43. Luc
43
LUC
RECKONING
“ I t’s time to go.” Marcus steps back into my kitchen, his arms overflowing with a pretty baby-pink gown that drapes across Billy’s small body and hides her legs completely. Her head is dwarfed by an oversized bow, and her eyes shine bright, searching for me in one of the rare moments she’s awake.
A large lump forms in my throat, cutting off my air and damn near dropping me to my knees. Because Kane’s face is pale. He already knows what happened in the middle of that intersection in town. He caught the reports. But he wasn’t there, breathing for a baby. He wasn’t there, holding his dying wife and hoping, praying for a miracle.
Marc takes another step closer, hesitant as he looks from me to Kane. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing.” I push away from the table and head across the room, scooping Billy out of his arms because I can’t bear for us to be apart. I nearly lost her. And now, I need her. “I’m ready to go,” I rasp. “But I still don’t have a car, so?—”
“You can go in ours,” Jess murmurs, stopping in the door and softening her eyes. “You and Bill can ride with Kane, and I’ll drive our girls up.”
Contemplative, I look at Kane, as though to ask, that okay ? But already, he nods and starts my way. Clapping me on the shoulder, he nudges me through the door and in the direction of the front entry. “I already have the car seat in the back, and Jess will get the baby bag in case you need things while we’re there.”
“Laine and Ang are already at the hospital,” Jess adds, turning and ushering her girls through the house. “And Britt and Jack, too. They left their kids at the estate with Jack’s sister, so no extra noise.”
“I’ll swing by and grab Meg and meet you there,” Marcus continues. “Chance wants to see Billy anyway, so…”
“Scotch and Sammy are also gonna meet us there,” Jess concludes. “Alex and Oz are on shift, but you know they’ll make it work.”
“That’s a lot of people.” I emerge through the front door and into the sunlight outside. Immediately, Billy’s eyes snap shut and her lips pale as she wrinkles them together. “Are we sure we wanna have that many?—”
“Kari and Dom are loved,” Marc rumbles. “And so are you and Bill. Everyone wants to be there today.”
“Is there much we have to do?” I look at Kane, though fuck knows why. He’s not a lawyer. Or a hospital administrator. “Like, stuff we have to sign, or…?”
“I think just a couple of forms.” He leads me to his truck, bigger even than the one that created this fucking domino effect in my life. Then opening the back door, he steps out of the way instead of taking Billy from my arms. “Most of it’s been taken care of, I think. So it shouldn’t take long.”
“And then we just…” Carefully, I place Billy in her car seat and shuffle her dress around so I can secure the five-point straps. “Then we can take her? No more delays?”
“As far as I’m aware.” He waits for me to finish buckling, smiling, albeit small, when I glance back and meet his eyes. “Last I heard, everything is pretty much good to go. And if not, then one call to Soph, and it’ll be dealt with, no questions asked.” He nods toward Billy when I pull away. “Wanna ride with her, or up front with me?”
I consider for only a beat, before climbing into the back and settling in so I can see my sweet baby. Her eyes already droop, sleepiness taking over after a fresh outfit change and a bottle of milk.
Shutting the door, Kane walks to Jess and presses a kiss on her cheek. They talk for only a second before he nods and turns away, then he comes back and slides into the driver’s seat and shuts the door. “Laine just texted and said Meg and Britt already arrived. So we’re not waiting for anyone except us.”
“Guess that makes you the guest of honor, Bill.” I reach into the carrier and take her hand in mine, sliding my finger into her fist and swallowing when she squeezes hers shut. “You ready to go see your mommy?”
Kane pulls out of the driveway, but only after Jess and Marcus go first, then he settles onto the street as cars come along and match our speed in the back.
“We got an armored escort?” I peer back for just long enough to catch the rumble of a Hummer. “Was it necessary?”
“Drunk driver pussy was let out on bail.” He catches my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Tells me the roads aren’t safe. I’m just waiting on you to give me the thumbs up on that, then we can head on over to the trailer park and pay him a visit, Bishop style.”
“What are you gonna do?” I gulp the choking lump from the middle of my throat. “Beat him to a pulp? Alex already hit him that day at the scene.”
Kane scoffs. “Alex had to stop at one or risk his entire career.” He grins, wide and wild. “We won’t be using our fists.” But then he shrugs. “Unless you wanna. You can hit him as much as you want, until you get that rage out of your belly. Then we’ll slit his fuckin’ throat and be done with it.”
I glance up again, meeting his eyes, and know, he’s not joking.
Bishop’s do not make idle threats.
“Blood in, Lenaghan. I’ll take care of it, or I’ll help you take care of it. Either way, he won’t be driving for much longer.”
“You could go to prison for saying that stuff.”
He laughs, hitting the turn signal when the convoy ahead of us does the same. “I’m never going to prison. Don’t worry about it.”
“How do you get rid of the rage?” I chew on the inside of my cheek or risk accidentally squeezing Billy’s hand and hurting the tiny, fragile bones inside. “He hurt my family, Bish. What he did was…” I shake my head. “It was unforgivable. Maybe, if it was his first offence, it wouldn’t be so bad. One mistake is just, ya know, a mistake. But the same mistakes repeated…”
“That’s malice,” he finishes. “Or negligence, at best. We know he wasn’t aiming for you guys that day. So it wasn’t personal.”
“It feels fucking personal to me! I was the one tearing Kari open, like a savage, trying to save them all.”
“It wasn’t personal,” he repeats, slower, gentler, “but he made that choice to drink and drive. He’s made the same, fateful decision in the past which ended someone else’s life. Wayne Hart has hurt too many, even some we know personally.” He checks the mirror and meets my eyes. “I’m done letting the legal system handle it. Now it’s our turn. That’s how I deal with the rage.” His lips twitch. “I do what the law can’t. I did it for Laine when Graham hurt her, and I’ll do it for Kari for the same reasons. Word on the street is that his son is asking around to see who’s gonna deal with him. He wants him to pay after a childhood of abuse. Eliminating the issue is usually pretty fucking productive in calming my desire to burn the entire town down. Seems we get to help more than a couple of people dealing with this one.”
“What did you do to Graham for Laine?” I sit forward, resting my elbow on the seat ahead of me. “What happened?”
He scoffs, peering over his shoulder to meet my eyes. “What did you do to Graham?”
I sit back again, startled when his stare sparks something dangerous. A memory I’d long ago set aside in favor of my own sanity. A rage I worked through… in seemingly the same way Bish is suggesting.
“I saw some pretty interesting scars on Graham’s torso this one time,” he explains. “Got me thinking.”
“Why would you possibly have reason to see Graham’s torso?”
He grins again, shaking his head and bringing us around another corner. “No comment, Officer. Just let me know when you’re ready to purge the poison. Until then, I’ve got eyes on the dude.” Coming around one last corner and bringing the truck into the ambulance driveway where he’s sure to get a ticket, he pulls up a few yards from the emergency doors and cuts the engine. “Tell them not to tow me,” he chuckles, unsnapping his seatbelt and turning to meet my eyes. “If they do, I’ll have to get Soph to deal with it, and she gets kinda pissy about that stuff.”
My door opens, drawing my eyes to Marcus’ as he steps back to make room. “I wanna see my sister, Lenaghan, but I feel like it would be disrespectful to go in there before you and Bill. So…”
He waits as I unbuckle my daughter and turn to slide out, then he stands over her and strokes her brow.
“I’m gonna need you to hurry up and get in there.”
“What if I don’t wanna go in?” My voice thickens, shame and grief coalescing until it hurts the very center of my throat. My heart pounds, and beneath all the fabric that is my daughter, my hands shake. “What if I can’t see her? What if I can’t be brave enough to do it?”
“Then I guess I’ll help you.” He claps his hand to my shoulder and turns me until we’re heading toward the doors. Jess walks ahead of us, clearing the way and carrying a little shoulder bag overflowing with baby paraphernalia. Kane comes up on my left and Marcus walks on my right, then we emerge through the doors and Mitch steps into our path, his eyes soft and compassionate.
He carries a ball cap, the one I’ve seen him wear a thousand times, in one hand. And a bouquet of tulips he would have gotten from his sister in the other.
He’s not in uniform, which means he made his way here anyway, having heard that we’d be by.
“Mitch.”
He offers the flowers and tips his chin, studying a sleeping Billy and forcing a small smile. “Lenaghan. Baby Lenaghan.”
I choke out a soft, tear-filled chuckle and slip the bouquet between my arm and ribs to free up my hand. Then we’re moving again, Marcus’ grip on my arm and Mitchell stepping out of the way.
“I messed everything up,” I tell my escorts. “Breaking her heart when she was eighteen, then breaking it again every day for the following six years.”
“You’re lucky you said no at eighteen,” Marcus rumbles. Semi-joking. “Dating my sister in her twenties was bad enough. I might’ve legitimately killed you if you swooped during her teens.”
“I hurt her heart so many fucking times.” I allow them to lead me into the elevator, then out again on the third floor. “We fought the day of the accident, all because of a fucking fence.”
“Fighting is better than not talking at all.” Marcus clears his throat as we make our way through the halls, coming around one corner, then turning another. No hesitation. He knows where we’re going. “Fighting means you both still care. That’s important.”
“Shit.” My eyes burn as we come around our last corner and my family crowds the space. Britt steps forward first, her eyes red and swollen and her bottom lip gently, almost invisibly, trembling.
“Brat…”
“Luca.” She steps in and wraps her arms around my shoulders, careful not to squish Billy between us. “How was your first night at home?”
“Shit,” Kane answers as she pulls back. “We’ve been awake since two.”
“It’s hard to sleep with her not home,” I rasp, stepping out of her reach and grimacing when Jack taps my shoulder. That’s his hug, I suppose. His affection. “It’s impossible to sleep under those stars when she’s not there with me.”
“Hey, Luc.” Laine steps in next, squeezing against my side. She presses a kiss to the ball of my shoulder and pulls back to meet my eyes. “You look really, really tired. ”
I cough out a laugh and lock down on the emotion clawing along my throat. “‘Cause I am.”
“Come on,” Marc gently pushes me along. “Let’s not keep her waiting.”
I extend my hand, fist closed, as we pass Ang and Scotch. Then I swallow the ache in my throat as we approach Alex, who stands by the door. He’s on duty, in full Chief mode. But he allows his lips to curl into a small smile that somehow eases a little of the dread in my belly.
“She’s pretty as hell, huh?” He runs his fingers over the dress covered in pink tulips and brings his gaze back up to mine. “Takes after her momma.”
“She sure does. Have you been…” I tip my chin toward the closed door. “Have you been in there today?”
He nods. One short, sharp movement of his head that neither brings me comfort, nor does it erase the dread settled in my belly. “Yeah, I’ve been in. A couple of times, actually.”
Marcus scowls. “You were supposed to wait.”
Alex only chuckles, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. “According to the department shrink, I sometimes lack impulse control, especially when emotions are high. But hey, at least I didn’t beat my best friend almost to death.”
“Right,” Marcus drawls. “But I’m pretty sure I saw you pull your gun at dinner that time, so…”
“Let’s go,” Kane admonishes. “We’re not here for a hallway party. We came for one reason.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck . Nerves swim in my veins and lance across my belly until I feel like I want to puke. But even if I could turn my feet around and run away, Kane opens the door and guides me in with a hand on my shoulder.
“Time to suck it up,” he murmurs, low and serious. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“But what if it’s not? What if she—” I lose my words when he tears the curtain aside and reveals not only a friendly face, Blake, checking Kari’s files and grinning when our eyes meet, but I’m awarded the perfect view of Kari in her bed, half inclined, and little baby Dom suckling at her breast.
She glances up, surprised at our arrival, then thrilled, beaming when our eyes meet. “Hey, handsome.” Her eyes drop to the sleeping Billy and well up with thick tears. “And my baby girl, too. Hey.”
“How are you feeling?” I break away from Kane and make a beeline for Kari’s bed, coming up on her left and looking down at Dom, who is almost half the size of his sister.
It won’t be forever .
And it won’t hurt him long term.
But for right now, for the next few months, he just needs a little extra time.
“You look so fucking beautiful, Bear.” I lean in and press a kiss to her brow, before pulling back and setting the bouquet in a vase on the bedside table. “How was your night?”
“Tiring,” she sighs, reaching out one-handed for Billy. So I maneuver the baby and settle her in the gap between her hip and the rails. Just like on the ambulance stretcher. “Dom’s cluster feeding,” she mumbles lazily, stroking Billy’s puffy cheeks and sniffling as her hormones continue to wrack through her body. “And the doctors check my incision a million times a day. They keep waking me up.”
“Are you glad to be coming home today?” Hesitantly, I lower into the chair beside her bed and rest my elbows on the sides. “Excited to be back in your own bed?”
“With you?” She drags her eyes away from Billy and meets mine instead. “After nearly two weeks in hell and a couple of really crappy surgeries?”
“You had to have a hysterectomy, Bear.” I swallow to lubricate my painfully dry throat. “That’s not a small deal. And it could have been avoided if I wasn’t such a dick.”
She shakes her head. Softly. Sweetly. Side to side. “I’ve told you already, you were not a dick. And I’m not mad at you.”
“You should be.” My eyes burn, itching to spill over and make me look more a fool. “You should be furious.”
“Because we went for a drive that day? That’s hardly something you should be sorry for.”
“Yeah, but?—”
She reaches across, grimacing at the movement, and yet, places her fingertips over my lips. “I will forever and always choose you, Luca. Now, can you please take me home? I wanna sleep under the stars with my family.”
The End