“I’m gonna head out,” I told Coal.
“Same here. That new routine we started this week has kicked my ass.”
I laughed. “Yeah, man, I know what you mean. My arms were so sore yesterday I didn’t think I was going to be able to wipe my own ass.”
Coal threw his head back and laughed. “I wondered what the fuck was going on in there. Figured you ate something that fucked up your stomach.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Let’s go.”
As soon as we pulled into the parking spaces in front of our apartment, it was obvious something was wrong. I pulled my gun from the waistband of my jeans and checked the chamber. “Call Copper,” I told him.
He already had the phone pressed to his ear. “Yeah, just pulled up to our apartment and the front door’s been kicked in. Looks like the place has been trashed.”
“Yeah, we’re still outside. Yeah, got it. See you in a few,” he said and disconnected the call. “Copper wants us to wait outside. He’s on his way, and I’m sure he’s not coming alone.”
“I don’t think anyone’s in there,” I said.
But as soon as the words left my mouth, a pained groan filled the air. “Help me. Fuck, please,” a garbled voice said.
Ignoring my President’s orders, I entered our apartment with my gun leading the way. I took two steps over the threshold and saw a bloodied and bruised Grant on the floor.
“Fuck! Coal, get in here, now!” I bellowed as I knelt down beside him. “Hey, man. It’s gonna be okay.”
“Shit,” Coal cursed. “I’m calling an ambulance.”
“Who did this?” I asked.
“Gym guys,” he croaked before his eyes rolled back into his head.
“Grant!” I shouted. “Grant! Stay with me, man!”
A hand landed on my shoulder as someone else knelt on the other side of Grant. “He’s all right. He’s probably been fighting to stay conscious until someone got here,” Judge said from behind me.
“Did he say who did it?” Copper asked.
“He said, ‘Gym guys,’ when I asked him.”
“Motherfuckers are gonna pay for this,” Copper grumbled.
“Splint’s here,” Batta called from the door.
Splint and his partner didn’t waste any time. They had Grant loaded into the rig and were on the way to the hospital in less than three minutes.
“Judge, you and Batta go to the hospital. I’ll meet you there after we finish up here.”
“Got it, Prez. Officer Dunk and Officer Underwood just pulled up,” Judge said.
“Thank fuck those two are working tonight,” Copper said.
Officer Dunk entered the room and glanced around briefly before directing her attention to Copper. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
Copper shook hands with both officers. “Ain’t that the truth. Not sure if you’ve met our newest members. This is Kellan Ward—we call him Savior—and this is my cousin Coal Martin-Black.”
“So, what happened tonight?” Officer Dunk asked.
After filling her in, we went through each room to see if anything was missing. Neither one of us had anything of real value in the apartment, but the television was busted and the living room furniture was ruined.
“Do you have any idea who could be responsible for this?” Officer Underwood asked.
“I asked them the same thing as soon as I got here,” Copper said. “They haven’t been in town long enough to piss anyone off.”
“But the one who just went to the hospital is from Devil Springs, correct?” Officer Dunk asked.
“Yeah, he is,” Copper said.
“Once we finish up here, we’ll head over to the hospital to get his statement.”
After another thirty minutes or so of answering questions, we were finally allowed to go check on our friend.
11
Avery
“Avery Grace, I know there’s something you’re not telling me, and I want to know what it is right this instant,” my mother demanded.
I knew I would eventually have to tell her, but I was putting it off until I absolutely had to.
I sighed. “Hi, Mom. Yes, I’m doing better today; thanks for asking.”
“Don’t try to distract me. I know you’re doing better today because you’re not the color of your grandmother’s couch. Now, spill it. What in the hell is going on with you?”
I cupped my hands over my face and cried. My mom was by my side instantly, wrapping her arms around me. “Oh, baby, just tell me. Please. Is it cancer? We’ll fight it. You’re one of the strongest women I know. I’ll be with you through it all.”
I shook my head and cried harder. “It’s not cancer,” I managed to say through my sobs.
“Well, what else could it be that has you so upset?”
“I’m pregnant,” I wailed.
“You’re fucking what?” a male voice roared from behind my mother, startling both of us.
I gasped when my eyes landed on Savior. “What are you doing here?”
“Answer my question first,” he fumed.
“Young man, I think you need to leave. Avery, do you want me to call security?”
“No, Mom, don’t do that. Um, I need to talk to him, privately,” I said with a grimace. I knew it would only take seconds for her to put the pieces together.
“Oh,” she said. “I see. Well, yes, I’ll just be in the visitor’s area.” She whirled around and pointed her finger at Savior. “But you keep your voice down and don’t you dare upset her. She’s been sick as hell, and this is the first day she’s looked human in weeks.”
Once she was gone, he stepped closer to the bed and crossed his arms over his chest while he glared at me. “You’re pregnant?”
I cleared my throat and picked at the sheets on the bed. “That’s what they tell me.”
“Is it mine?”
I wanted to be offended by his question, but he had every right to ask it. We’d barely exchanged names before we fucked, and he had no way of knowing what kind of person I really was.
“It is.”
“Were you going to tell me?” he snapped.
And that question did offend me. “Listen, I just found out a few weeks ago, and I’ve been in and out of the hospital ever since. I wasn’t intentionally keeping it from you, but it’s not like I had any way of contacting you.”
“You could’ve gone to the bar.”
“Did you hear me say I’ve been sick since I found out? This is the third time I’ve been admitted to the hospital.”
His face softened just a touch. “Why have you been so sick?”
“They said I have hyperemesis gravidarum, which basically means I have morning sickness on steroids. I can’t keep anything down and end up with severe dehydration and a kidney infection,” I explained.
“Is the baby okay?”
“Yeah, so far everything’s fine.”
“Did you get sick like this with your other kids?”
My entire body stiffened at his question. “How do you know about my kids?”
“You have pictures of them in your house,” he replied quickly.
I did have pictures of my kids all over my house, but I didn’t realize he’d taken notice. When he came over, it was for one reason, and he left as soon as we were finished.
After a few moments of awkward silence, he asked, “Are you going to keep it?”
“Yes,” I snapped.
He held his hands up in a placating manner. “I wasn’t suggesting anything. I mean, I want you to have the baby, and I want to be a part of his or her life.”
“Oh, well, okay,” I stammered. I wasn’t expecting that from him.
“But, there’s something you need to know,” he said and pinched the bridge of his nose. “First, I want you to know I had no idea, not until I saw the picture on the wall outside of your bathroom. And once I knew, I didn’t come back.”
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach, and the nausea that had fi
nally subsided started to return with a vengeance. “What is it?”
“You told me your name was Grace.”
“It is. My name is Avery Grace.”
He swallowed audibly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know that now. Um, my name is Kellan Ward.”
Nothing could have prepared me to hear that name come out of his mouth.
Kellan Ward.
The man who killed my husband.
The man who took my children’s father from them.
The man whose baby I was carrying.
No.
No.
No.
“Get out,” I managed to say before vomit violently spewed from my mouth and nose. I coughed and sputtered as I blindly tried to grab for the emesis basin. It suddenly appeared in front of me as a large hand gently rubbed my back.
“I’m sorry, Avery. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.”
“How could you not know?” I screamed between heaves.
“I only saw a few pictures of you, and you don’t look the same,” he explained.
It made sense; I’d never met him, and I hadn’t seen any pictures of him, but I wasn’t thinking logically. “Bullshit! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?”
“I didn’t know! You said your name was Grace!” he yelled back.
“My name is Grace!” I screamed.
“You didn’t know who I was either!”
“I didn’t kill your spouse and ruin your life!”
“The fuck is going on in here?” another male yelled as he entered my room.
“Security!” I heard my mother yell as she pushed her way into my room.
“Savior, outside, now. That’s an order,” the new man said.
Savior pinned me with eyes so full of pain and anguish. “This isn’t over, Avery Grace,” he vowed before he left the room.
“My apologies, ma’am. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’ll make sure he stays out of your room if that’s what you want.”
“And you are?” my mother asked.
He cleared his throat and extended his hand to my mom. “I’m Copper Black, President of the Blackwings MC. Savior is a member of my club.”
My mother shook his hand and said, “I think it’s best if he refrains from visiting Avery for the time being.”
“Understood,” he said and reached into the pocket of his leather vest. “Here’s my contact information. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have any problems with him.”
Mom plucked the card from his hand and briefly glanced at it. “Thank you, Mr. Black,” she said. He nodded once before he turned on his heels and left the room.
“What in the hell is going on, Avery?”
“Mom,” I gasped and choked on my own spit which started another round of vomiting.
She was right there by my side, just like she always was. She wiped my face and handed me some water to rinse my mouth. “Sweetheart, was that the father?”
I nodded and wiped the tears from my face. “The first one, not the second one,” I clarified.
“Honey, you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re—”
“Yes, I have, Mom,” I sobbed. “I’ve done the worst thing ever.”
“Avery, don’t be so dramatic.”
“I’m not being dramatic. That man, the baby’s father, is Kellan Ward,” I cried.
My mother’s mouth dropped open, and the color drained from her face as she gaped at me in horror. “I didn’t know it was him. And he didn’t know it was me. And now we’re having a baby. What am I going to do?” I managed to say before I started gagging again.
Mom knew how to handle my frequent vomiting, so she sprang into action with the washcloth and water. “Oh, Avery, is this why you’ve been so sick?”
I shook my head. “No, I just found out who he was right before you started yelling for security.”
“Well, clearly, stress makes it worse for you,” she observed.
“I can’t believe this happened. What am I going to tell people? I’ll be the talk of the town.”
“You’re in a new town, and you don’t have to tell anyone anything. It’s no one’s business but your own. Now, I’ve already discussed this with your father, and we were planning on renting a house nearby so we could help with the kids until you were better. We thought you had cancer. I’m so glad you don’t, but you’re still going to need help for a while.” She pulled me against her chest and smoothed her hand over my hair. “We’ll get through this, honey.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her, but I hoped she was right.
12
Savior
“What in the hell was going on in there?” Copper demanded.
“I, uh, fuck,” I swore. “She’s pregnant. It’s mine, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You don’t have to talk about it, but you do have to stay out of her room.”
“Not a problem, Prez.”
He arched an eyebrow and studied me. “You going to leave her high and dry?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to. But you saw how she reacted. We, uh, we have a tangled past.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fuck, Prez, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. It’s not like we planned this. I want to be involved and help her however I can; but I don’t want to upset her any more than I already have,” I confessed.
Copper’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Maybe it’s just her pregnancy hormones making things seem worse than they are.”
“I wish it were that simple. Trust me, Prez, she has every right to be upset with me.”
“You know, Phoenix never told me why he ordered your transfer. And really, it ain’t my business if it doesn’t affect the club directly. But, your brothers can’t help you if they don’t know what kind of help you need.”
I sighed. He was right. I didn’t want all the brothers to know about my past, but I was in over my head, and I needed some help. “Can we keep this between you and me for right now?”
“Of course.”
“A little over two years ago, I was driving home from a long day at work. I even turned down an invitation to hang out with some friends that were in town because I was so exhausted. I was about halfway home when I fell asleep behind the wheel. My truck crashed into a police cruiser parked on the side of the highway and killed the officer inside. That officer was Ian Parker, Avery’s husband,” I said and gestured to her hospital room.
Copper sucked in a sharp breath and glanced at her closed door. “Shit, Savior.”
“I didn’t know it was her. I’d never seen her before. When I met her at Precious Metals, she said her name was Grace. I told her my name was Savior. Neither one of us knew who the other one was.”
Copper rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “I’m guessing you figured out who she was when you disappeared a few weeks ago and Ranger found you drunker than a skunk in the cemetery.”
“Yeah,” I rasped. “I saw a picture of her kids on the wall and figured it out. I, uh, I went to the cemetery to apologize to her husband.”
“So, I don’t get it. Why’d Phoenix send you up here?”
“It was actually Ranger’s idea. He knew she moved to Devil Springs and thought it would be good for me to be here as well. After the accident, my lawyers told me not to contact the family in any way. But I had to at least do something for the kids. So, I found ways to make sure their school lunches were paid for, had things delivered to their house, prepaid for their meals at different restaurants around town, stuff like that.”
“Fuck, Savior, if there’s anything I can do for you, I will.”
“Thanks, Prez. I appreciate it,” I replied. It was a nice offer, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do to help me.
“I’m going to go wait in the visitor’s area. Will you let me know when there’s an update on Grant?”
“Of course,” he said and patted my shoulder.
I took a seat in the empty waiting room
and slumped in my chair. How had my life become such a fucked-up mess? I couldn’t blame Avery for not wanting to talk to me. I would hate me too if I were in her shoes. I hated myself as it was. Fuck! I wanted to hit something. Anything.
“Mind if I sit here?” a woman asked softly.
I looked up to see Avery’s mother pointing to the seat beside me. For a brief moment, I was distracted by how much the two of them looked alike.
She didn’t wait for me to answer before she dropped into the chair. “I’m Claire Cameron, Avery’s mother. I’m not here to be hateful to you or to tell you to leave. I overheard you talking to your friend, and I understand what a tough position you’re in. My Avery has always reacted defensively to hide her feelings. Once she’s had time to process, she usually comes around.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be the case this time.”
“Well, if I know my girl, she’ll come around and do the right thing. It might take her a little longer than usual, but she’ll get there.”
“We, um, we didn’t exactly have a relationship, but I do want to be there for her and the baby. She can’t do everything by herself and be as sick as she is.”
“No, she can’t. Her father and I are going to make arrangements to stay in town and help with the kids until she gets better, however long that may be. Your friend gave me his card, but let me get your phone number so we’ll be able to get in touch with you.”
I rattled off my cell phone number and looked at her curiously. “Why don’t you hate me?”
She gave me a sad smile. “I think I did for a short period of time before we knew what happened, but it was an accident. And even as devastating as it was, it wasn’t your fault. Avery knows that, too, but this sudden turn of events has thrown her for a loop. Well, I better get back to her room,” she said.
“Can I get your number, too? Maybe I could text you and see how she’s doing?” I asked.
“Of course. I’ll send you a text from my phone.”
Savior (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 3) Page 5
