t wait until Lena’s birthday to come, but she has Lena’s lips. Look, do you see?”

  “Yeah, baby. I see. But what happened?”

  “Your flowers came… so beautiful. Then lots of pain…” She takes a deep breath before continuing, “Tried to call for help… passed out by the door… woke up. Men were here. Said something about taking our baby… got the gun… shot one… then the other after the baby came.”

  “I need to call for help for you both. I’ll be right back. Don’t leave me,” I order her.

  “I won’t. I’ll be right here. Waiting,” she whispers.

  I press a kiss to both my girls’ foreheads and run to the security panel. Once I press the button on our alarm to summon help, I throw open the front door and run back to the bathroom. I say a prayer of thanks that I listened to her months ago and had my father handle installing a top of the line security system.

  “Alex?” I say cautiously. Her color is fading. I’m not sure how much of the blood in the bathroom is hers and how much is the dead man’s. “Hang on, baby. Help’s on the way.”

  “Hi,” she whispers to me, opening her eyes. “We did good, didn’t we?” she asks as she gazes down at our miracle.

  “Yeah, we did. I love you both so much.”

  “I love you too,” she declares and reaches a trembling hand up to brush my cheek. Tears fill both our eyes as we stare at our daughter. “I’m so tired, Adan. I need to sleep.”

  “Stay with me, mi Amor.”

  “Promise me while I rest, you’ll take care of her.”

  “I promise. Did you pick a name?”

  “Yeah. After Selena… Mar…”

  Her eyes close, and her head slumps to the side. I collapse next to her, dragging her head onto my lap. Gently, I cradle our daughter to my chest and pray to every power in the universe to protect my girls.

  I lose track of time, but I’m sure it hasn’t been long after I called for help when I hear footsteps and shouting. “In here,” I yell. “Please hurry.”

  Two paramedics rush in, crowding the bathroom. Their eyes take in the bloodbath in the white-tiled room. One takes the baby from me and lays her on our bed to check her over. The other checks the dead man in the corner and shakes his head.

  “You’ve got to help my wife. She delivered our baby a little while ago here at home. She said there was a lot of pain. She wasn’t due for another two weeks. Don’t let her die,” I ramble as I grasp the man’s shirt collar.

  “Her pulse is weak. With the amount of blood loss, I can’t move her just yet,” he tells me as he assesses her.

  “Baby’s not doing too well. We don’t have time to waste. We’ve got to get this little one to the hospital now if we have any hope of saving her.”

  “The mother’s not ready to be moved yet,” the man in the bathroom argued.

  “I’ll take the baby to the hospital. On the way, I’ll call for a second unit to come back here. You stay with Mom and get her ready to transport within ten minutes.”

  “Sounds like a plan. So, Daddy, are you riding with your daughter or staying with your wife?”

  Indecision wars within me. I need to split myself in half, so I don’t have to leave either of them alone. Then I remember my promise to look after our daughter while Alex rested. I press a kiss to Alex’s cold lips. “Don’t leave me. I love you, Alex. With all my heart.”

  I step out into the bedroom and say, “I’m going with my daughter.”

  “Alright, then let’s go.” The paramedic runs from the room.

  The whole way to the hospital, the paramedic asks me questions about how my daughter’s doing. My mind can’t process what information he needs from me. He asks about her breathing, her color, her movement. Maybe he’s just trying to keep me focused, so he doesn’t wind up with two patients on his already full hands. When we finally screech to a halt outside the ambulance entrance, an army of men throw open the backdoors. My daughter’s teeny body is quickly swallowed by a sea of nondescript arms.

  I try to follow, but someone directs me to the main entrance where I will have to fill out paperwork while they try to save my daughter. Swallowing down my irritation, I do as they ask. Patient name—I scrawl out Selena’s middle name. Mother’s name—Alexandria Ortiz. Father’s name—Adan Ortiz. Then I jot down hundreds of irrelevant facts, that won’t determine whether my daughter lives or dies. Once I’m done, I return the forms and ask for someone to direct me to where they’ve taken her.

  A kind nurse takes pity on me and leads me to a small waiting room near the pediatric unit where they rushed my baby girl to. “Hey,” I call to the nurse’s retreatin
g back.

  She turns around, with an unspoken question on her face.

  “My wife’s supposed to be on the way here too in a second ambulance. Can you come get me when she arrives? Her name is Alex Ortiz. You’ll know her when you see her. She’s the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  “I’ll go see what I can find out, and I’ll let your daughter’s doctor know where he can find you. Is there anyone I can call for you?”

  I shake my head. Alex is all I have left in the world now. Well her and our daughter. I guess I have my father. He’s been more excited than I’d have ever expected when I told him he was going to be a grandfather. He’s been very interested in the coming of his grandson. He’ll be shocked when he finds out he has a granddaughter.

  Pulling out my phone, I dial him.

  “Dad, I’m at the hospital.”

  “What happened, Son?”

  “I’m not sure. Before I got home today, Alex went into early labor. They rushed the baby here, and Alex is coming in another ambulance. I’m sitting here waiting for word on how they’re doing.”

  “Say no more, Son. I’m on my way.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can. You hang on and say a prayer for your family.”

  Before my father arrives, the doctor comes by with a quick update. They’re still working to stabilize my little girl. He’ll be back soon.

  My dad finds me with my head clutched in my hands. Thankfully, I’ve cried all my tears before he walks in. He’s never tolerated weakness. Under his arm is a big teddy bear wearing a blue bow.

  “Have you heard anything yet?”

  “The doctor came by a few minutes ago. It’s still touch and go. He’ll come back with an update later.”

  He claps me on the shoulder as he sinks down in the chair next to me. “Don’t worry, Son. He’s got Ortiz blood running through his veins. He’ll be just fine.” He settles the bear in my lap.

  I finger the blue ribbon. “Thanks for the bear. It’s really nice of you. We need to see if we can trade it for one with a pink bow though.”