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“Don’t let him out of your sight,” I said to Devil over the phone early the next morning. I’d pulled him off watching Skylar so he could track Brant.

“Has he made contact with Romano yet?”

Devil and Kick were tailing Brant who we’d let leave the clubhouse fifteen minutes earlier. Zane had bugged Brant’s phone so we could keep track of him and also listen to his calls.

“No.”

Hyde entered the surveillance room Zane had set up and eyed me. “Ghost just made contact again. The guy he thought we could use to deal with Marx has been moved, so he’s not an option anymore. Ghost is working his contacts to find someone else.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Go through everyone we know again and see if we can do this without Ghost. We need this dealt with as soon as fucking possible.”

Hyde nodded and left as Axe met my gaze. “Do you know what Marx has given the feds yet?”

“Not yet. Bronze is working on that, but they’ve locked the case down tight apparently, so he hasn’t been able to access the info.”

“I’ve got a guy who might be able to help. I’ll mention it to him.”

Zane cut into the conversation. “Here he goes.”

The room turned silent while the three of us listened to Brant’s call with Romano.

“Where have you been?” It was Romano.

“I’m in Sydney. I’ve been looking for Ivy for you.”

Silence followed for a moment. “Did you find her?”

“No, but I found out something that might interest you.”

“Keep talking.”

“I visited the Storm clubhouse, thinking Ivy might have gone to King. She hasn’t, but they’re knocking themselves out looking for whoever’s been fucking with them. I heard one of the guys mention something about a rat in the club.”

I’d threatened his life if he didn’t come through for us with this, and it seemed he’d taken me seriously.

“And what the fuck makes you think I’d have any interest in that?”

“I figure if the guy’s working with you, feeding you information, you might wanna look out for him. Warn him or something.”

Romano laughed, his contempt bleeding through the phone. “They’re looking in the wrong place.” He paused before saying, “Get your ass back to Melbourne. I’ve got shit for you to do.”

Zane glanced at me as the call ended. “Romano’s playing with him. He’s gotta know where Brant’s been.”

I nodded. “Agreed. And now we wait for him to come for Brant.”

“That comment about you looking in the wrong place, though,” Axe said, “That didn’t sound like a play.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’ll get Hyde to extend the search.” I met Zane’s gaze again. “You need to deal with Don.” Kree’s husband.

His movements slowed, and he gave me his full attention. “I am.”

“No, you’re fucking about trying not to step on fucking toes, Zane. That’s not dealing with anything. Don needs to be removed from Kree’s life for good.”

“I don’t remove people like you do, King, and you know that. I’ve got a plan in place that should neutralise the threat to Kree.”

“Should?”

His jaw clenched. “It will fix the problem.”

“When? Because if this fucking problem isn’t fixed in the next couple of days, I’ll take care of it.”

“Fuck.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he swore. “Give me a week. If it’s not done then, it’s all yours.”

I contemplated that. Kree and the kids were safe here, and I had enough other shit to take care of so this was probably the best option. Against my better judgement, though, I nodded in agreement. “A week. Make sure it’s done.”

Winter stuck his head in the room as Zane went back to what he was doing. Eyeing me, he said, “We need to get onto the doctor again. Ivy’s getting worse.”

Fuck.

After the argument I’d had with her yesterday, seeing her was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

“How?” I asked. “And has the doc given you any idea when he can make it?”

“She hasn’t left her room since you said she could. I’ve been checking on her, and there’s blood on her sheets. When I asked her about it, she refused to discuss it. Doc said he’d come by this afternoon. He was swamped yesterday. But I don’t think we can wait that long.”

“How much blood, Winter?” For all I fucking knew, it could be something as simple as a nosebleed.

“The amount of blood I’d be worried about if she were my sister.”

“Jesus. Okay, I’ll deal with this.”

I made my way to the room we’d allocated Ivy and entered it without knocking. Concern sparked through me when I found her hunched over on the side of the bed.

“Do you need a doctor?”

She took her time looking up at me. When her gaze met mine, she nodded. Standing, she came my way, clutching her stomach. “Yes, I think so.”

Pulling out my phone, I hit the number for our club doctor. “What’s wrong?” I asked her, putting the phone to my ear.

Her mouth opened, but all that came out was a scream of pain as she doubled over. It was then, as her hands grabbed hold of my shirt, that I saw the pool of blood on the bed sheet.

Winter had been right to be worried.

It looked like Ivy had lost half her fucking blood.

“A miscarriage?” I stared at the doctor, hating every word coming out of his mouth. “So you can’t save the baby?”

He sighed as he pulled the gloves off his hands and threw them in the bin. “There is no baby to save, King. She’d already lost it. Two weeks ago. But it was an incomplete miscarriage. That’s why she’s still experiencing cramping and bleeding. She needs to go to the hospital for a D&C.”

I glanced beyond him at Ivy sitting in the bed staring at the wall in front of her.

Fuck.

My fucking chest hurt just looking at her.

Ivy had wanted three kids. It had been all she’d talked about at one stage while we were together. She’d picked out three girl names and three boy names to cover all bases. When I’d asked her why the fuck she wanted to bring children into this fucked-up world, she’d smiled at me and said we would do it right. That she and I would be the best type of parents. The complete opposite of our parents.

I nodded at the doctor. “I’ll take her now.”

Moving past him, I went to her. “I need to get you to the hospital.”

She ignored me for a few moments before finally turning to look up at me. “He never wanted children. Not like you did.”

I clenched my fists by my side. There was something in her tone, something that made me ask, “Why did you miscarry?”

A sob escaped her lips, and her hand flew to her mouth as tears slid down her cheeks. When she answered me, the words choked out of her. “He beat me until I passed out. When I woke up, I was bleeding.”

It took everything in me not to roar with anger. Not to drive my fists into the wall. Instead, I scooped her into my arms and made a promise I intended to keep. “He will pay for this, Ivy. If it’s the last fucking thing I ever do. He will fucking pay.”

Her eyes found mine and held them as she slid her arms around my neck. I struggled for breath while she did that. It was all too fucking much.

Her pain.

Her body in my arms.

Her fingers on my skin.

And when she whispered, “Thank you,” through her sobs, and nuzzled her face into my neck, I knew I’d do anything to put an end to her husband’s life. I’d fucking bleed if I had to.