I sat my arse in a leather chair on the private jet I had chartered, impatiently waiting for the confirmation call, which would get me in the air—New Orleans bound for Anchorage. Nothing was going to keep me in Louisiana any longer than I had to be.
I finally got the call letting me know Whisper was on Joel and Lincoln’s helicopter, and then we were in the air.
Fuck the suits. All bets were now off. I played my part, the suits got The Pen and all that was in it. They were about to get seven women delivered alive. I knew I was going to be neck deep in red tape with that special delivery, and no doubt I would be answering a lot of questions I wasn’t prepared to give answers to, but for now I could switch off and deal with all that later.
I had given Lenny instructions on when to front up to take care of Miss Catherine while I was away. The woman can be stubborn and too independent for her age. Lenny wasn’t much younger, but he would look after her for me. I didn’t expect to be in Alaska for more than a day.
I make myself more comfortable by reclining the chair back and wave the flight attendant away. I doubt I will get any rest, after I agreed to Evelyn traveling over to Alaska with Joel and Lincoln, yesterday. With a nine hour flight ahead of me there’s not much else for me to do until I can see the two women I love.
***
I was met at the door by Edge’s armed men. Other than looking surprised to see me, they let me storm through, prowling my way into a fully decked out surgery.
Ghost had kept me up-to-date—well, I believed it at the time.
That bastard, Cezar, had thought of everything. He was a man that thrived on secrecy and the art of deceit. He was a true player… until he had fallen.
I start walking down a white walled, narrow passageway to be met by Hazard and Slade, who no doubt had been alerted to my presence. I shake their hands.
They both look like they could do with a hot shower and a bed. My body is wired tight from all the snippets I had already received from the night before, but first things first: I had to locate Mathias and Adam and get them to brief me on everything they knew. I also needed to hear how Whisper had been treated.
“Want to chat first or see Whisper?” Hazard asks folding his arms across his chest, looking serious—too serious for my liking.
I look over at Slade who is parroting his pose and serious look.
Shit!
“Show me the way to Mathias and Adam and let me get this meeting over and done with so I can get to Whisper.” I don’t ask how she’s doing because I doubt from the faces these two are pulling, they would give me a straight answer anyway.
I needed to get to Mathias and Adam before the suits ordered them back to wherever they came from for debriefing. I couldn’t afford the time to go straight to Whisper or Evelyn until this was over and done with.
I put my arm out in front of me. “Lead the way.”
Forty-five minutes later, I locate Ghost with the help of Hazard’s directions, and see no sign of Edge, which was a good thing for the both of us. I wasn’t in the mood after hearing everything Mathias and Adam had to tell me, plus the updates from Slade and Hazard.
Ghost had previously informed me that Edge did everything he could to get Whisper out safely. He has nothing but praise for the man.
Ghost is standing strong. He’s all decked out in black and gives me a nod of welcome. He’s not at all surprised to see me so soon. “Boss.” Before I can ask the obvious he adds, “Whisper is doing well.”
“Anything I should know about now, before I walk in the room?” I raise an eyebrow at Ghost, because I sure as shit don’t want any surprises.
“Doc’s got a little boo-boo on her forehead and Hazard fixed her up, the rest Doc can tell you.” His deep, calm voice is preparing me for things I may not want to know. Hazard and Slade neglected to tell me about the boo-boo.
I expect him to step aside to let me pass, but before he opens the door, he shoves a USB into my hand. “Before you talk to Edge, make sure you listen to this. I took the wire off him when we got here. It will give you another opinion of the man. I listened to it while I’ve been standing here for hours on end, and the man did good and right by your girl.” He’s looking at me like he wants to tell me more.
“Anything else you care to add?” I’ve known the man long enough to be able to read him.
“Not my story to tell. You best be getting in there, boss.” I waste another couple seconds trying to read what the fuck he’s not telling me and note how tired he looks.
“You had a break yet?”
“Nope.”
“I’ve got Whisper covered. Go take a quick break.” I watch him leave. Pocketing the USB, I open the door.
I let out a deeply pained breath when I see Whisper lying so still in the bed. All other thoughts leave me but for the girl who looks even thinner under the covers. Fragile comes to mind, but I know she’s a fighter; she’s a survivor.
Phoenix has already jumped up out of her chair, gun raised and pointed at my heart.
I give her my attention, briefly. “Smart girl,” I comment in a hushed voice. “Aim first, ask questions later.” I close the door behind me. My eyes travel back to Whisper and I keep talking to assure her. “Ghost wouldn’t let me in here if I wasn’t a good guy, love. He has orders to shoot any unfriendlies on the spot. If you take a good look, you’ll recognize me as Boxer from the video calls.” I know I’m not looking my usual self—stress will do that to you. I’ve lost weight, maybe even grown a few extra gray hairs.
Phoenix lowers her gun and moves to stand up against the wall, giving me space. She does a good job of pretending to mind her own business. She’s a cool looking chick. Her black work clothes haven’t yet been switched out for something clean and more comfortable. Phoenix takes her position here seriously. She looks like she could do with a break to get some well earned shut-eye.
I make it over to the bed and gently touch my open palm to my girl’s forehead. I notice how peaceful she looks even though there are bandages on her hands, which are resting on top of the covers.
What the fuck?
I bend lower paying attention to her lips. They are swollen and look sore. There appears to be holes punched through the top and bottom. Did those motherfuckers sew her lips together?
I start scrubbing the short hairs on the top of my head, back and forth. Christ Almighty! I want to know what the fuck has happened to her in near on six weeks… in her own words. The full extent of Whisper’s condition has been kept from me—deliberately. I know this. I did not fight it, because I knew I was coming here to find out for myself.
Where is my Ev? I need answers, but I also need to concentrate on Whisper and getting her mentally and physically better. She needs the support of her family. Evelyn has cared for her injuries, but her mind will have been traumatized and her trust in men—again fucked with.
I bend down and give Whisper a soft kiss where my hand had previously been, selfishly hoping she would open her eyes and reassure me she was okay, but nothing happens.
“Boxer,” Evelyn breathes my name out softly.
I spin to see her walking out of the small attached bathroom. She looks tired, but beautiful, in medical blue scrubs. Her blonde hair is tied back in a ponytail, a few strands having escaped, feathering her cheek. She’s smiling, happy to see me… and then I notice her boo-boo.
“Evelyn—!”
She swipes her hand through the air casually, a sign of making light of her ‘boo-boo’. “My head is fine, just a scratch. My medical bag hit me when the helicopter went down.”
My eyes bug out of my head.
This is her cue to wrap her arms around me, and when I go to pull back—because I got some pertinent questions—she holds me tight. She says quietly into my ear, “I’m alive and perfectly fine, as you can feel. Not as bad as what Whisper’s been through. Remember that before you go all alpha male on me.” I bleedin’ love this woman.
I hold her a little tighter, inhaling her scent, before I’m stepping back to give her a lingering kiss on her lips, but she doesn’t completely let go of me. “Mmm… you do feel good,” I murmur against them. “Now, how is Whisper, really, Ev?” I’m holding my tongue with everything I want to ask. Ghost didn’t fucking tell me her chopper went down! Joel and Lincoln seem to have developed a bad case of amnesia as well.
“Evelyn—”
My next words are cut off when I feel a soft pressure at my nape. She is trying to alleviate my anxiety by rubbing her thumb against the back of my neck in a soft caress. I gently take hold of her chin moving it until I can look into her concerned eyes and that is when I realize—shit is about to get real.
And that’s when Phoenix clears her throat and excuses herself from the room; I’d forgotten she was even in it.
“Boxer… honey, I need you to take a seat.”
“Evelyn, love, tell me while I’m standing.” I’m talking softly, so we don’t disturb Whisper. My hands are now balled tightly on my hips. I need her to read my body language.
“Maybe we should go into another room so we don’t disturb Whisper.” She fidgets a little with the fabric on her scrubs. It would be cute if I wasn’t feeling so anxious.
“Do I have to go ask Ghost for the truth? Or are you gonna walk out this room and be totally honest with me—no holding back?” She’s hiding something from me and it’s pretty big. I agree she needs to tell me where I won’t disturb Whisper.
“Honest.” She takes a deep breath.“But you have to stay calm, because not everybody knows her condition.” Her hopeful blue eyes search mine out.
Well fuck?
“I will do my best.” That is all I can offer her.
She watches me for a few more heartbeats and makes her decision. “Let me get Phoenix back in here, in case Whisper wakes up and gets frightened, and we can go talk.” She’s using her professional voice, which is doing nothing for me. It only sends warning signals to my brain that I’m gonna hear shit that I’m not gonna want to hear.
Evelyn doesn’t wait for me to agree or disagree, she takes charge becoming the doctor, instead of the lover, and walks straight to the door, swings it open, then disappears through it. I don’t move, because I don’t want Whisper by herself.
Phoenix is walking back into the room in seconds with a poker face schooled in place. What the hell? Does everybody know but me?
I look back at Whisper, reluctant to leave her after only just getting here. She’s sleeping peacefully and it sounds like to me, things are gonna get loud when I get a hold of what everybody else seems to already know.
“I’ve got her, Boxer.” Phoenix gives me an encouraging smile. It’s meant to put me at ease. “Nobody is getting past Ghost; he has this room covered. She will be safe until you get back. One of us will come get you if she wakes up.”
I grunt and walk towards the door, then turn back to Phoenix. “When I come back, you can count me on duty. Leave your number with Ghost and get a few hours sleep. Thank you for not leaving her side and everything you did for her.” I close the door quietly behind me, not waiting for a response.
“Ghost—”
“You go listen to Doc, and I’ll be here.” He’s trying to give me a reassuring smile.
Nope! Not feeling it.
“Which way did she go?”
“Keep walking straight and then turn left.”
I find my woman pacing nervously out the front of an open door. I hold my hand out in front of me. “Lead the way, Evelyn.” What the hell is she about to enlighten me on?
I close the door behind me, noting the neatly made single bed against the far wall, and the small office space against the opposite wall.
“Sit, Boxer,” her softly spoken demand isn’t reassuring me that I’m not going to lose my shit over what she is about to tell me.
She waits.
I don’t move.
“Reid… Scott!” Her voice went up an octave by the time she got to my surname. Now I’m fucking worried. She’s pulled out my real name.
“Eeevv!” I growl out low and stalk over to her like a predator. “My patience is wearing.”
She sighs in resignation. “Have it your way.” Then she proceeds to start pacing, which has me nearly jumping out of my fucking skin in anticipation. I’ve never seen her so worried about talking to me.
I grab her on the eighth follow through and hold her steady, bending to make eye contact. “Ev—now.”
Her hands wrap around mine and hold on tight. “Promise to keep your voice down and remember, she is her own woman, she needs your trust and respect and love.”
“Christ, Ev. Whisper knows she has everything my heart and soul can give her—emotionally and physically. She will never lose my trust or respect and my love is not a fucking check-list. It’s unconditional.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
Fuuuck! I’m internally screaming.
I squeeze her hands encouragingly, trying to hide how she’s wrecking me on the inside.
She guides me towards the bed; I concede and we sit down together with our bodies facing each other, our hands stay connected.
“The bandages your saw on her hands, they are also on her feet, because she was nailed to a wooden table with bolts… Jesus Christ style… as a human platter.”
MOTHER…FUCKER! I am roaring on the inside.
My heart is pounding and the rage is bubbling up inside me, needing an outlet. I tamp it down by allowing her words to ricochet inside my head like a pinball machine has set up shop in there, because if I let loose, Ev will clam up and I need to know it all.
“How bad?”
“Thankfully only the soft-tissue was damaged,” she tells me, which means it could have been a lot worse.
“Her lips?” I let go of her hands, fearful I will break every bone in them and grab a hold of my knees with stiff arms and brace myself for the rest.
“I’ve removed the Day of the Dead makeup from her face she’d been painted up with, but her lips are sore and swollen because they had been sewn together.”
“Jesus Christ!” I breathe out on a shaky breath. “Does she know what happened to her?”
“I don’t believe she remembers, but that hasn’t been clarified, yet.”
I know there’s more from the look on my woman’s face. “Go ahead, Ev,” I prompt her. “I want to hear it all.”
“Edge found Whisper and got her free, the best way he could… considering. Ghost could not report her condition to you, because he didn’t know.” She pauses getting the courage to continue. “Umm… but Ghost knew something else, something Edge doesn’t know—still doesn’t know.”
“Ev… el… yn,” I growl low.
The next words to come out of her mouth are barely audible. “She’s pregnant.”
“Nooo…” The word comes out filled with so much pain, it sounds like a moan. My body jerks up off the bed and I start walking towards the door. Evelyn’s slender arms wrap tightly around me, her chest fusing to my back forcing me to stop. We don’t move. I absorb her comfort as my mind machine guns the word ‘rape’ at me.
Then she utters the three words I needed to hear, silencing the noises in my head. “She wasn’t raped.”
Now I’m right fucking confused. “What aren’t you telling me, Ev?” I keep my body language as neutral as I possibly can.
“The baby is—Edge’s.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK?!
I am a statue as I take in this information.
Words-of-wisdom are buzzing around my ears and I want to swat them away. I can hear: respect, trust, love, support, adult. They serve to remind me that Whisper is an adult and I already knew they had been together—but still—
EDGE. FUCKED. MY. DAUGHTER!
Dallas-fucking-Edge-fucking-Dupré, is the baby daddy to Whisper’s unborn child—the son of the man who held her captive, abused her and stole her existence.
“REID!” She’s demanding I come back to her.
I look down at Evelyn who has managed to slide around in front of me.
“You know they spent time together; you know it was consensual. Edge has no clue he’s going to be a father. He thinks Ruby Rose was pregnant. Adam was the one who discovered Whisper was pregnant. He got her to do a test right in front of him. He thinks Ruby/Rose covered for Whisper to keep her safe. Mathias still has no clue, he’s under the impression Rose and her baby were killed. Nobody but: you, me, Phoenix, Ghost, Slade and Adam know—oh and Hazard—he kind of snatched my phone off me.” Why do I not like hearing his name keep popping up when it comes to Evelyn? “They can all be trusted to keep quiet.” I specifically asked Ghost if there was anything I should know before I entered the room and he already knew.
I inhale deeply, trying to stay focused on the fact, Whisper was safe and well.
Evelyn isn’t coming up for air. “I can try a trans-vaginal sonogram in a few days, to see if I can detect a heartbeat, but I might not be able to hear it until at least seven weeks. We need to stay positive for Whisper’s sake. She’s lucky she hasn’t miscarried from all the stress and what her body has been put through. I took blood and she is definitely pregnant.”
Bloody hell!
“Ev—” It’s all I can get out.
“Whisper was kept healthy, but undoubtedly, very stressed. Mathias told us she had a little breakdown inside and found her way back, so you need to be careful.” Shit! “You can’t go off half-cocked in front of her. She needs time to heal mentally and physically in a drama-free zone.
“Mathias has been through a lot and needs some downtime to rest. He has a nasty infection on his backside. He’d been caned badly a couple weeks ago and I removed a bullet from his ass. On top of all that, he’s suffering over Ruby’s death.”
“Okay… I’ll try to get them some downtime, but it’s not my show and I’ve already spoken with Mathias and Adam—not that Adam told me anything about Whisper being bloody pregnant!”
“Ghost would have told Adam to keep his mouth shut, considering the erm… delicacy of the matter when it came to you and Edge.”
Fuck delicacy.
“Have you had a chance to talk to Edge?” she asks me warily.
“Nope! Not in a real hurry either at this stage. Best he stays clear of me.”
“Boxer… Edge hasn’t moved from outside her door, until recently. I expected to see him there when I left the room. He won’t be far. He is never far. He let you dislocate his jaw in Connard and he let Ghost beat down on him, as well, but now he’s all about the girl and once he discovers—”
“Don’t say it, Ev!” Don’t even want to think about that at the moment.
I grunt some unintelligent noise out and look at my feet until I come to my next decision and look up at Evelyn. “You need some rest. If Whisper is out of danger, can you afford the time to lie down here for a bit? I’ll watch her and wake you if she shows any signs of needing more than I can give her. I’ve got a USB to listen to and I can do that by my daughter’s side. Has she woken up at all?”
“Briefly, in and out, she’s mentally exhausted as well as recovering from injuries. That girl needs rest and no stress. A lot worse has been done to mothers’ of unborn babies.” Ev’s words are meant to encourage, but all they do is fuck with my heart.
I envelope her in my arms and try to convey, by holding her, how much she means to me and what she has done for Whisper. She relaxes into me and we stand together thankful for the small things and know what’s at risk emotionally for Whisper, if this baby has been harmed in anyway.
“She needs good things in her life, Ev,” I murmur in her ear.
“I know, honey. She needs her world righted. She needs your support when it comes to Edge and this baby and to be there for her, while they both discover what the future holds for the two of them. A father stands by his daughter…he doesn’t control her actions or her heart. You need to let the two of them work out what’s going on between them, without interference.”
I step back, sliding my hands from her back around to her waist and lower my head to kiss her slowly with tongue. We kiss long enough for her to know, without a shred of doubt, that she’s mine and I love her for trying to keep me grounded.
But I’ll deal with Edge later.