Together in ruins (The Scars series Book 4)

by Rachael Tonks

  “My car. Now,” he says, instructing over to his black SUV.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for the ambulance?” Roach asks, following behind me as I carry Tara out of the house and over to Brax’s SUV.

  “There’s no time. We need to go. Now,” Brax exclaims. “I’ll call ahead. They’ll be expecting us.”

  My men look at me helplessly as they gather around. “Take care of Tara’s mom. If she needs medical attention, take her to the hospital. And take care of the mess.”

  “Yes, Prez.” Zane looks at me with sad eyes. “She gonna make it?” His voice barely audible.

  “She has to.”

  Brax opens the rear door and I lift her in, resting her against the back seat. “Here, take this. Stem the bleeding.”

  Pushing a blanket against my chest, I take it, holding it to the right side of her abdomen. Her head drops back and her eyes are closed.

  “What about the baby, Nate?”

  “Everything will be fine. Don’t worry, baby.”

  “But the bullet… I’m hit here.” She looks down at her hands covered in blood. Replacing her hands with the blanket, I apply as much pressure as I can. The door behind me closes and Brax appears in the driver's seat. She holds her hands in front of her face, gawking at the blood dripping from her hands.

  “I’m coming with you.” Hunter appears in the front passenger seat, glancing between the seats at me clutching onto Tara with everything I have.

  “I’m so fucking sorry. This is all my fault.”

  “There’s only one person to blame here and that’s Brewer,” I’m quick to reply.

  “You shouldn’t have said anything to him about him being my father,” Tara croaks. “I’m scared Mom is hurt. Who’s taking care of her?” She stretches her neck as if trying to find her mom. I place my hand on the side of her head, drawing her back against my chest.

  “Shhh…” I soothe. “She’s fine. My men are taking care of her.”

  All I can do is hold her and pray that she’ll be okay.

  The baby too.

  Tara

  I slowly open my weary eyes, blinking at the harsh light that shines down on me.

  “Shit,” I grumble.

  “She’s awake. Nate, Tara has her eyes open.” The female voice seems to echo through the eerily quiet room.

  “Where am I?” I continue to blink, but a little faster now, trying to take in my surroundings.

  “You’re safe.” His voice is calm and soothing. “You’re at the hospital. Everything is going to be okay.”

  Flashes of memory spark through my mind and I remember what happened.

  The blood.

  The gunshot to my stomach.

  Fuck!

  “The baby?” I cry out. “Am I… am I... still pregnant?”

  I feel his hand on mine and I struggle to focus on him, my eyes sting and appear blurry. “The baby is fine. We were lucky. So goddamn lucky.” He throws his arms around me, holding me tightly. “How are you feeling?”

  “Dazed. Confused, but alive. And that’s the best feeling ever.” I smile at him as his handsome face finally comes into focus. I reach my shaky hand to the side of his face, resting it there. He leans in, slowly kissing my dry lips.

  “I fucking love you, Tara. But don’t ever put yourself at risk like that again.”

  “He would’ve killed her, Nate. I didn’t have a choice.”

  He sighs, shaking his head side to side.

  “Is she okay? I mean, Brewer had beaten her pretty badly when I got there.”

  “She’s fine,” Isabelle replies. “I’ve taken care of her and she’s on the mend.”

  “Thank you,” I mouth to her.

  My eyes slowly scan the room. Braxton, Isabelle, and Hunter all stand at the end of the bed, smiling at me like lunatics.

  “Fuck, it’s good to have you back,” Brax growls as he makes his way toward me, leaning and kissing me on the head. “You gave us all a scare there, shorty.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “She’s a fighter, ain’t that right,” Hunter adds and I can’t help but feel bad for him. His father, all he has known his whole life has been taken from him. “So sorry about your father.”

  “Don’t be. Brax did what he had to.” He forces a smile, but I see that it’s just words. Maybe a cover for how he really feels.

  “We should leave you two alone. You have a lot to talk about,” Brax says before pressing his lips against my forehead like a loving older brother would.

  “We do?” I draw my brows together, look between Nate and Brax, confusion swimming in my already messed-up mind.

  Nate gives me a firm nod and I feel my heart's rhythm pick up pace. What don’t I know? What’s happened now?

  Nate steps back allowing Hunter and Isabelle to step beside me. Hunter gives my hand a little squeeze as Isabelle places her hands at the side of my face, pressing her soft lips against my cheek. “Love you, Tara.” Her smile is wide, so wide in fact that it spreads from ear to ear.

  “Love you too, girl.”

  They all wave and smile as they step out of the room, leaving just Nate standing beside me.

  “Come on, please… spit it out. You’re worrying me.”

  He lowers himself until he’s perched beside me on the bed. “I got this for you.” He reaches into his back pocket, producing a white envelope. I focus on it, but I still have no clue what it is.

  “It’s the results, baby. I thought we could open them together.” My gaze lowers and focuses on his shaky hand holding the envelope. “But only if you’re up to it?”

  I press my clenched hands down against the bed, trying to adjust myself until I’m a little more upright.

  “Okay.” I let out a slow steady breath. “Let’s do this.”

  He tears at the envelope, pulling out the letter. Unfolding it, he hands it to me. Taking it, I can’t seem to focus on the words typed across the page.

  Until I get to the part that matters.

  Probability of paternity underlined and I feel like I can’t read fast enough.

  99.9998%

  “This means it’s you, right?” My palms feel sweaty and I’m all flushed with emotion.

  “Yes.” He throws his arms around me. “The baby is mine, Tara. I knew it. I always knew the baby was mine.”

  I smile, happy tears stream down my face as Nate laughs excitedly.

  All of the pain, the worry, and the memories fade into nothing knowing that this baby is our future. That we created this unborn child from love, not from hate and fear.

  “Oh, God. I can’t believe I’m crying.” I laugh and Nate parts, allowing me to swipe away the tears.

  “Happy tears though?”

  “So happy.” I glance up to meet his eyes, mine locking with his. All of the hurt and worry has gone. No words are spoken, but everything I need is staring back at me in his gray-blue eyes.

  I draw in a breath, knowing this point, right here, right now, is the start of the rest of our lives.

  Nate is my life.

  And so is his child.

  Our child.

  THE END

  Tara

  2 years later…

  Standing in Nate’s tattoo studio he tilts his head to the side, smiling at me like a madman.

  “What do you think?” Nate asks, pointing his wedding ring finger at me and showing me his new ink.

  “Nice,” I say, noting that it’s the date we got married.

  “And this one?” He turns around lifting his arm and showing me. It’s Emilia’s name and her date of birth.

  “I love it.” I smile, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek. “But don’t think that having that ink on your finger is a replacement for your wedding ring, because it isn’t. Don’t want the club chicks getting the wrong idea about my man.” I lift my brows, looking into his eyes, giving him an unspoken warning.

  “Baby, come on. You know I only have eyes for you.”

  The sudden sound of
the door flying open has us glancing to the door, a smile spreading across both of our faces.

  “Hey, bubba.” Nate sidesteps, lowering himself to the floor, arms open wide as Emilia waddles toward him.

  She is a total daddy’s girl and the two of them are completely inseparable.

  “Da da,” Emilia repeats over and over.

  “Come here, baby girl.” Nate’s face lights up, as it does every time he sees her. Lifting her from the floor he holds her up and starts to spin on the spot. The sound of the two of them laughing together is completely infectious and I feel tears prickle at my eyes. The two look so alike. Dark hair, yet contrasting light gray-blue eyes. There is no denying that Emilia is Nate’s child. And I also can’t deny that having Emilia in our lives is the best thing that has ever happened to us.

  “Hey, baby girl.” I reach and take her hand, stroking the back of it with my thumb. She smiles, her cheeks bunching as the smile reaches her eyes. Nate leans in and places a soft kiss against my lips.

  “Oh, thank God she’s here with you two,” Hunter says breathlessly. “I only turned away for a second. She’s a livewire, that’s for sure.”

  We both chuckle and I can’t deny that Emilia is a little like me. Stubborn, headstrong, and knows exactly what she wants.

  But it’s been great having Hunter in my life. He’s become the younger brother I never knew I wanted. He also became the president of the Deathseekers, under the guidance of Nate. And things with the MC couldn’t be better.

  Nate has worked hard to take the club in the right direction. He started up his own whorehouse empire, now running and managing six clubs across the county, as well as three additional Savage Ink tattoo studios.

  And even though the drugs and deals with Brax are no longer a part of club life, they are still very much a part of our lives. Brax and Izzy are our best friends, and always will be.

  In the end, despite all of my uncertainty and fears and everything we went through to get to this point, it was worth it. So worth it. And I knew from the very first kiss that I had fallen for Nate. Hard, fast, and all in.

  Our forbidden love became the only love that mattered. And in the end, love triumphed over everything that stood in our way.

  I look up at my world, right here, standing in front of me. “I love you,” I say with conviction, kissing him on the lips, molding together as one.

  “Hey, maybe Mommy and Daddy need some alone time,” Hunter interrupts, reaching for Emilia and taking her back out of the room, grinning as he looks at us over his shoulder. We hear him talking sweetly to her as he makes his way out, closing the door behind him.

  “Just you and me, baby. I like the sound of that,” Nate muses with a wiggle of his brows.

  “For now.” I giggle as he hooks his hands under my ass and steps back until I’m against the wall. My heart smiles and my hand drifts over his bare chest.

  “Mrs. Jeffries,” he purrs with lust lacing his tone.

  “Yes, Mr. Jeffries…”

  “I have around thirty minutes to worship your body.” He starts tugging at my blouse and lifting my skirt. My full heart pounds and his lips meet mine once more. I close my eyes savoring this moment and his touch. I never would’ve believed this is how it would be for us. But one thing it taught me, is to never stop fighting. I fought for this man, the dark times far outweighed by the light and love Nate brought to my life.

  He is my life.

  My rock.

  And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with this man. Because being together with him, even in ruins, is better than not being together at all.

  Coming Soon

  Look out for more from the Scars series!

  There will be two spin-off Novella’s coming at the end of 2018-beginning 2019!

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  Also by Rachael Tonks

  BEAUTIFUL BROKEN GIRL - Book one of the broken girl series

  KEEPING HOPE - Book two of the broken girl series

  BURN WITH ME - STANDALONE

  WORTH THE WAIT - Burn with me spin-off novella

  THE EDGE OF LIFE - The Blackheart twins book one

  THE EDGE OF FOREVER - The Blackheart twins book two

  THE SCARS OF YOU - Scars series book one

  THE SCARS OF US - The scars series book two

  IN LOVE AND RUINS - The scars series book 3