Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
GRIMM
“What the fuck do you mean you can’t find anything else out?” I snarl, getting in Pirate’s face. He’d been looking into that sick fucking group since we found out that Apricot was targeted.
“It’s just what I said. I’ve dug as deep as I can. Got what I could,” Pirate snaps, not backing down. “Those fuckers have done well in burying their shit. Whoever the asshole is, he’s damn smart and has had to have done his homework.”
“Fuck,” I yell, stepping away from Pirate, whirling around, and releasing a heavy breath. The other day Apricot had received another letter, this one at the shop, but I’d intercepted it before she saw it. Which was a damn good thing considering what was in it.
“Grimm, brother, you’re gonna have to calm down,” Viking states just as the front doors to the clubhouse are slung open.
Nevaeh rushes in, her eyes wide with panic.
“Babe, this is a closed party,” Maverick mutters and takes in her features. “You wanna tell us what’s going on and why you crashed in here.”
Nevaeh doesn’t look at Maverick as she seems to search through each of us until her eyes lock on me. “You need to get to the flower shop. Something’s going on.”
I don’t bother waiting around to find out what she has to say. There’s no way I’m sticking around. Instead, I take off in a dead run heading for the door. At my bike, I start her up and barely get the kickstand up before taking off with my brothers following suit.
Different scenarios play out in my head, and fear, unlike any other, threatens to consume my very soul.
The one I thought I’d lost a long time ago.
I shove the feeling down and allow the anger and rage to take over.
I can’t allow any of the other emotions to take over.
I need the rage to be able to focus and save my woman from whatever I’ll find at the shop.
I park right out front of the building and take in the covered windows as I swing a leg over, climbing off my bike.
“Brother, we gotta do this smart. Don’t know what we’re gonna walk in on,” Ice mutters. “Gotta know you’ll keep your head straight.”
“Nothing’s stopping me from getting to Apricot.” I clench my teeth together, round Ice, and stalk toward the door. I don’t bother with the handle. I lift my boot and kick the damn thing right off its hinges. I step inside and immediately see red at the sight in front of me.
Two men, one older and the other around my age spin to face me. “You will not ruin this,” the older one yells and looks at the other man. “Finish, my Lord.”
The younger man smirks and lifts a knife that’s coated in blood, Apricot’s blood, to his mouth and licks the side of it. “She’s sweet and will make the perfect sacrifice.”
I take a step forward, and the guy steps slightly to the side, throwing an arm out to press the tip of the blade to Apricot’s neck. I finally look at her and see the fear and tears filling her eyes.
“Leave,” the younger man commands.
“That won’t be happening,” I snarl, my lip curling at the edge in frustration. “But you can move that knife from my woman’s throat before I kill you.” Though he is going to die anyway, I just don’t want to kill him too quickly.”
Both men laugh and shake their heads. But it’s the older one who speaks this time. “You think you have the upper hand here, but you don’t.”
“Care to elaborate on that?” Viking growls, his voice filled with the very same fury raging through me. “Way, I see it, you’re outnumbered here.”
“But will it be for the Bishop and his followers to keep you at bay?”
The fuck?
That shit doesn’t make sense.
“You do not rule this town. It belongs to those who now control it. The Bishop will only allow so much before he comes at you. You have something of his, and he won’t let you keep it.
Soon he’ll come for it, and you all will feel his wrath.
” Before anyone could do or say anything, the older man reaches out and slits his own throat.
The one holding a knife to Apricot’s throat eases it across her slender neck quickly and does the same to his own throat.
“Apricot,” I roar, jumping into action, grabbing a towel from the counter and holding it to her throat. “I’ve got you, baby.” With one hand holding the towel in place, I cup the side of her head with the other.
Everything around me seems to blur, and I can’t focus on anything else but holding on to Apricot and keeping the towel pressed against her throat.
Time seems to creep along at a slow pace.
One that leaves me pacing the floors of the hospital waiting room.
It’s been hours since Apricot was taken back.
The police had already come and gone. All except for Tripp, he decided to hang around.
As much as I want to tell him to get the fuck out, I can’t.
I can tell from the expression on his face he cares for my woman, and she sees him as a friend.
Fuck.
I wish they would hurry the fuck up and let me know that she’s okay. That she’ll make it. My fear of her not getting through this is nearly overwhelming to the point I can barely keep myself from falling to my knees.
After my brothers helped cut her down from the restraints holding her in place, I held her to me while someone found something to use to shield her body.
I’ll never forget, until the day I die, I’ll remember it like it was yesterday, all the blood coating her body from head to toe.
The bastards had covered her in blood and cut her up before we’d gotten there.
Then as they faced off with us, they’d cut their own throats along with Apricot’s.
Fucking cowards, taking the easy way out. How I wish I’d been able to kill them for what they did to my woman.
The sound of the doors swinging open draws my attention, and I straighten. The doctor steps out and takes us all in, his eyes coming to me, Scorpion, and Sabrina as he approaches. The doctor gives Sabrina a compassionate look and nods. “She’s going to be okay.”
I release a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding and nearly collapse to my knees in relief. “When can I see her?”
“The nurses are transferring her to a room as we speak. If you will give them some time to get her situated, you can go on up, but I must tell you,” the doctor pauses for a brief moment, “she won’t be able to talk for a while without discomfort.
It’s best that she does not talk for a few days.
And she’ll be in pain for a while as she heals from the wounds she suffered.
She was lucky not to have more damage to her throat than she did and will be okay, eventually. However, there is one more thing.”
“What is it?” I demand, not wanting him to keep going on. I wanted him to give it all to me, so I know what lies in store for my woman.
“Her lab work showed she’s pregnant. It’s still very early according to her levels.”
Pregnant.
My woman is pregnant.
Fuck.
I could have lost not just Apricot but the child she carries as well. Motherfucking hell, I wish I could bring those bastards back and kill them myself.
“What room is she in?” I can’t wait any longer, I need to set eyes on her. Make sure she’s okay. That everything will be fine.
The doctor gives me the room number, and without looking back or waiting for anyone, I stalk out of the waiting room and head for the elevators.
There’s nothing more important to me right now than having my eyes on the one person who means the most to me.
Sure, I have my brothers and Justice, but when it comes to Apricot, she’s my world, and I can’t live without her in it.