Savoring Mila (Angels Halo MC Next Gen & Rockers' Legacy Book 3)

by Terri Anne Browning

  “Th-thank you,” she whispered, her fingers tracing lovingly over her little blob of a baby.

  Thankfully, Monroe’s bleeding was just a ruptured blood vessel, from what the doctor told us a little while later. But they were going to keep her overnight just to be cautious.

  Once we knew she was going to be okay, Lyric finally let the doctors look at his own gunshot. The bullet had gone straight through his bicep and, thankfully, had missed artery and bone. The doctor patched him up in Monroe’s room, gave him a few shots and a prescription for antibiotics before saying he was cleared to leave.

  Mom came in with Aunt Raven, Layla, and Emmie, all of them fussing over both Monroe and me until the surgeon came down to talk to us about Dad. He was in recovery after they repaired the damage to his shoulder and removed the bullet from his thigh. He would have to stay a day or two before he could be released.

  My uncles showed up, although I suspected they’d been waiting in the ER waiting room all along. Ben arrived with the local cops, and Monroe and I were questioned before they took Lyric and Jesse aside to get their statements about the shooting. Thankfully, they were labeling it as self-defense considering the circumstances.

  I was completely spent. Barely able to keep my eyes open, I lay down beside my sister on her bed in her private hospital room. She wrapped her arms around me, cuddling close, and we finally fell asleep holding on to each other.

  Chapter 23

  Lyric

  I didn’t even try to close my eyes until Mila was sound asleep in bed with her sister. Grabbing the uncomfortable as hell plastic chair from the corner of the room, I set it on Mila’s side of the bed and finally sat.

  In the past dozen hours, I felt like I’d aged a good twenty years. I knew it wasn’t ever going to be boring with Mila at my side. She was going to put me in an early grave at this rate, but fuck, as long as she was beside me, I didn’t care.

  Once Masterson was in a room, Willa went to stay with him. But Maverick was sitting in the other chair across the room. He was half asleep already, though, having gone east looking for his sisters when everyone split up, along with a few of his cousins and uncles. He’d arrived only an hour or so ago, and he looked about as emotionally wiped as I felt.

  One of the MC brothers was standing outside the door. With the men who had taken the girls both dead, I wasn’t sure what they expected to happen to them, but I was glad they were taking precautions. Until I got Mila her own bodyguard, she wasn’t leaving my side, but Monroe still needed protecting too.

  My arm was still blissfully numb from where the ER doctor had sewn me up, but the rest of my body felt like I’d been hit by an eighteen-wheeler. Groaning, I used my good arm as a pillow and laid my head on the end of the bed. I stroked my fingers along Mila’s leg, needing to touch her and reassure myself she was there and safe. She and the babies were okay. I hadn’t lost her or them, and I was still thanking all of Aunt Emmie’s gods for watching over them.

  Eyes feeling heavy, I gave up the fight to stay awake and let sleep pull me under…

  A pained grunt had me jerking upright and then jumping to my feet when I saw a shadow leaning over the girls. Everything moved fast, and I only had a few seconds to take in what I’d just woken up to. The door to the room was open, letting in light from the corridor outside. There was a body lying on the floor, which was why the door was propped open, and I realized it was the MC brother, but I couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.

  The grunt I heard must have been Maverick, because he was sprawled on the floor at the foot of the bed. A guy dressed all in black with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head and face stood on the other side of the bed, leaning over Monroe, pulling out her IV.

  But when I’d jumped up, he’d pulled a gun, and it was pointed right at my head.

  I lifted my hands. “Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Just don’t hurt the women,” I commanded. “I have money. I’ll pay you whatever price you want. Cost doesn’t matter. Just don’t—”

  “I don’t want your fucking money,” he growled. Tucking the gun away, he bent and lifted a still-sleeping Monroe into his arms. The nurse had given her something earlier to help her sleep because she was uncomfortable, and she’d passed out with Mila. “She’s mine. She’s all I want or need.”

  Fuck.

  “I can’t let you take her,” I told him, moving into his path when he started to leave with her.

  From the bed, Mila finally stirred. Yawning, she turned onto her side, missing her sister’s body heat. “Lyric,” she mumbled, half asleep. Then she gasped and sat upright in bed. “No!” she screamed when she saw the guy holding her sister. “You can’t take her. Please.” She started to jump to her feet, and I knew it was going to happen before she even began to stumble.

  I had two seconds to react. Catch Mila before she face-planted because her blood pressure dropped too fast, or continue to block the guy’s way. It was no contest, and I moved, barely grabbing her before her head hit the floor.

  “Babe.” I tapped her on the cheek. “Mila, open your eyes.”

  Her lashes fluttered then lifted. “Monroe,” she cried. “Get her. Please.”

  “I will, but you have to stay here. Promise me you won’t move.” She stubbornly didn’t speak, and I muttered a curse. “Mila.”

  “Okay!” she yelled up at me. “Now, go get her back.”

  Kissing her brow, I ran after the guy. But by the time I got out into the hall, there was no sign of him. Figuring the stairs were my best bet, I ran toward the nearest emergency exit. I could hear someone a few floors below me, and I took off after them.

  As I got to the third floor, I heard a door slam shut and knew he was already outside. Cursing, I ran faster, but when I got outside, a car was speeding away.

  “Goddamn it!” I bellowed.

  Running back inside, I went straight to Monroe’s room. Security and medical staff were there, tending to the MC brother who was still knocked out but apparently alive. Maverick was sitting on the edge of the bed, wet washcloth pressed to the back of his head while a nurse took his blood pressure.

  Mila stood beside her brother, her face tense as she chewed on her thumbnail while she watched the others working. Seeing me, she widened her eyes, but when she realized Monroe wasn’t with me, tears began to spill over her lashes.

  “I couldn’t catch him,” I told her, my voice full of regret.

  “No,” she whispered, shaking her head, and I saw her begin to crack. She wrapped her arms around herself. “No. This isn’t happening. It can’t be. It’s a dream. Monroe is right beside me. I’m just asleep. I’m just…” A sob left her, and I wrapped my arms around her. “He didn’t take her.”

  Maverick stood, dropping the washcloth on the floor at his feet. “It had to have been Fontana,” he grumbled, and Mila sobbed harder, clinging to me helplessly. “We have to alert the others.”

  “Were you expecting this?” I demanded. “Is that why there was a guard at the door?”

  He shook his head. “No. Dad wouldn’t calm down until we told him someone would be on the door all night.” He stabbed his fingers through his hair. “Fuck. We should have known something would happen.”

  The doctor stood and dusted off his hands. “Looks like your friend here got shot full of something. There’s a puncture wound on his neck. He will be fine once it wears off. Probably have a hell of a headache, though.” His gaze fell on Mila, who was still crying in my arms. “This one going to need a sedative?”

  “No!” I barked at him. “Keep your shit to yourself. I’ll take care of her.” Lifting her into my arms, I kissed her temple. “Come on, baby. Let’s go up to your dad’s room.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest. “Mon,” she sobbed brokenly. “We have…to get her…back.”

  “We will,” I assured her as I walked to the elevator, while Maverick stayed with the MC brother. Upstairs, there was another brother outside Masterson’s r
oom. Seeing us coming, the man stood up straighter, his eyes wide on Mila.

  “What the fuck happened?” Tanner Reid demanded, looking at Mila like she had two heads. “This girl doesn’t ever cry like that.”

  “Fontana took Monroe,” I told him in a quiet voice. “Your boy who was watching her door downstairs is out for the count, and Maverick is going to have a headache for a while.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered, pulling out his phone as he opened the door for me. “Gotta call Bash.”

  The room was dark when we entered, but I could make out Willa lying on the hospital bed with her husband. I used my elbow to turn on the light, making Mila’s father sit up in bed with a growl. “The fuck’s going on?” he snarled. Then he blinked, focusing on his daughter. “Mila? Honey, what’s wrong.”

  “Daddy,” she cried. “He… He… Monroe!”

  Masterson’s dark eyes snapped to me. “I’m going to need more than that, boy.”

  I quickly explained everything that had happened to her parents. Willa got out of bed and came over to soothe her daughter, but she was openly crying herself and that didn’t help Mila’s tears any. Masterson grew more and more tense with each passing minute. Tanner came in behind me once I was done telling them what happened and handed his cell to the enforcer.

  The rest of the night was mostly a blur after that. Several of the MC brothers had gone to a hotel for the night, so they were only about a mile away, and they all started a search party for Monroe. But in my gut, I knew they wouldn’t find her. By dawn, Mila looked like a zombie with her tear-swollen red eyes and the dark circles beneath them. She was pale and quiet, way too quiet.

  With nothing more I could do, I told her parents I was taking her home. My parents and Aunt Emmie had gone back to my house the night before, but they’d left my SUV for me in the parking lot. I drove her home then had to tell my family what had happened to Monroe.

  My stomach in knots, because I didn’t want to do this but knew there was no way we could continue making plans when Mila’s twin was missing, I told Aunt Emmie to put all wedding preparations on hold until this was all over.

  “Lyric,” she murmured. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry, sweetheart.”

  “A wedding is the last thing Mila’s going to want to deal with right now,” I told her, scrubbing a hand over the stubble on my jaw. “She’s already too stressed out over her sister. I’m not going to put more on her shoulders.”

  “We understand, son,” Dad said, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “You just take care of Mila. When she’s ready, we’ll be here to take care of everything.”

  “I’m calling Barrick,” Aunt Emmie said, pulling out her phone. “We’ll get the girl back, Ric. I promise.”

  All I could do was nod, too exhausted to waste my breath with words I wasn’t even sure I believed. I’d seen the look in Fontana’s eyes when he’d had Monroe in his arms. They were those of a predator, ready to destroy anything and anyone who got in his way. But there had been something else, too.

  Love.

  Obsession.

  Monroe was his, and he’d come to claim her. The only way we would get her back was if Fontana was dead.

  And I was sure her dad would be all too happy to put a bullet in his skull.

  Chapter 24

  Mila

  “Babe?”

  I clenched my eyes closed tighter at Lyric’s voice, wanting to block out everything until I could hear Monroe’s voice again. But I knew that was just hiding from reality.

  Gian Fontana had stolen her from me the night before. She was gone, and I didn’t know if I was ever going to see my other half again.

  Regret twisted and churned in my stomach, making me so nauseated, I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I never should have kept her stalker a secret from our parents. If I’d known it was Fontana who was following her around, even though he was protecting her, I would have.

  Hindsight was 20/20, though. I couldn’t turn back the clock and tell anyone. All I could do was pray she was okay.

  He’d spent years protecting her. He wouldn’t hurt her now…

  Would he?

  No. I had to believe he would protect her with his own life as he’d done all this time.

  Plus, he was her baby’s father. He wouldn’t let anything happen to his unborn child.

  Please, God. Let them be okay.

  “Mila, baby,” Lyric said again, and I heard the door shut behind him as he crossed to the bed.

  Forcing myself to open my eyes, I looked up at him as he switched on the bedside lamp. I lifted my hand, needing him to hold me. The night before, he’d taken care of me, let me cry until there were no more tears left. He’d run after Monroe, tried to get her back for me. I knew if he could have, he would have taken on Gian Fontana to save my sister because he knew I couldn’t live without her.

  Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he bent and touched his lips to my forehead. “I need to tell you something,” he said in a quiet voice.

  “Okay.” My voice was hoarse from all the crying I’d done the night before, and I cleared it, hoping to make it sound stronger. “Tell me.”

  “I told Aunt Emmie and Mom to postpone the wedding preparations.” My heart clenched, and fresh tears filled my eyes. “Just postpone,” he rushed to say. “I don’t want to put more stress on you right now, babe. Once Monroe is back where she belongs, we’ll get married. I promise.”

  “Th-thank you,” I whispered, scrubbing the back of my hand over my tears. “I hadn’t even thought about the wedding, and… Yeah. I really don’t think I could have put my whole heart into any wedding plans right now. Thank you.”

  “I want our day to be special, and I knew it wouldn’t be if she weren’t here.” He kissed me, a tender kiss full of all his love for me. “And now, I need you to get up. There’s someone downstairs who is going to help us get Monroe back.”

  I jerked upright, my heart pounding. “What? How?”

  “My cousins Nevaeh and Mia are married to the owners of the top personal security company in the country. Aunt Emmie called her son-in-law after I told her about the wedding, and he hopped on his plane and just arrived about ten minutes ago. Barrick and Braxton are downstairs waiting to meet you and get all the information you can give them on Monroe and Fontana.”

  “Lyric.” I threw my arms around him. “Thank you. This means everything to me. Thank you,” I repeated, kissing him over and over again. “I love you so much.”

  He kissed me back. “Babe, I would do anything for you. I don’t care what it is, what it costs, or who I have to kill to get it done. I will take care of you and these babies and everyone you love. I’ll always make sure you never regret giving me your heart, my Mila.”

  “Never,” I breathed against his lips. “I will never regret loving you.”

  This isn’t the end. You will see more of Mila and Lyric in both Surviving His Scars and Loving Violet.

  Monroe’s book releases 3.31.2020!

  Turn the page to get an unedited taste of Monroe and Gian now.

  Prologue

  Monroe

  “I’m so bored,” Mila complained loudly as she stomped up the stairs in front of me. “It’s freaking summer vacation and we can’t even leave the house without an armed escort.”

  “That’s right, missy,” Mom called from the kitchen. “And don’t even think about sneaking out tonight to go to that party I know your idiot friends are having.”

  “Mom!” she whined. “I just want to have some fun and hang out with my friends.”

  “You want to see them, they can come here. But you are not leaving this damn house without your father or one of your uncles with you.”

  The way her voice shook only spiked my anxiety over this sudden lockdown higher. Ever since the attack on the MC’s clubhouse the week before, Daddy had been raging. And freaking out about Mila and I leaving the house unprotected.

  Our father, James ‘Spider’ Masterson didn’t freak out over nothing. V
ery little scared him, but suddenly he was terrified. For our safety.

  I wasn’t sure what was going on, they never told us anything when it was MC related, but the tension I was feeling from him was enough to make me shake. So I wasn’t going to complain about not getting to go out. It wasn’t like I did that often anyway. Only when Mila dragged me along to hang out with her friends, who I could barely stand.

  We might have looked exactly alike in every physical way, but we were completely different on the inside. She was the wild child of the two of us, and I was happy just to curl up in my window with a really good book and disappearing into an entirely different world.

  With a huff, Mila stomped into her room and slammed the door so hard the floor shook as I walked calmly to my own room. From downstairs I heard Mom muttering loudly to herself, asking Jesus for patience and professing to love her children repeatedly as if she needed to remind herself. It was something she did often after Mila threw a fit.

  Shaking my head at the two of them, I stepped into my room and closed the door with a soft click before crossing to my bed and dropping down on the pillows. Sighing contently, I reached for the stack of books on the corner of my nightstand…

  Only to find a small square box on top of the pile.

  Frowning, I sat up, examining the box a little closer. I couldn’t remember putting it there, and it wasn’t typical of one of my parents to leave me random gifts.

  Curious, I carefully lifted the top off the box. Inside was a fold piece of paper in masculine handwriting and a necklace. Running my index finger over the small silver medallion, I picked it up and let it dangle in front of my face.