Chapter 17
Kit
Smiling, I swiped my brush through the paint and then dabbed it on the wall. The women were all gathered around inside Sloane's nursery while I worked on her mural. We dragged various chairs inside so they could sit and watch me work.
Hellfire told me everything that went down last night, so it came as no surprise when Lockout announced that he was shutting down The Bunker for the next few weeks. Every one of the guys was tense, waiting for the mafia's response to all of this.
I gave Hellfire a shoulder massage this morning before meeting the girls.
He was trying to roll the stiffness from his muscles.
The knots I found may as well have been boulders.
And no wonder, I couldn’t imagine the stress he was under.
I enjoyed touching him though, and listening to his groans of appreciation as I smoothed out weary muscles, it had my panties dampening in a hurry.
Too bad there wasn’t enough time to take care of that.
"Ricochet is driving me crazy," Jordan said with a sigh. "He made me call in sick today." She gave us all an indignant look. "Do you know how long it's been since I've called in sick?"
"Then you're due," I told her with a soft smile thrown over my shoulder. "Your dad can handle the birds."
"I know," she said with a heavy sigh. "I just don't like being penned up here. Makes me itchy."
"Look," I said, spinning around on my butt so I was facing them. My voice was soft and understanding. As much as I didn’t like being stuck here either, I was looked at as a leader amongst these women, or so Hell had told me this morning.
It was part of my obligation to the club and the women themselves to help them understand and follow the rules in a time like this.
The guys had valid reasons for wanting to keep us close.
"I know this is tough. None of us want to be cooped up, forced to call out of work, but this is important.
If we can't stay here, where it's easy for the guys to keep an eye on us, who knows what will happen. "
There were nods and murmurs of agreement. "This is the only way for the guys to protect us while their focus is on The Italians," Susie added.
"I vote they send us to Mexico," Seek said with a grin. "I hear Cabo is nice this time of year."
Everyone laughed, even Jordan. Her shoulders slumped. "Sorry. I know they're doing their best and I don't mean to complain. I just miss my damn bird. Since living here, I haven't had the time to take her out hunting. I barely get to visit her, or my family."
"We understand," Sloane said, scooting over to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"And if you can't bitch to us," Jenny added, "who can you complain to?"
Gwen patted Jordan's thigh from where she was sitting on the other side of her. "Think of it as a mini vacation with your best friends."
"I'll drink to that," Seek said.
"You will not," I told her with a mock frown.
"What are you painting?" Keely asked me, changing the topic.
"An ocean scene." I'd already outlined the coral and was working on the shading now.
Sloane and Riptide were so completely in love with the ocean it only made sense that she'd asked me to paint an underwater scene for her baby.
The sun would shine through the water, lighting up the depths and the sea creatures below.
"That's going to be gorgeous," Seek said with a smile, rubbing her belly as she watched me work.
"Thanks."
We chatted as I worked and everyone was so busy enjoying the quiet morning that no one noticed when Seek went still. "Um...guys?"
I looked over and frowned with worry. "Are you okay? You're white as a ghost." Scrambling up from my spot on the floor, I went over to her.
"I thought it was just indigestion," she muttered, teeth clenched.
"What?" I asked, shaking my head.
"I've been feeling off all morning," she explained.
"Uh oh," Tori said, giving Susie and Gwen a knowing look. They'd been through childbirth before and obviously knew the signs.
"I'll get Hush," Susie said, standing up.
"It's not time yet," Seek said, looking a little desperate. "I still have two weeks to go until my due date."
"Babies don't care about due dates," Jenny told her in a low soothing voice. "Just breathe."
"I'm breathing," Seek snapped, then grimaced at her friend. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Jenny told her with a laugh and a hug. "You're allowed to feel a little cranky."
My mouth dropped open when Hush slammed through the door so hard it hit the door stopper at an odd angle and the handle crashed through the drywall, leaving a hole. There was worry and a little bit of panic on his face. "Seek?"
"She's fine," I said, moving out of the way so he could drop to a knee beside where she was sitting in Sloane's rocking chair.
"We need to go to the hospital," he said. "I've got her go bag here." He looked around frantically, forgetting that we were at Rip and Sloane's apartment. "Where the fuck is that bag?"
"We have time," Susie told him. "Her water hasn't even broken yet."
"Could you maybe plan for that to happen in your apartment?
" Rip asked from the doorway. "I'm already going to have to patch that hole.
" He gave Hush an unamused look. "I don't want to be ripping up the carpets too.
" He held his hands up when Seek glared at him.
Jecht raised his head and growled at the man.
"Fine. Leak wherever you want to," he said with a sigh.
Hush scooped Seek up in his arms. She was so tall that it was sort of funny to see her cradled against his chest like that. "We're goin’ to the hospital," he announced as he carried her out of there.
"I'll go grab her bag," Gwen said, as she and Jordan jumped up and followed them out.
I looked over at Lockout and Hellfire and shrugged. "So much for keeping everyone here today."
"It's fine," Lock said, looking amused. "We can all sit around the hospital just as easily as we can here."
* * *
Three hours, and multiple cups of coffee, later, I stood up, stretching my back. Sitting here waiting was beginning to grate on my nerves. I was worried about Seek. About her baby. I knew it could take a long time for babies to be born, but I wished there was something I could do to be helpful.
"She's going to be fine," Hellfire told me as he joined me in the hallway outside the waiting room. I hadn't even realized I'd wandered this way, lost in thought. "She's strong." He gave my hand a squeeze and I smiled at him.
"I know."
"And so is her baby."
"I know that too," I said with a laugh. "I just wish we could help them somehow."
He grinned at me. "You're a good friend."
I shrugged, unsure of how to respond to that.
I tried to be a good person. Good friend.
But sometimes I felt like I wasn't doing enough to help those around me.
Especially after The Event Center debacle.
We'd brought The Italians into our lives and now the guys were having to deal with the consequences of our actions. Sure, we were all in danger from the mafia, but they were the ones who would have to neutralize them. I felt guilty. We’d caused this and they had to clean it up.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice soft and concerned.
My eyes shot up to his face in shock. He could read me so well. Had always been able to. It still surprised me. "I was just wishing that I could go back and stop us from going into the back of The Event Center. Then we wouldn't have all this trouble following us around."
"We'd still have Fremont," Hell pointed out. He pulled me against his chest, wrapping brawny arms around me. It always made me feel safe when I was crushed up against him. He was so damn strong it was like no one could ever get through him to me. "This isn't your fault."
"The Italians are," I said with a sigh.
"No, not really. If anything you did us a favor putting them on our radar this early. They’re working with Freemont.
It was only a matter of time before he sent them after us, and we would have been blindsided.
There's no point assigning blame," he continued.
"What's done is done. We'll handle it and everything will go back to normal. "
Resting my head on his chest, I let the sound of his heart soothe me. At least until Hush came rushing out into the waiting room, a huge grin splitting his face. "It's a boy. He's healthy and Seek was amazin’. She's restin’ now." He looked so proud and excited.
We all rushed to congratulate him, the sound of hands slapping backs echoing throughout the room as his brothers embraced him.
Eventually, he went to rejoin his wife and newborn son.
No one followed. This was their chance to bond as a family and we didn't want to interrupt that even though we were all excited to meet the newest addition.
Hours later we were still waiting. It was almost midnight now and everyone was getting antsy. I was sitting in one of the chairs, my legs pulled up under me, my head resting on Hell's shoulder when he shook me awake. "Is everything okay?" I asked with a yawn.
"Yeah. A few of the guys are staying here to watch over Hush and Seek. The rest of us are going home to get some sleep."
I nodded, standing and stretching before I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair. He walked out with me, his arm around my shoulders as we made our way to the parking lot.
The streetlights illuminated his face as we walked, hand in hand. "Do you want kids?"
A grin stretched over his face as he looked down at me. "Absolutely. Ten."
I choked on a laugh. "Ten? You're insane. I'm not having ten babies."
He chuckled and stopped walking. Pulling me against him, he gazed down at me, a soft look on his face that I'd never seen before. "I'm kidding. We can have whatever number you want." His hands cupped my cheeks and he leaned down, kissing me softly.
My arms went around his neck and I kissed him back. The kiss was sweet and gentle, nothing like the rough meeting of lips we'd shared in the middle of the night when he'd gotten home. I enjoyed both, one as much as the other. I wanted to spend the rest of my life kissing Hellfire.
"You get her pregnant and you're marrying her," Smoke said as he appeared out of the dark, walking beside Dani.
Hell shot him a smirk. "Yeah? When's your wedding?"
"Yeah, Smoke," Dani said, pulling her hand from his and planting her fists on her hips. "When are we getting married?" Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back a smile.
Smoke looked back and forth between them. "That's different-"
"Doesn't seem very different," I told him.
"You're my sister," he told me in a haughty tone. "If I hear him talking about impregnating you again, I won't be responsible for what I do. It will probably involve a shotgun and a preacher."
"If you weren't skulking around in the shadows, listening in on private conversations, you wouldn't have heard anything."
"I'm not skulking," he replied, making a face. "I was just fucking walking-"
"Then you can keep right on walking," I told him, waving him away.
Dani lifted a hand to hide her laughter at the look on Smoke's face. My brother looked over at Hellfire and gave him a pitying look. "Never mind. Do whatever you want with her." He shot me a glare before he stalked off.
Hell and Dani both burst into laughter. "He's so easy to rile up," Dani said, shaking her head. She looked at me, a smile still on her face. "He's not going to stop until he badgers you into getting married."
"Who knew he was so fucking sentimental," Hellfire asked with a shake of his head.
"He can't shut it off," I replied. "He's been worrying about me for too long."
Dani waved to us and hurried to catch up with Smokehouse.
I sucked in a huge lungful of air. If it wasn't for The Italians and Fremont everything would be perfect right now.
There was no use in worrying, though I knew I would anyway.
All I could do was trust Hell and the others to take care of everything and do my part to make sure it all turned out alright.