Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
RED
“Kit! Talk to me! I’m your brother. Don’t leave me here! Kit!”
Standing well away from Tony who’d been shouting at Kit for what felt like hours, Red held Kit enfolded against his heart as his boy shivered. “I know he’s hurt, but he tried to kill you. Don’t listen to him.”
Tony was surrounded by armed men. He wouldn’t get near his brother in this lifetime. Red would make sure of that.
Kit whimpered. “He’s my brother. He’s all I have left. It’s so hard.”
“I know it is, sweetheart, and I’m sorry. But you have me, I promise.”
Despite his shattered kneecap, Tony did not stop yelling at Kit to talk to him, to take care of him because they were brothers and family was important. The whole reason he came, to kill his younger brother, seemed to have flown out of his head.
Kit sighed and leaned into Red. “How did you know he was here?”
“Ronan spotted him on the monitors, only he disappeared from view. Too many fucking trees. That’s why I didn’t come after you immediately. Ronan called me as you left. We were trying to locate him. Then Lucinda sounded the alarm. I’ve never run so fast to get here.”
He didn’t want to admit just how scared he’d been, thinking they’d lost Kit and not knowing where the hostiles were.
“Lucinda had an alarm?”
“She did, and she made sure she had eyes on you.”
“Can we go back to the cabin, Daddy? I can’t listen to this any longer.”
“The EMTs have just arrived. Let them look at your cheek and then we’ll go.”
Kit tilted his head to look at him and the red crease stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin. “Are you all right, Daddy? You sound angry.”
Red forced a smile to reassure his boy. “I’m fine.”
It must have worked because Kit gave him a wan smile and rested his head on Red’s shoulder.
Red clenched his jaw, trying to quell the roaring in his head.
The rational, bodyguard side of Red knew Kit was fine, the wound was barely more than a graze.
But the Daddy side was another matter. If Lucinda hadn’t been there, the outcome could have been very different. And that side demanded vengeance.
One of the EMTs jogged over to him, a red-haired twink who looked strangely familiar. He beamed at them both, checked Kit’s cheek, cleaned up the wound and put a bandage on it.
“You’re good. Your Daddy can take you to the cabin now.” The EMT smiled reassuringly at Kit.
Red stared at him. How did he know they were Daddy and boy?
“How did you—?” Then Kit gasped. “Ti? From the club?” He squinted at the large man who kneeled by Tony. “That’s your Daddy?”
Ti grinned at them. The confident EMT seemed light years away from the scared kid Red had sheltered at the club only a few days ago. “It’s good to see you again, Daddy Red and Kit.”
Red raised an eyebrow. “You’re an EMT?”
“I am. My Daddy is a paramedic and my partner.”
“I’d never expect you to be an EMT,” Kit said.
Ti grimaced. “Yeah, I’m sorry, I was out of it at the club. We’d had a really bad day at work. Multiple fatalities in a traffic accident. Eddy brought me to the club because dancing makes me feel better. He’d just stepped out to make a call when everything kicked off.”
Kit winced. “Ouch. No wonder you were upset.”
“Usually, I handle things better. I mean, I should be used to it, but that was a bad day.”
The large EMT, presumably Eddy, looked over and Red noticed he was keeping a close eye on Ti.
“I need to help my Daddy,” Ti said. “Who’s the one making all the noise?”
“My brother, Anthony Monroe,” Kit advised him.
Ti gasped, his expression horrified, and Eddy looked over again. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Red said grimly. “He tried to kill my boy. If it wasn’t for Lucinda, he would have succeeded.”
Ti leaned forward and patted Kit. “You get out of here.”
“We’ll do that. Thanks, Ti.”
Red wanted to be as far away from Tony as possible because injury or not, the urge to smack the crap out of Kit’s brother, to pound him into the snow until he couldn’t get up wasn’t going away.
Red needed to get away from him and that urge before he was arrested for assault and his sweet boy was left alone.
Kit clutched onto Red. “Get me out of here, Daddy.”
Red looked over at Mo who nodded.
“Leave the perp with us.”
Red kept his arm around Kit’s shoulders as they crunched their way back to the cabin. Kit leaned into him with a desperation that told Red his boy was a breath away from falling apart.
He pressed a kiss to the top of Kit’s head. “I love you, sweetheart.”
Kit stared at him, then licked his lips. “You do?”
“I do,” he said, gazing into Kit’s stormy gray eyes. “I know it’s quick, but—”
Kit placed a wet, gloved finger over his lips. “No buts. I love you, Daddy.”
“Wait.”
Red turned to see Eddy jogging toward them.
“Daddy Red?”
“Yes.”
“Ti told me you were the Daddy who saved him the other night. I just wanted to say thank you. He might not have been alive if it hadn’t been for you.”
Eddy held out his hand and Red took it. They shook hands and Red smiled at him.
“You’re welcome, but he was such a good boy. He took orders so well.”
Eddy smiled as he turned to look at Ti. “He does, most of the time. He can be a little bratty sometimes.”
“A little brat makes our lives interesting,” Red said and they grinned, two men who understood each other perfectly.
“I should get back,” Eddy said. “But here’s my card. Maybe we could meet up for a playdate.”
He thrust a card in Red’s hand, then jogged back to his boy.
Kit looked up at Red. “Now I’m confused. How are they here when we met them in Seattle?”
“They own a private air ambulance service who occasionally work for the Biker Daddy Bodyguards,” Mo said behind them. “Craig called them as soon as the message reached CDR.”
Red groaned. “Is there anyone you guys don’t know?”
“I don’t know anyone. I hide up here. Quinn and Craig on the other hand, they know everyone, particularly if they are part of the Daddy community.”
“They’ve invited us to a playdate.”
Mo had that expression which said he would rather stick needles in his eyes. But he managed, “That’s nice.”
Red snorted at his obvious lie. “Do you want us to leave today?”
Mo shook his head. “Stay overnight and Ronan can drive you back home tomorrow.”
“I don’t have a home,” Kit muttered.
“You’ll stay with me,” Red said firmly. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Kit leaned into Red, shuddered in relief and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Red led him away from the last remaining contact with his old life, still yelling and begging for Kit to come back.
Kit was in the shower, trying to warm up after the events of the afternoon. Red was in the kitchen, taking a moment to decompress, his hands still shaking as he poured a sweet iced tea. He knocked it back in four gulps, needing the sugar in his bloodstream.
Red contemplated joining his boy in the shower, but he wondered if Kit would prefer to be alone and have time to think. He put the glass down more sharply than he intended, and it caught the edge, slipping out of his hand as it crashed to the floor, splintering into thousands of pieces.
“Dammit.”
“What happened?” Kit appeared naked, looking worried. “I heard the crash.”
Despite the stress, Red wanted to lick every drop of water off him, then take him to bed and hide under the covers forever.
“I dropped a glass. Don’t come close,” he ordered tiredly as he headed to the cleaning closet for a broom. “You’ve got bare feet.”
Kit looked worried as he stared at the floor. “I can sweep if you want.”
“Finish your shower. You’re still covered in soap.”
“Okay.”
Kit hesitated a moment, but Red shooed him away and started sweeping up the remains of the glass. He swept three times, then vacuumed the floor because those pesky shards of glass were determined to evade him and he didn’t want a chance of one of them getting embedded in his boy’s foot.
When he was sure that the floor was as clean as it could be, he disposed of the glass in the trash, washed his hands, and made them both a cup of coffee, then sat and waited for Kit to join him.
His phone vibrated and he saw it was a call from Quinn Ryder. He stabbed the connect button and put it on speaker.
“Baxter.”
“Red, I heard what happened. How are you?”
“Kit is safe.”
“That wasn’t what I asked,” Quinn said briskly. “Let’s try again. How are you.”
“Freaked out.” Red looked at his hands, still trembling as he realized just how close he’d come to losing his boy today. “If Tony had been a professional, he would have just shot Kit and walked away. We wouldn’t have been able to save him. It was only Tony’s ego that saved Kit. And Lucinda.”
“Thank God for amateurs and scary spooks,” Quinn agreed. “Craig pointed out most of the people who come after our boys have been amateurs. They cause more trouble than the professionals. But you’re okay and Kit is safe. That’s all I care about.”
Red took a shaky breath. He wasn’t used to feeling so vulnerable, but if anyone was going to understand, it was this man. “What happens now?”
“You go home. Take the weekend off. We’ll discuss your next assignment on Monday. Or Craig will. I won’t be home for another couple of weeks.”
“How is Mr. Connolly?”
“Cade is coming off the ledge.” Quinn sounded cautious and Red realized they weren’t out of the woods yet.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, his tone neutral.
“Thanks, for pointing out where I should be.”
“Thank you for offering me this job.” A thought occurred to Red. “Do I still have a job with the Biker Daddy Bodyguards now this is over?”
“Of course you have a job. We just renegotiate your terms now you have a full-time boy.”
“Daddy?”
Red smiled as Kit joined him, dressed in a hoodie and sweats, and sensibly wearing a pair of thick socks. He’d taken the time to shave. Kit sat next to Red who pushed the coffee towards him.
“Kit is here. I’m talking to Quinn Ryder.”
“I’m so glad you’re safe, Kit,” Quinn said.
Kit leaned against Red. “Me too. Uh, we need to have a discussion about your costs. Now I realize Tony was broke I guess he didn’t pay you. I can fix that.”