Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
PIGGY
I feel like a fucking idiot. I can’t believe I let someone get me like that. I should have just gotten the fuck out of Dodge the second that spotlight hit my eyes, not giving a fuck who or what I ran over in the process.
That fuck incapacitated me with my goddamn shotgun in my hand. He could have picked it up and killed me with my own fucking gun. I feel stupid. Really fucking stupid. I can’t believe I let that happen. I replay the moments over and over. Split seconds, and I made the wrong decision.
Lainey moves around the room, making herself busy, ensuring I have water and food at the ready, being overly nurselike. I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m usually the one taking care of her, so this is not at all what I am used to.
I’m just about to tell her to stop fussing at me as she tucks in the blankets at my feet when the door flies open. I don’t know who I expect to see on the other side, but I let out a sigh of relief when it’s Millie. It’s who I hoped would come.
Although judging by the way she’s looking at me, the way she watches me from across the room, she’d like to be anywhere else.
Then, as if her feet become unstuck from the floor, Millie rushes forward, practically jumping onto the bed beside me.
I let out a grunt, and she falls forward, pressing her lips to my throat.
“I’m okay,” I murmur.
Wrapping my arms around her, I gently stroke her hair. I’m not quite sure what else to say, and I have to admit, it’s nice having her this close to me. I soak it up, fully realizing that I almost lost this. I almost lost her, because I could have lost my own goddamn life.
Millie lifts her head, her eyes narrowed, and she presses her lips together. Obviously, she’s not happy, and now that the adrenaline has worn off and she knows I’m okay, she’s going to lay into me, and I kind of can’t wait. Because she gives a fuck about me. And maybe she even loves me.
“What the hell?” she asks.
“What the hell?” I parrot.
“How could you get hurt like that? What happened? Who did this? I’ll find them and…”
I touch my lips to hers in an effort to keep her quiet and to keep from laughing at her and further pissing her off. She’s so fucking cute when she’s fired up, and I don’t think I could get it up right now. My head hurts too goddamn bad.
“You won’t do a damn thing, Mill. You’ll let me handle it.”
She shakes her head once, then her gaze connects to mine and holds. She starts to open her mouth again, no doubt to argue with me, but I don’t let her. She isn’t going to do shit because I don’t want her in any more danger.
“You’ll let me handle it, Mill.”
She blinks a couple of times, then narrows her eyes at me again. She’s got something more to say, so I let her say it. Although she’s not going to talk me out of anything. She is going to stay fucking safe, if it’s the goddamn death of me.
“Is this Axton the officer or Piggy the Reaper handling it?” she asks.
Fuck. Me.
But I love this damn woman.
Tangling my fingers in the back of her hair, I gently tug her close to me, touching her lips to mine. Her breath hitches just enough that I’m able to slip my tongue inside her mouth, tangling it with her own and tasting her.
Fuck.
We weren’t even away from one another for a full twenty-four hours, and I missed her.
Missed her with a deepness in my bones that I didn’t know was possible.
I’m not letting anything touch her. Not ever again. Dante thought he could come for her, but he didn’t know who he was dealing with. I’m not sure who attacked me, but I have a deep suspicion it has to do with Garcia, and that fuck is not so much as going to breathe the same air as my Millie.
MILLIE
I’m breathless by the time Axton breaks the kiss. Then I hear someone clear their throat, and I look over to see that Lainey is smiling as she watches us. She opens her mouth to say something. At the same time, I start apologizing for mauling her brother right in front of her.
Neither of us gets the chance to say anything because the door opens, and I watch as Bullet, Lightning, Ivy, Goose, and Maverick waltz through the door. I stare at them. Their presence takes up the entire space.
Bullet’s gaze flicks from me to Axton and then back to me. He wants me to leave them alone. They’re going to have a club-style man talk. The last thing I want to do is walk out of this room, but when I feel Lainey’s hand on my elbow, I know I need to.
“I’m going to go talk to Heidi. She’s in the waiting room,” I murmur, my eyes flicking to Axton’s. He gives me a wink and a smile, his approval of my leaving.
I stand from the bed and walk out of the room with Lainey at my side, hating every step I take away from him. Lainey’s fingers flex at my elbow, and only when the door closes behind us does she release her grip.
She stops walking and turns to face me. “Are you mad at me?” she asks softly.
My head jerks back slightly, and my brows snap together. “Mad at you?” I ask, sounding just as confused as I feel.
“I should have called you earlier. I feel so bad. I just didn’t think about it. I’m so sorry.”
I almost laugh, but I think if I did, Lainey might cry, so I don’t. Instead, I move closer to her, closing the distance between us, and wrap my arms around her in a hug. Her whole body jolts before I hear her hiccup.
“Girl,” I whisper. She shifts backward slightly, her eyes on me. “You literally found out I was back yesterday. There is no way I would ever expect you to remember to call me in this situation.”
“I was so scared,” she murmurs. “It would have been nice not to be alone during everything.”
My lips curve up into a smile. There is no way I’m saying she can call me next time, because there won’t be a next time. Not ever. Axton is never getting hurt again. I won’t allow it… as if I have a say in it.
“It won’t happen again, so it doesn’t matter,” I say, my lips holding on to their smile.
She wipes her tears away and shakes her head as her own smile twitches on her lips.
“Okay, that’s fair. I can’t deal with this again. It’s like something you worry and stress about for so long that you become almost desensitized to it, and then it happens, and you panic.”
Oh boy, do I totally understand that. I can’t even describe how many times I waited for Dante to attack, and then he did.
I was literally and figuratively paralyzed with fear.
If I hadn’t had those moments to go through my own thoughts as I pretended to be unconscious, I’m not sure how I would have reacted to everything.
No amount of mental preparation could ever truly prepare you for something like a kidnapping or someone you love being attacked. And you don’t know how you’re going to react, so I will never blame her or be angry at her for not calling me.
“Let’s go talk to Heidi, maybe see if we can waste some time getting something decent to eat. I’m not sure I can handle anything that’s available here,” I suggest.
Lainey needs a decent meal and to get away from the hospital for a while. Together, we walk toward the waiting room, where there isn’t just Heidi waiting for us but an entire room full of bikers, police officers, and old ladies.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life.
Dakota and a uniformed officer make a beeline for us, only stopping when they’re a few feet away. It’s Dakota who speaks first.
“Is he okay?” she demands.
I let Lainey take the reins on this because Axton is literally her brother. Me being his old lady or his girlfriend does not trump being his sister. She smiles softly, but I can see the total exhaustion in her eyes.
“He’s okay. All tests came back fine. They’re going to monitor him overnight, and then he’s on light duty for a while. But he’s okay.”
Dakota doesn’t even wait for her to finish before she throws her arms around Lainey in a tight embrace. I smile at the sight, then flick my gaze up to the officer. I watch as he frowns, then clears his throat, taking a step backward.
I don’t catch his name tag, and he turns around too quickly for me to even read one letter. I watch as he walks over to the other officers, relaying the information. One by one, they come up to Lainey and give her their support, along with either a hug or taking her hands and squeezing them gently.
Every single one of them looks devastated, and rightly so. They’re probably all thinking it could have been them. I wait for the first guy to come back up so I can get his name, because there is something off about him, but he never does.
Once the officers leave, the Vicious Reapers settle in. They aren’t walking out of this hospital, at least not yet. My stomach growls as Heidi walks up to us.
She snorts before she speaks. “Hungry?”
“Well, we came out here to chat with you and get some real food. We’re starving,” I announce.
“Good news is, I ordered delivery. It should be here any minute,” Dakota announces.
I start to ask her what she ordered, because the thought of pizza makes my stomach clench. The last thing I want right now is something greasy. But just as I open my mouth, I watch as bags of sub sandwiches are brought into the waiting room, followed by bags of Cook Out burgers and fries.
“I got sandwiches and burgers,” Dakota announces. “What do you guys want before the guys pounce and there’s only crumbs left?”
I laugh at the visual flashing through my head because she’s right. They’ll probably eat everything in sight. “Sandwich, please, turkey or chicken. Something like that.” Dakota dips her chin in a single nod, then flicks her gaze to Lainey.
“I need a burger and fries,” she says on almost a moan.
But before she can get her last word out, Viking thrusts a bag at her, almost hitting her in the chest. She wraps her hands around it, her gaze focused on his and looking nowhere else.
Something passes between them. It’s more than a simple look. It’s heat, a feeling, almost as if he could touch her with his eyes. I’m not sure what it is, but it makes my belly dip, so I can imagine how it would feel to be on the receiving end of it like Lainey.
After a few moments of staring at one another, and the whole building threatening to explode with the intensity of their looks, Viking turns around and walks away as Dakota hands me a sandwich.
“Turkey,” she announces, seemingly oblivious to the heat that just filled this whole room.
The mood is now completely broken as all the girls gather and begin to eat.
I tell them what I know about Axton, which isn’t much, but as much as anyone else knows, too.
They are all in shock that he is still alive and somewhat unharmed.
A lump on the head is definitely the best-case scenario in this situation.
It could have been a million times worse, although I wish it hadn’t happened at all. That would have been the better-case scenario in my opinion. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers.
I’m just happy Axton is okay.
Who the hell would have thought that sitting in his patrol car would have been more dangerous than whatever illegal activities he gets up to on the back of his bike riding for the Vicious Reapers?