Reaper
I enter the lobby of the police station expecting to find everyone relieved and happy to have this whole situation done and over with. I don’t expect to find Ryker pacing the floor, his phone at his ear and everyone else watching him with fear.
“Fuck,” he growls, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “Something’s not fuckin’ right, Jase. I can feel it.”
“Just relax, Ryk. I’m sure she just has the ringer off or somethin’. It’ll be fine.”
It takes another ten minutes before the police van pulls up out front, waiting for us to pile in. One by one, we run through the rain and climb in the back, ready to be taken back to the clubhouse. It feels strange getting in the back of a police vehicle of our own free will.
As we drive, Ryker keeps calling Charlotte, cursing every time he doesn’t get an answer. He looks down to Bosco. “I’m gonna keep tryin’. You call Anna, and don’t stop till you get her.”
I try not to let it bother me that it’s Bosco he expects to have Anna’s number on hand. I have her number. I’ve also fucked her, impregnated her, abandoned her, trash talked her, and made her feel like shit. God, I’m a dick.
I watch Bosco as he dials her number and waits out the rings, but Anna doesn’t answer. Ryker’s distress is contagious, and now I’m worried too. Where are they? Neither one of those women go anywhere without their phones. It’s usually in their hands or to their ears.
Lawson pulls the van to a stop and whips open the door. “Ryker, there’s trouble at your house. You wanna drive yourself or ride with me?” His words make my blood run cold.
“What kind of trouble?” Ryker growls.
“There was a 911 call from your home line about five minutes ago. An intruder and a pregnant woman in distress.”
Ryker shoves past Lawson and runs straight for his motorcycle. The rest of us pile out and I hurry along behind him, along with Jase, Tease, and Bosco. Fucking Bosco.
I like the guy. Before Anna came along, I never had any issues with him at all. But the closeness the two of them share sets me on edge. Does he want her? Does she want him? I’ve certainly not done anything to insert myself in there lately. If anything, I’ve made it easier for their bond to grow.
As a unit, we race out of the parking lot, heading straight for Ryker’s house. Lawson leads the charge in the police van, lights and sirens blaring. We blow through red lights and weave in and out of traffic, eventually catching up to an ambulance, just as we turn onto Ryker’s road.
What if it’s Anna? What if it’s her that’s in distress? What if she loses our baby? I haven’t had the opportunity to tell her how badly I want it, how deeply I need her. How shitty I feel for the way I’ve been acting.
Several other police vehicles are positioned around the house, and we get there just as they kick open the door. My heart sinks. Why did no one answer the door?
Ryker and I both charge toward the house, only to be blocked by several officers. “Sir, you can’t go in there,” one of them says, shoving me back.
“Fuck that,” Ryker growls. “That’s my wife in there.” His fist comes up and he lands a punch to the one cop’s jaw. He drops like a stone, and Ryker’s shoving past.
“You wanna be next?” I say to the man in front of me.
“Fuckin’ bikers,” he mumbles, stepping aside and waving his hands toward the door like Vanna White.
When I enter the house, the amount of blood I see takes my breath away. I hear the police in the living room, yelling at someone, and Ryker has already disappeared into the room. I take the few steps until I reach the doorway, and when I do, my heart stops.
Shiv is bloody and broken, barely conscious as the police cuff him and yank him to his feet. Charlotte is on the floor, the tiniest baby in the world in her arms, her pants gone and blood splashed on the floor between her legs.
But Anna, she’s not sitting up. She’s not even awake. Is she alive?
Anna lies at Charlotte’s side, her hands soaked with blood, her eyes closed. Ryker swoops in and holds his wife while I take slow steps toward Anna. A deep, open gash graces the forearm she’s using to cradle her belly, and the blood stain on her T-shirt is a deep red and too big to be Charlotte’s blood.
“Anna,” I call softly as I kneel beside her and take her hand. “Baby?”
“Sir,” a paramedic says from behind me. “You have to move aside so we can help her.”
“Anna?” I squeeze her hand. “Baby, please.”
A heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “Sir.”
Letting go of her hand in that moment is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
Anna
The light shining in my eyes would be blinding if I could open them even a fraction of an inch. I can hear people all around me, talking fast and urgent. Hands push and pull at me. Needles poke and stick into me.
One quick blink shows me tubes and medical equipment all around me, and I hear the words blood transfusion and surgery, then I hear Reaper’s voice, angry and panicked. Where did Reaper come from?
“Okay, Anna,” a woman’s soft voice says from above me. “I’m going to put this mask on you now. Everything is going to be just fine.”
I feel the plastic mask settle over my face and feel like I’m fading. Reaper’s voice disappears and as my thoughts black out once more. My mind is filled with the vision of my sister holding her newborn baby.
It feels like just a few minutes pass and then I’m awake. My body is sore and my head is foggy. As my eyes slowly peel open, I take in the stark white walls and the institutional décor. A machine beeps rhythmically just behind my head, and an IV pole whirs quietly in a steady pattern.
“Anna?” I slowly turn my head toward the voice and find Reaper leaning over me. His hair is disheveled and his clothes are rumpled with dried blood all over them. He takes my hand, but I weakly pull it out of his grasp and just stare at him. My throat feels sore and raw, and my brain is taking it’s time to wake up.
Just then, the door whisks open and a pretty young doctor walks in. “Ms. Daniels,” she says, a smile on her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Dry,” I croak out, attempting to sit up and clear the fog from my head.
She hands me a cup of water from the table beside my bed. “Just small sips.” As I let the cool liquid soothe my aching throat, the doctor explains the surgery she’d performed. “You’ve received a blood transfusion, and we had to go in to repair the damage done to your liver and gall bladder. You also had a deep stab wound to your arm which we’ve stitched and repaired. The blade hit bone and veered to the side. It went through the flesh and bypassed any major arteries or tendons. A little physical therapy and it should be good as new. You’re a lucky woman, Ms. Daniels.”
“What about the baby?” I ask the doctor, not caring about all the medical mumbo jumbo she’d just spewed at me. Reaper pulls his chair closer and I force myself to not look at him. Why is he even here? Just yesterday, he’d called me a poison. Just yesterday, he’d treated me like a goddamn pariah, knowing full well that I’m carrying his baby. Just yesterday, I’d made the decision that I don’t need Reaper in my life. I don’t need any of the Kings. Except Ryker, of course, since he’s technically family now.
“We did an ultrasound while you were in surgery, and your baby is just fine, honey. Strong and healthy heartbeat.”
Relief washes over me. It’s hard to believe I’d been upset about being pregnant at first, because now, the thought of losing this baby absolutely terrifies me. Reaper may not want us, but this baby and me, we’ll have each other, and that’s the best future I could ever imagine for myself. A better future than I deserve.
“We’re going to keep you overnight so that we can keep an eye on you and the baby. If all goes well, like we expect, you’ll be going home in a few days.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, not caring one bit that they want me to stay. Where else would I go? Charlotte and my nephew are here. The house is empty and is now a crime scene with a whole lot of blood spilled. A few nights in the hospital, where I can be sure my baby is safe, sounds just fine to me.
The door closes with a loud click as the doctor leaves the room, and suddenly, the silence is deafening. Reaper is so close, I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. Why do I still want to?
“Anna,” he says. His voice is harsh and raspy, and uncertain. “I need you to look at me.”
I sink further into the pillows and close my eyes. Childish maybe, but it’s the best I can do under the circumstances. Reaper sighs and takes my hand, squeezing it gently in his. I lie there in silence, eyes closed, focusing on my breathing and not on my hand where his thumb is gently rubbing back and forth.
“Fine,” he says. “You don’t have to look at me, but you do have to listen.” I feel the bed dip at my side as he settles himself down onto the mattress, his hip pressing into mine. “Anna, I have never felt fear like I felt seeing you layin’ on that floor, covered in blood.” My chest tightens and I squeeze my eyes tighter. “I thought I’d lost you.” His hand settles on my belly. “Both of you.”
That hand stays in place, warming my flesh, even through the blanket, warming our baby.
“What if it’s not yours?” I ask, unable to keep the nastiness from seeping into my tone.
I feel a weight land beside my arm and feel his warm breath on my face, but still I keep my eyes clamped shut. I can’t look at him, not right now. I can’t look at him and see his pain, because then I’ll just forget about the pain that he’s caused me.
“You and I both know it is, Anna. I never should have said the shit I said. I let my past with Laurie come in and twist my head all up about you, and I was wrong. So fuckin’ wrong. That’s our baby, and you’re my woman, and I’m your total asshole for treating you the way I did.”
A traitorous tear breaks free and slips down the side of my face, dripping into my ear. “And it only took me getting stabbed a couple times for you to see the light.”
Warm lips press against my forehead. “No. I saw it before. I saw it last night, but things were crazy with the shower and the party, and you avoiding me. I didn’t get a chance to make things right, but I’m here now. That’s what matters. I’m here to fix us, baby.”
Tears burn my eyes and my chest heaves as I fight back a sob. “I’d like to be alone now, please,” I say, finally opening my eyes and meeting his gaze.
Sadness sweeps across his face, but he quickly wipes it away with a nod. “All right. I’ll go, but I’ll just be outside, and I’m takin’ you home as soon as the doctor clears you, to my home. And hopefully, someday, your home too.”