by Kamisa Cole
ALEC
I didn’t know how long I’d been lying around, waiting for either someone to come or death to claim me. I’d been drifting in and out, pain unlike any other keeping me on the edge of consciousness. I hadn’t been able to open my eyes, hadn’t been able to scream for help, but I was sure I’d remembered Kash’s voice.
Had that been real? I’d heard him so many times before, had imagined him coming in and finding me at my father’s but then had wondered if he’d even know where to look.
Or that I’d been missing.
God, my head hurt, even though cotton candy seemed to fill it. Had Kash been there? I needed to get out of here no matter what. I didn’t know why I suddenly felt a bout of strength, a moment where I thought I could gather what little energy I had left, walk down the stairs and out of the house.
If only I could find my phone…
Taking a deep, steeling breath I tried to push up.
Hands grabbed me and I struggled against them, or maybe I just imagined struggling against them since my whole body was heavy, my limbs feeling as if they were filled with lead.
“Easy, Alec. Breathe. Stay still. You’ve been badly hurt.”
I didn’t know the voice, and then I wasn’t sure if my ears were playing tricks on me.
“Let me.”
That voice I knew and recognized. I parted my lips, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I’d moved my mouth at all.
“Baby Boy, you’re safe. Out and safe. We got you. You’re going to be okay.”
Kash. And he’d called me Baby Boy again. I lifted my hand, searching for him, trying to get him to touch me, and it took only a few seconds before I felt the metal of his rings press against my skin, followed by soft lips. He was here. I was out. This was real.
Tears burned in my eyes and I squeezed my lips together, wincing when that stung.
“Alec…” Kash sounded desperate, and I finally turned my head toward his voice. There were other sounds, nagging at the back of my mind, but my brain filtered out all the other voices, and this one, Kash’s voice, was all that mattered to me.
Now I only wanted to see him.
“Kash,” I breathed, glad when an actual sound came out.
“Yes.”
I tried to open my eyes, wondering if my father had hit me in the face too. I remembered falling down the stairs after being pushed, and how it had already hurt, but then something had come down on the back of my head and that had cut off all thoughts.
I blinked, my vision weak and blurry, but I recognized the black leather jacket. “Kash,” I said again because there was nothing else I could think of, and then the tears started flowing. I couldn’t help myself, even if they didn’t clear my vision, and he leaned forward. He was so close, I smelled his cologne, and the leather, and something else I couldn’t place, but it didn’t matter.
“I’m here, Baby Boy. I’m here.”
I thought he’d said ‘I love you’ before. Or maybe I’d just wished it had happened. I didn’t know and, in the end, it didn’t matter because he was here, and he’d gotten me out.
“You found me.” It took forever for those words to get out, but I saw the outline of him nodding. I blinked, my vision slowly clearing, and he was pale.
Deathly pale.
“I’ll always find you,” he insisted. “You should’ve woken me up.”
“Was…was supposed to be asleep.”
He cleared his throat, exhaling slowly. “And still, you should’ve woken me.”
I tried to shake my head. “No. He. Father. Asleep.”
Understanding dawned on Kash’s face. “You tried to sneak in. He wasn’t asleep, I assume. You should’ve still taken me. I could’ve protected you.”
“Been…fine.” And I’d been so sure about that. Plus, I hadn’t even gotten what I’d gone there for, and that made me want to cry.
“Mr. Matchington, you need to leave us alone for a little while. I’ve given you and Mr. McGowan as much time as I can, but now we need to check him over, okay?” The voice I didn’t recognize spoke again, and I could finally think clearly enough to figure out he was a doctor.
“Okay,” Kash agreed, but I didn’t let go of his hand.
“No.” The thought of him leaving the room, leaving my side…
Instantly his face was back in sight and I felt how he touched my cheek. “I’m here, Alec, okay? Right outside the door, and so is a friend of mine who won’t let anyone in who shouldn’t be in here, okay? Your father is with the police, but until you can press charges we don’t know how long they’ll hold him. You are safe. I promise. Also… If the doctor allows it, Cam would like to see you.”
I shook my head. I wanted to see Cam, but not when it meant taking away from the time I’d be seeing Kash.
“Mr. Matchington, it’s been sixteen hours. You should be going home to get some sleep. We’ll be putting Alec under again soon again, which gives you—”
“No,” Kash cut the doctor off instantly and I loved him even more for that. “I’m staying here until I know he’ll easily wake up from the sleep and hear he can talk clearly again. Until he’s sitting up in that bed I won’t be leaving the hospital.”
His announcement penetrated the haze in my mind and I cleared my throat. “The club. Gage. He’ll fire you.”
“Gage loves me. He won’t do anything to me,” Kash stated, giving me a grin before pressing a kiss to my lips and drawing his hand back from mine. “I’ll be back in a bit. Sleep well, Baby Boy.”
I reached for him, but he walked out of the room. Maybe it was better that way because as long as he was there, I didn’t think I wanted to get any medication that meant I would miss out on time with him.
I didn’t know where the gloomy thoughts came from, but they were there, and the pain just intensified them as if my body was trying to tell me that our time was running out.
KASH
My feet barely carried me out of the room. In fact, they didn’t take me further than right to the hallway before I nearly face-planted on the ground. The only reason I didn’t was because Mount—the mountain who’d broken down the door—caught me at the last second.
“Jesus, man, I get your devotion to him, but you need to try and sleep. You know, not here, somewhere with a real bed.”
I sat in a chair, not appreciating the concern on his face. I was a stranger to him, and I didn’t know why he was as worried about me as he seemed to be.
In fact, I didn’t get why Colt was either, having left one of his men at Alec’s door at all times. They were strangers to us, and yes, they’d seen Alec, but… That loyalty to someone they didn’t know? I didn’t get it.
I rubbed my tired eyes, leaning forward in the seat. It had been sixteen long hours since we’d arrived at the hospital and Alec had been taking straight into surgery to… God, I knew I had listened, but when they’d spoken about internal bleeding my brain had to have a mini meltdown. All I’d been hearing was ‘he might die soon’ and ‘we don’t know if he’ll pull through’. And I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet.
His breathing had stopped occasionally during the night, but I’d been assured that was nothing more than nightmares. I didn’t believe them. After all, could you have nightmares when you were in a coma?
But he has just spoken to you, I reminded myself, hoping that was a good sign. It had to be. After all, dying people didn’t bother talking anymore, did they?
A big hand landed on my shoulder and I looked up, realizing I’d missed the shuffling of feet. The first person I saw was Gage.
“He’s not… I mean… You can’t… The doctor is with him.”
Gage nodded, looking up at someone, and then smirked. “We’re here for your ugly ass. I figured if you’re keeping watch over him someone should keep watch over you.”
I was presented with a paper bag, finding Sav when I followed the arm up with my eyes. “Food. Eat it. And no, there’s no discussion. It’s straight f
rom DiverCity.”
I didn’t even know what time it was. When had we arrived?
“Breakfast, lunch, or dinner?” I opened the bag, finding two sandwiches inside, as well as cookies and some cut-up fruit.
“Breakfast. It’s eight am. We decided we’re going to open the bar late today so we can be here with you for a while,” Gage explained.
“Here’s the coffee. I cannot believe how long the lines are in the morning.” Xane appeared, the guy I’d had the least to do with, and held out a coffee for me.
I smiled. “You aren’t out often in the morning, are you?”
He groaned. “Are you kidding me? Why do you think I prefer the late shifts? I’m just here because this is a family thing, I swear. Otherwise I’d still be cuddled up in bed, dreaming about strong arms and—”
“We get it,” Gage interrupted while I took a sip from the coffee, too choked up to say anything.
“Kash!”
More people joined us, and I got to my feet. Jax, Colt’s brother, and Denny from the tattoo shop appeared. I stepped around Sav, who gave me a worried look, and went to greet them. “What are you doing here?”
Jax shrugged. He looked a lot less imposing under the bright hospital lights, kind of pale and exhausted. Then again, I was pretty sure I didn’t look any better. “You looked like shit, and Barrel came back covered in blood and trembling with fury. I figured it had to have been bad. I just wanted to… I don’t know.”
“We wanted to see how you were doing, darlin’. Walking into a shop where you don’t know anyone, to ask about a biker you met once because he’s the only person you can think of to get as back-up? It’s pretty brave,” Denny explained, coming forward. Now, with the different lighting, his hair almost seemed to be shimmering purple.
“I… Actually, it was a shitty move. I brought the bikers because I didn’t want my team involved, and I knew Colt and his men wouldn’t mind… Hadn’t…”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to involve my friends,” Jax admitted. “Colt and his men were strangers to you. Plus… You wanted the muscles. It was all about appearances. We get it. We all do.”
Yeah, but my team might not. Although I didn’t want to draw them into this because I didn’t want to risk them losing their jobs over something that was my problem.
“I’m Gage. You don’t look like a biker.” He held out his hand, appearing next to me.
Jax arched a brow. “Tattoo artist. My hands are too fine to beat people into a pulp, thank you very much.”
“Hellooo Gage,” Denny sang, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes, reaching out to also shake Gage’s hand.
I watched Gage stare at the receptionist and was impressed when Denny didn’t cower at the dark scowl, instead arching a brow as if saying ‘it’s not that hard, just shake it’.
Someone touched my arm, wanting to get my attention, and I turned to Savage and Nyra. “Hey guys,” I stated, hugging them in welcome, my mind still a scrambled mess.
“Leon, Shay, and Dan wanted to come, but we figured there’d be enough people here. Especially because Gage and half of the bar staff also wanted to be here,” Sav explained and I nodded.
“I know. I’m… I cannot believe it. I mean… None of them will be able to go in and see Alec. It’s Cam and me, because frankly I can’t stand the thought of—”
“Don’t, boss. We get it, okay? And we also get why you wouldn’t take us to Alec’s house. Showing up with a biker gang is much more impressive.” Nyra winked.
I shrugged. “I didn’t know what I was thinking yesterday. When I realized his father had him, all bets were off. I…”
It had been too much. Nash and the confession, Alec lost, and then turning up hurt more than anyone thought possible…
“I was sure we’d find him dead.” I hadn’t meant to utter the words, but the moment they were out I realized it was true. I’d been sure we wouldn’t have found any signs of life in my boyfriend, and I would’ve lost him without ever having told him how much he meant to me.
“He’s strong,” Gage assured me, and I noticed everyone had heard my last sentence.
“Thank god,” I whispered and then closed my eyes, leaning in when Savage drew me into another hug. The moment Alec sat on his own, breathed on his own, and ate on his own I’d be okay, but until then?
I wasn’t sure if my heart could stand all this.
The doctor hadn’t lied when he’d said he’d put Alec back under. As much as I wanted to sit by his bed twenty-four-seven, seeing him all bruised and beaten, hearing the machines basically keeping him alive… I couldn’t do it.
So instead I paced the hallway that night, Colt standing guard at the door. His expression was soft, worried, and I couldn’t get over how different he and his men had been when standing in front of that door with me, terrifying and intimidating.
Heavy steps alerted me to the fact that someone else besides the two nurses on duty was roaming the hallways at this time of night.
“Holy shit, is that… He… Woah.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Colt’s loss for words. “My twin? Yeah.” And funnily enough, it didn’t feel wrong saying that. No, instead it felt as if it was exactly right. “Nash.”
He came over wordlessly and hugged me tight. “I’m sorry,” he muttered against my shoulder.
I shook my head, holding onto him. “You have nothing to be sorry for. But shouldn’t you be at work?”
He pulled back, glancing from me to Colt. “Your plan B?”
“The only true plan. I’m Kash’s prison buddy, Colt.” They shook hands and Colt couldn’t stop staring. “So,” he said towards me, “that’s how you’d look if you didn’t work out.”
“Hey, I work out. On occasion. In bed. With others,” Nash protested.
Colt nodded with a grin, then pointed down the hall. “I’m gonna grab some fucking bad coffee from the machine. You want some, too?”
I shook my head and appreciated that he gave me the room to talk to Nash. We sat down, silent for a while, then Nash cleared his throat. “If I hadn’t been there, maybe you’d have realized earlier that Alec wasn’t texting you or that he hadn’t made it to work.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Nash. And besides, it could’ve been anyone else, anything else, keeping me from Alec. I probably would’ve hit the gym without my phone that day. I don’t do music most of the time, appreciating the sounds of people working out. It’s like a symphony of like-minded guys, you know? Either way… I don’t know what would have happened.”
Nash nodded, his expression thankful, then asked, “Why did he go back knowing what could happen?”
I thought about the piece of paper in my truck, the one Colt had brought because Alec’s father had insisted on him taking it so his son wouldn’t come back for it and closed my eyes. “He went because he thought his father would be asleep. Makes me guess he went at some point in the night. Anyway, I… He wanted to get his birth certificate.”
Nash’s brows shot up. “He’s still trying to convince you he’s legal?”
I sure as hell hoped that wasn’t it, but something in the back of my mind told me that yes, this could be my fault. “I don’t know. I didn’t think it was an issue anymore. Like… Yes, sometimes I’d be looking at him when he fell asleep before me, wondering how innocent and young he looks, but…”
Nash smirked. “You wanted him, so you believed his age in the end?”
“Staying away would’ve have become impossible at some point. I was stupid not seeing it right away.” I started to twist the ring on my middle finger, my nervous habit kicking in because I’d been so blind.
“How much you love him?”
I glanced at Nash. “Yeah, stop looking so smug. I know you knew. You hinted at it. I should’ve just believed it.”
“I hear everyone was here earlier.”
Everyone and their mother. They’d dropped by one after the other, my full team included, and I swallowed. “Yes. I don’t… I mean… Well�
�”
“Family, Kash. DiverCity has always been family. Is it easy to get in to? No, but it’s hard to get out of. You’re one of us, and so is Alec. Although I guess the rest knew they wouldn’t be able to do much for Alec, so being here for you was a good start.” He wrinkled his nose. “Although someone should’ve been charming enough to bring you a change of clothes. I’m sure you’d have found a spot to change. You know, you don’t want Alec to drop dead from your smell, right?”
I sniffed myself, squinting at him. “I’m not that bad. I mean, I don’t smell that much, do I?”
He lifted his hands in innocence, then grinned.
“Okay, I get it.” I pulled my keys from my pocket, holding them out to him. “Would you mind grabbing me some stuff?”
He instantly pulled a face. “And touch your underwear? Ew, brother, no thanks.”
I laughed, punching his shoulder. “Stop being an ass.”
He grabbed the keys and then stood. “I’ll be back in bit. Try to get some sleep. You look horrible.”
“It’s the lights,” I protested.
“Whatever calms your soul, dude.” And with that he left.
Colt came, looking after him, and then took a seat next to me, holding out a cup. “I said no.”
“The bags under the bags of your eyes say you want some,” he argued. “So, a twin…”
I sighed, warming my hands on the cup. I hadn’t even realized how cold they were. “It’s new. Family and I don’t work out well… Or didn’t use to. Now I suddenly have an adoptive mother who wants to reconnect and make all the wrongs right, and a twin. I wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t shown up looking exactly like me. I…”
“Life’s coming together, huh?” Colt pointed out and I opened my mouth to say something, but then decided against it.
“I didn’t even think of it that way, but I guess you’re right. Now, if Alec could just pull through…”
“Yeah.”
Colt sipped his coffee, then leaned forward in the chair. “Didn’t you say the first time you met him he was beat up?”