“Okay!” I yelled, nodding at him.
Marshall disappeared for a few seconds; then, without warning, several huge axes came through the window at the same time. The smashing and cracking of glass splintered on the floor at our feet, big shards of thick glass mixed with strands of metal fell in big chunks. Each time an axe hit the window, more fresh, healthy air hit us in the face, like a cold refreshing drink for our parched lungs.
Peeking around where the wall met the window, I saw the most precious sight. Seven men, some soldiers, some ex-soldiers, all wielded silver fire axes, all of them hitting the window at the same time after a count of three. My fiancé in the middle of the formation of men, his hits the most powerful.
“Get back, baby!” Marshall yelled, as his axe once again hit its mark. He wasn’t even out of breath from the dozen or so blows, his strong arms holding the lifesaving weapon with ease and expertise. His muscles bunching with each swing.
My god, is it appalling that I am wet in the wrong place right now?
With the combined efforts of the men the window gave way and fell into a shattered mess to the floor beside me.
“Yesssss!” Peyton cried out, her excitement and relief matched my own.
Two strong arms came around me and lifted me off the ground, gently cradling me to the familiar body of the man I loved more than anything or anyone.
Peyton, too, was picked up in the same manner as me by a grim-looking Rafe. Not unusual for him, but he did seem more on edge than normal.
“The animals!” I protested weakly when Marshall headed through where the window used to be.
“Gabe, Bast and Kodah are getting them,” he assured me, turning us around so I could see the rescue happen not just of Peyton but the dogs and cats too.
The further away from the building we got with the clean air filling my lungs, the urge to close my eyes finally won the fight.
“I knew you would save me, honey,” I muttered into his cheek.
Soft lips pressed to my forehead in a hard frantic kiss.
“Always, Sweet Cheeks, always.”
A cough ripped from my throat then darkness took me.
Damn, I was tired.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GRILL
The steady blips from the heart monitor hooked up to Addy and our daughter was music to my ears. While I listened to Addy’s heart beating, I watched the CTG machine spit out a strip of paper with black squiggles indicating that our baby was strong and healthy and very happy to be safe in her mother.
For the last four hours, she had been asleep, the doctors assuring me that she was asleep and nothing worse than that.
Apart from some serious smoke inhalation and a severely bruised ankle and foot, she was safe and alive. When we got the girls out of the building, Addy lost consciousness in my arms, scaring the shit out of me. I rushed her to a waiting ambulance, point blank refusing to allow the paramedics to push me aside while they treated her for the smoke she’d inhaled. When they checked her over and found an ugly black and blue bruise and a cut on her ankle, Peyton, her nurse, and still in Rafe’s arms told us that the man who broke in threw a metal jerry can at Addy’s foot.
That man we now knew was Justin Johnston, Jason’s youngest son. A very unstable and angry young man, who, if I got my hands on him, was going to find out how many ways a commando could inflict pain without breaking a sweat.
The arsehole nearly succeeded in destroying me with his one act of pure evil. Ten more minutes in that room, and Addy would have died, taking my daughter and my heart with her. That was something I could or would never forgive, no matter how much I respected his father.
Jason had already stopped by with Kelsey, both utterly devastated at the wreckage their own son had inflicted. Bottom line was this was attempted murder, and I was going to make sure of that. With the help of the club and my uncle, Justin’s time on the run was coming to an end. The entire local police for was looking for him plus the Souls, and I had faith he would be found. And when he was, he’d better hope they don’t let me have five minutes with him in a locked room.
“How is she doing?” Booth asked me, from the entrance to her private room. His presence didn’t surprise me; in fact, I knew precisely the moment Booth took his post to watch over my girl and me.
“Better, the oxygen is working,” I replied, not looking at him as I spoke, not daring to take my eyes from the two monitors assuring me my family was still with me.
“And the baby?”
“Strong, like her mother.”
“And her dad?” Booth asked, coming closer to put a hand on my shoulder.
“Getting there,” I sighed heavily, “I never want to experience that ever again. The pain of the possibility that I’d lost everything I ever wanted was far too much,” I admitted raggedly, unashamed of the tears stinging my eyelids.
Booth walked away from me, only to come back with a chair, putting it beside me and sitting down.
“I know about loss, Grill, I have suffered more than my fair share in my life. Some I have recovered from, and some I haven’t.” I knew instantly he was speaking about the day my father died in his arms. I didn’t expect Booth to tell me about that day from his point of view. I knew the story, knew the horror he saw. As a soldier myself, I, too, had seen my own fair share of blood and death. Talking it out didn’t change the outcome; loved ones and friends remained dead. Visions still haunted you in your dreams.
“And I also know about revenge and the thirst for it. Rogue allowed that hunger to destroy him; he saw nothing except his fucked-up objective to ruin people for something that couldn’t be changed. Friends, good fucking friends, lost their lives because of a deranged mission to find retribution. People I hold dear to me and love more than my own life were put in danger,” Booth paused, his grey eyes clouded with regret and guilt, his throat worked up and down as he worked to get himself together.
“What I am saying, Marshall, is let the police and Jason deal with Justin. Trust me when I say seeking your own justice is not the same as when you wear the uniform of the soldier. Taking a man’s life without the protection of orders is not something I ever want you to experience.”
“I did, I killed Rogue with my own hands, and while it was necessary for the survival of my family. It will never let go of me, no amount of love from the right woman will completely let it fade, the guilt will always be there, it may dull, but it will always sit on your shoulders.”
I looked at Booth, really looked at the man and saw the weight of being a leader he actually carried.
Even given the time away from the leadership of the club and the more relaxed life he had, he was still a soldier morning the loss of his brother. Still a president riddled with the hard decisions he’d had to make to keep his men and their women safe.
In my job, I experienced the same struggles, when I pulled the trigger and hit a target it was because I was ordered to not because of a bloodthirst to see a person die–my conscious clear from guilt.
Glancing at my beautiful Sweet Cheeks, I finally understood the meaning of this talk.
Life was precious; living in the moment was the most important thing, and living free of the chains weighing me down. Enjoying my family and the love of the right woman, the woman sleeping peacefully in the bed in front of me.
“Understood Booth,” I allowed, and I did. I wanted to see Justin suffer, but Booth was right, risking my life with Addy to see that happen was not worth it. He was not worth my happiness. I felt sorry for Jason, Kelsey and Thomas; the weeks ahead were not going to be pleasant and not something any parent or brother should ever have to endure. The club would do everything in their power to help them through what was coming for them, though.
“I mean when I say your dad would be proud of you. You might not have met him, but he is in you in so many ways, but that is for another time. For now, you have a woman to care for, take her home and cherish.”
Standing up, Booth gave me a chin lift and a s
mall smile.
“Your aunt is out in the waiting room. She never knew who Carson was to your mum, and she is in a bit of shock about it all. When you can, go and see her yeah? I think she might need a hug. She is hugging all the guys out there, and Deck and Mannix aren’t coping with her threats to wash their mouths out with soap.”
A chuckle burst from my throat, the dark mood lifting with one dry joke.
“Copy that. I just want to sit here with her for a bit longer, maybe the Flock can take her back to the compound and feed her some caramel slice, those things work magic on the soul,” I muttered, remembering my time in the kitchen with the five wise women.
“Much like the woman who bakes them,” Booth winked at me, “the right woman, mate, that is all you need.” Booth turned to leave, but a thought suddenly popped into my head.
“Yo Booth? You know that Faye has a crush on you right?” My lips quirked into a smirk when Booth visibly tensed.
“Ya, I picked up on that. Do not leave me alone out there with her for too long.” Booth’s warning subtle, but there was real fear in his tone. Aunt Faye’s attention obviously a little too much for the former commando.
Laughing quietly so not to wake my girl, I watched Booth leave quietly as he arrived. His pearls of wisdom about finding the right woman still ringing in my ears.
Bringing Addy’s soft hand to my lips, I held it there, kissing it gently.
“The perfect woman,” I whispered, “the only woman for me.”
Sitting there watching my girl, I settled in with her hand to my mouth and listened to the sounds of my family this time with a sense of peace.
EPILOGUE
ADDY
“It’s not fair; Wren gave birth a week ago. She has her son and I am still here and still looking like a beached whale,” I complained to an empty room. Marshall had gone to the kitchen to get me a KitKat. He’d relented and agreed to one more chocolate for the day, bringing my total to four.
“What did you say, baby?” Marshall asked, coming back with my favourite treat and a glass of milk.
Reaching for the snack, I barely stopped my eye roll.
“As if you didn’t hear me with your supersonic commando powers,” I scoffed, tearing off the red wrapper and snapping off one of the chocolate covered biscuit fingers.
“The doctor said moving would help bring on labour, not sitting down and stuffing your face with sugar,” Marshall reminded me for the thousandth time this week.
“You aren’t the one carrying around all this extra weight. I can’t see my feet, let alone feel them. Shoes don’t even fit these fat blobs with toes anymore.”
Marshall looked at the pudges of fat that used to be my feet, touching the faint scar on my ankle that was a physical reminder of the worst day for both of us.
My clinic burnt to the ground that horrible night, leaving nothing but charred ruins and a lot of heartache and frustration for everyone– from the club to my employees and clients. The rebuild was still in progress and slow going. Deck’s construction company was in charge of the project, and thanks to my business sense to have excellent insurance coverage, I was happy to sit back and let him, Shiloh and Booth look after the details and take some much-needed stress off my shoulders.
I still suffered from a minimal case of PTSD from that night, but Marshall had some interesting and effective ways to divert my attention away from Justin and the fire. He was still on the loose, a fugitive if you will, but that wasn’t something I could do anything about anyway. We knew he wasn’t in the state, and that helped me, knowing he was far away from our daughter and me. Peyton was a different story, however. My nurse was still gripped with fear, the trauma of being trapped in the animal room, just barely escaping from the flames caused her to become a hermit of sorts.
She spent most of her days locked in her house too scared to leave or even answer the door, although I’d heard she allowed one person to visit her more than once since the fire eleven weeks ago.
Rafe stayed in town more often than not instead of disappearing to wherever he used to go— preferring to stay close to Peyton. Marshall insisted nothing was happening between his Team FIVE mate and the pretty nurse, but I knew otherwise. It was only a matter of time before Peyton fell under the spell of a Son and let him into her damaged heart, just like I did.
“Wherever your head is going, Addy, no just no,” Marshall declared, getting to his feet and taking the uneaten portion of my KitKat from me.
“How do you know what I am thinking smarty-pants?” I asked, taking his outstretched hands and allowed him to help me to my feet. A weird sensation in my lower back made me stumble, but Marshall’s strong arms came around me, holding me safe.
“Because I know you, my beautiful soon-to-be wife, and I am telling you, leave Rafe and Peyton alone. Let them navigate their path to each other if there is one.”
“Of course, there is one, don’t you know the greatest love stories are born from a tragedy?” I reminded him, thinking of our own beginning in the fire-ravaged countryside over nine months ago.
“Ours is the greatest of them all, baby, with the happiest ending.” His hand going to my enormous belly, our daughter kicking out under his hand.
“It’s beginning.”
“Yeah, baby, our story is still playing out.”
“No, Marshall, my labour, it’s started,” I cried, then a swoosh of water sloshed down my legs, shocking and wetting both of us. The weird sensation, a contraction.
Our girl was finally ready to move.
Warm lips pressed to mine; adoring, chocolate eyes looked at me with love and happiness.
“Ready to add to our family?” I asked, smiling at the man who gave me everything one amazing night. Who knew a tear in some latex would be the answer to my happily ever after.
“Always, Sweet Cheeks. As long as it is with you and only you.”
GRILL
“Daddy loves you so much little Miss Millie Adeline Webber, and soon your mummy will have the same last name as you and she will belong to me forever, just like you do,” I whispered, ever so quietly to not wake my sleeping girl, both of my girls. My daughter, all of three hours old, was peacefully sleeping in my arms and not likely to leave them if I had any say in the matter.
Settling her deeper into my chest, I lowered my face into her soft, dark downy hair and took a hit of her sweet innocent baby scent.
Never did I ever imagine this would be my new favourite smell, other than the beautiful scent of my Sweet Cheeks. Love coursed through me like a tidal wave so strong I was powerless to fight it, not that I ever would. Millie and Addy were my heart and soul, my reason for being. All the upheaval of my childhood, the loss of my mother and father a dull ache all because of this tiny creature and the perfect woman who fought her own demons and took a chance to trust me.
“I do, you know,” Addy whispered sleepily from the bed beside me, “I belong to you, Marshall, Millie and I are yours forever.” Her beautiful hazel eyes were closed, her long lashes touching her cheeks, her sweet cheeks and my heart burst all over again.
“My oath you do, baby, and will for the rest of my life and even after that,” I declared, refusing any other option.
My life started the day I met Addy, now nothing was going to stop the rest of our love story from playing out.
My life was finally complete.
THE END … AT LEAST FOR NOW.
DELETED SCENE
I wasn’t too sure about a scene with Grill coming back from deployment, Belinda thought it needed something, and while I generally agree with my annoying PA … well, sometimes, I decided to let you read it.
Leah xoxo
“Thank fuck for home,” Kodah growled happily when we turned onto the street leading to the club. The tension in my neck suddenly evaporated; now I was minutes away from having my girls in my arms.
Five weeks on a peacekeeping mission in bumfuck Africa away from Addy and Millie meant I was itching to see them. Addy made sure I didn’t
miss out on any milestones with our daughter by sending photos to my phone, and we Skyped as much as allowed due to the restraints of internet service and my availability at the time. So yeah, I got to see Millie take baths, heard her giggling, and watched her eat solid foods for the first time, but seeing it on a grainy computer screen was nothing compared to actually being there.
Mill’s had been five months old when I left, and I’d missed eight hundred and forty hours of her life. Not something any dad cared to admit or pretended was okay.
“I am going to sleep for a week,” Cole announced, his arms crossed and head covered with his Team FIVE peaked cap.
“Amen to that, mate,” Deke agreed.
“Ghost, do you actually do anything else other than sleep when you come home?” I asked, truly and genuinely interested to know. The man spent every ride back to Ballarat asleep, every plane flight, and half of his downtime while on deployment taking naps. We all learnt early on in our military careers to fall asleep in strange and weird places, through all kinds of loud noises, but Cole took his gift to a whole new level.
“You would be surprised what I do,” he mumbled back.
“Or who,” Kodah teased, “tell us Ghost, is there a future Mrs Ghost out there we don’t know about?”
Cole held out his middle finger and waved it at Kodah, getting a laugh from all of us.
“Good try Ziggy, but Cole ain’t telling us jack shit about his personal life,” Bastian replied, sticking up for his lifelong friend. No one knew the Wounded Sons in our team like the Wounded Souls’ kids.
And I was one of them. Me, Marshall Webber, had Booth blood running through his veins. It didn’t matter than Carson had a different dad than Booth, they had the same mother, and that was where we got all our good from. The arsehole I chose not to refer to as my grandfather didn’t enter the equation.
Grill (The Wounded Sons Book 3) Page 20
