Chapter 14 Dog
DOG
Going to Zambia for Christmas had been the right choice. Maggie had come back a different woman and was almost like her old self.
We were all fucking relieved. I liked my wife and Old Lady happy, not pretending like she had been.
Going from the heat to the cold temperatures of the UK hadn’t been fun, and I could see why Noni, Bull, and the rest of their chapter preferred living where they did.
Maybe those of us who are retired should think about spending our winter months there and the summer in the UK. We’d get the best of both worlds then.
The call came in the early hours of the morning, and my stomach sank. Any call during those hours wasn’t going to be good news.
Maggie stirred next to me as I answered my phone. “You got Dog.”
“It’s Cahir,” my breath hitches as fear grips me. This can only be about Bella.
“Is she okay?” I grind out, my hand patting the bed behind me until I find Maggie’s. Putting my phone on speaker, we waited for his reply.
“She’s okay. Beat to shit but nothing life-threatening that we could see. I’m sending her to you. She’s not alone. Her man and the boy she saved are with her.”
Inhaling a relieved breath at his news, I’m aware that Maggie is already getting dressed. “How long until they get there?”
“A couple of hours, Cai’s bringing them.”
Someone calls to him, “I have to go Dog, but we’ll be around to check in as soon as we can.”
He ends the call, and I stand taking Maggie in my arms. We breathe easy for the first time in years.
Cupping her cheeks, I tilt her face up to mine.
“She’s okay, gorgeous. She’s okay.” I don’t stop the tears that roll down my cheeks as relief fills me.
Maggie wraps her arms around my waist and holds me as I cry into her shoulder.
“It’s okay honey, it’s okay,” she croons, rubbing her hands up and down my back. “It’s okay.”
She holds me until I take one last shaky breath and lift my head from where I’d buried it in her neck.
“Sorry, darling.”
Maggie’s tearful smile bloomed as she cupped my cheeks. “I love you so much Robert. You’ve been so strong the whole time; it’s okay to fall apart. It’s just you and me. You never need to hide from me.”
Lowering my head, I kiss her. Pouring all my worries, fears, and relief into the kiss because she’s right; it’s always been her and me with my brothers and Kate as backup.
Lifting my lips from Maggie’s, I swipe at the tears on her cheeks. “We’ve got a couple of hours but let's get the others up and let them know and then get down to the hospital to wait for them. I’m so fucking glad she’s okay, Mags.”
“Me too honey, me too. You wake the others; I’m going to finish getting dressed and pack up a cooler to take with us and spare clothes in case they’re needed. Those couple of hours are going to fly by.”
“Okay,” I press one last kiss to Maggie’s lips and do as she bids, leaving our wing. I knock on doors as I pass, waking up the house. Then I call Draco and Molly to let them know what’s going on.
All the Crow MC barring the children and those that stayed home with them are waiting for Bella when Cai pulls up to the hospital.
My heart clenches and Maggie gasps when we get our first good look at Bella as the large man with her gets out of the car cradling her in his arms. Holding her like she’s the most precious thing in the world to him.
She’s covered in blood and bruises, but she’s breathing.
That’s all that matters. She’s breathing.
Rea doesn’t mess around; we barely catch a glimpse of the boy with them. Rea and her team have them on wheeled stretchers before we can blink and rush them away.
Cai and the man he’s with turn towards us. He looks familiar, but I can’t place why. He’s big, muscular, with long hair, a beard, and he’s covered in blood.
The brotherhood is lobbing questions at them, but I don’t think he’s hearing a word; his attention is focused on the door that Bella’s been taken through.
I want to hate the man but I know that look all too well.
It's one that I see on my son’s faces when they look at their Old Ladies, the ones on my brothers’ faces and the one I know I have on mine every time I see Maggie.
I can’t fault a man for loving my daughter the way he obviously loves mine.
Finally, Cai has enough and lets out a piercing whistle before informing us, “You need to wait and speak to Cahir and Bee. They have the answers you want. Until then, is there somewhere we can clean up?” He’s not one to speak much, so when he does, people tend to listen.
“Of course,” Maggie steps up. “Come this way. I’ll show you where you can clean up, and I’ll get you something to change into.”
I should have known she’d be the first one to help.
It was in her nature, and if she’d seen what I had, she’d want to make Bella’s man comfortable.
She disappears with the two of them, and the rest of us go to the waiting room in the private wing.
The same wing that Bella had donated money towards years ago to have built.
Rea was one of the reasons we had clout in the hospital, but the amount of money we’d donated over the years was another.
We didn’t often throw our weight around, but when it came to our family, we weren’t shy about using our authority to get things done.
That’s where they find us when they’re done showering.
You can see the exhaustion on their faces.
Bella’s man sinks into a chair and leans back, closing his eyes.
Not once has he seemed worried about being surrounded by bikers, but then, being who he was, I guess he wouldn’t be.
I’d found out from Reaper while we’d been waiting for them to clean up who he was.
Copper, Vice President of the Queens Wraiths Southampton Chapter. I’d not met all of them, but I knew from those that had that they were well liked. Their VP in the States was related to one of our brothers and to Maura, Thor’s Old Lady.
It had filled my old heart with relief knowing she’d found a man like the ones she’d grown up with. Didn’t mean that I wouldn’t give him some shit, not a lot, but a little. She was my baby girl after all.
Pushing away from the wall I’d been leaning against, I walk towards him and take a seat next to him.
Maggie wasn’t far behind me, and she settled next to me, narrowing her eyes when I grinned at her.
I turn to the man who knows I’m there but is planning on ignoring me by the looks of it.
Until I state, “So, you’re the one whose bike she was on. ”
He opens his eyes and turns to look at me with raised brows; I see it then, the likeness to Hawk, another one of our brothers. It would seem we were tied in more ways than I’d realised. “I am,” he responds.
I frown. He’s not a chatty one, so I push, “That’s it? My daughter goes missing for years, and that’s all I get?”
He studies me for a beat, and I have to admit I’m starting to admire the man.
He’s not one to rush into anything. I appreciate his taking time to answer.
I like my son’s wives, but I always thought I’d have a hard time with whoever Bella chose, and while I’d known Sam all his life, and I’d known what a good man he was, I hadn’t been too keen on him and my baby girl when they started up.
But this man … yeah, this man I liked. And the more we spoke, the more I liked him for her.
“Yep,” he nods before continuing, “You need to get the rest from Bee. She had her reasons. But I won’t have you bullying my Old Lady. Spice will tell you what you need to know when she’s ready.”
His old lady? Spice? Well, hell!
The room around us has fallen silent as they watch everything unfold. Not that it seemed to worry the man I was questioning. If anything, he seemed bored.
“Your Old Lady?”
He straightens at the disbelief I’d pushed into my tone as if I didn’t believe him. Maggie knew, though. She squeezed my hand, muttering a soft warning, “Robert.”
But this man wasn’t one that could be pushed and not push back. Yep, I really liked him. I liked him even more when he told me in no uncertain terms.
“That’s right. My Old Lady. Mine to love. Mine to protect, even if that means protecting her from her family.”
Well, hell, that sealed it. He was family now, whether or not he liked it. He’d put my baby first, brought her home to us and now he’d made his intentions clear. Yep, he’d do.
Smiling, I hold out my hand for him to shake. “Fair enough. I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier. Name’s Dog. This is my Old Lady and Bella’s mum, Maggie.”
The soft way he looks at Maggie and the respectful way he speaks to her has the brotherhood standing down. They’d been watching our interaction closely, especially Draco and Onyx.
“Name’s Copper, Ma’am. Thank you for the clean clothes. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself before.”
I know what he sees. He sees Bella and what she’ll look like forty years from now. My girls are as alike as two peas in a pod.
Maggie smiles at him and waves her hand as if it’s not a big deal, and to her it isn’t. Not when he’s brought our girl home, and she tells him so. “Thank you for looking after my girl.”
He shrugs his large shoulders, replying, “No thanks necessary. I’d do anything for Bee.”
And I had no doubt he would have if he hadn’t already done it. With introductions out of the way, we settle in for the long wait, and when we get an update, we all exhale sighs of relief.
Bella’s not hurt as badly as she’d looked. She’s been taken to a room, and we stand to go and see her.
“Come on,” Maggie says, reaching for Copper. “You can wait with us in her room.”
He smiles at her, and I have a feeling that even if we’d not invited him, he still would have insisted on coming. I don’t think anything was going to keep him from our girl.
I’m right. He checks on her, kissing her uninjured cheek with a gentleness that I’m surprised at before telling us he’s going to check on the boy they’d brought with them.
Maggie and I settle in next to Bella’s bed. We’d keep watch.
“We’ll be here,” I assure him.
He leaves us, and Maggie curls up in my lap, head tucked in my neck as we watch Bella sleep.
“He loves her.”
“Yeah, gorgeous he does.”
“I’m glad she’s okay, Robert.”
“Me too baby, me too.”
It’s a long night, and Bella wakes once. She burst into tears as soon as she saw us and reached for Maggie.
Blinking hard against the tears that are threatening to fall, I smile when Bella reaches out a hand for me. Standing, I bend and kiss her forehead.
“You got lots of explaining to do, baby girl.”
“I know,” she whispers, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You can tell us more when you feel better.”
Bella’s searching the room. “He’s gone to check on the boy,” I tell her.
“Good,” she responds, eyelids drooping as she falls asleep.
Maggie and I sit back in the chair. It’s an uncomfortable night for us, but our baby's home, and that’s all that matters.