I scrubbed my face with my hand, trying to wipe the images from my mind. They were so raw that every time I closed my eyes, I saw every little detail glaring at me. This had to be because of me. They knew she was my wife and they wanted to hit me where it hurt the most. And they did. They took her from me and mangled her beautiful body.
My chest started tightening painfully and I could scarcely take a breath. I gripped at my chest, rubbing and trying to ease the pain that was shooting through me. I felt Sinner’s hand on my shoulder as he tried to steady me, but I was already falling apart. I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to lead these guys like they needed. I had people depending on me, but right now, I just couldn’t do it.
“Cap, we have an issue,” Derek said as he stood in front of me. I could hear him speaking, but I couldn’t respond. There was nothing I could do for any of them right now. I needed to see Maggie. “Cap.”
“Just deal with it,” I snapped. I stood and shoved through the group of men that had gathered around me. I thought about going outside to cool down, but I didn’t want to leave in case the doctor came out. I paced around the waiting room, feeling the eyes of everyone on me. They were waiting for me to lose it.
“Maggie Reed?”
I whipped my head around and charged toward the doctor, as did the rest of my team. His face was grim as we approached and I felt Sinner grip tightly onto my shoulder.
“How is she?” I croaked out.
“She’s stable. She lost a lot of blood, but we’ve been giving her transfusions and she’s doing much better now. We cleaned up the cuts on her back and stitched her up. It took quite a lot and I would suggest looking into reconstructive surgery. It’s not necessary for her to live a healthy life, but having those scars would be a permanent reminder of the trauma she suffered.”
I nodded and swallowed hard. “What about her hand?”
“I’m afraid we weren’t able to reattach her fingers. When a finger is dismembered that close to the hand, it’s not only more difficult to recover from, but it could be harder for the entire hand to function. On top of that, the severed fingers were mangled and dirty. There was too great a risk of infection to the rest of her hand. We closed up the wounds and wrapped it, but I’m afraid that’s all we could do for her.”
“Will she still be able to use her hand?” I asked.
“Yes, she’ll have to learn to use it differently, but because she still has her thumb and two other fingers, she’ll still be able to use it quite well with time.”
“Can I see her?”
“Of course.”
I started to walk away, but then turned back to Sinner. “I don’t…” I cleared my throat as my eyes filled with tears. How did I ask for him to come back with me? I didn’t know if I could handle seeing her by myself and Sinner was like a brother to her.
“Do you want me to go back with you?”
I nodded and followed the doctor back to the room, along with Sinner. When I pushed the door open, I saw Maggie lying in the bed with her eyes closed. There was a nurse in the corner on the computer, but I didn’t pay any attention to her. All I could focus on was the love of my life lying in the bed. My eyes drifted to her hand, which was very clearly missing two fingers. It was wrapped tightly with gauze. That was the only visible sign that she had been injured. The rest of her injuries were on her back.
“She just had some pain medication, so she’ll be a little out of it,” the nurse said as she left the room.
I took the seat next to her and placed my hand over her arm. I wanted to hold her hand in mine, but I didn’t want to hurt her. I saw her wedding band on my pinky finger and tried to just be relieved that her fingers were the only thing she lost. I had no idea what her state of mind would be when she woke up. I couldn’t believe this had happened. When Maggie opened her eyes, I felt like my heart was about to split in two. I could feel my face crumpling even though I tried to hold the tears back. I was supposed to be strong for her.
“Hey, I’m fine.” She didn’t have the strength in her voice that she normally did and she sounded like she had gone a few rounds with Muhammed Ali.
“This should have never happened,” I bit out.
“It’s nothing I can’t come back from,” Maggie said quietly. “Who needs five fingers anyway? The extra ones just get in the way.”
“Freckles,” I whispered. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Sebastian, I need to tell you-”
“It can wait,” I said, cutting her off. There was nothing she needed to tell me right now. Nothing else was more important than her in this moment.
“No. I’m sorry. I gave up the location of the safe house.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about that right now.”
“I gave them the code,” she grinned. I huffed out a laugh. Of course, leave it to Maggie to be happy that she blew something up. I had given her that code so that she could use it to her advantage if she ever needed it. Not so that she could suffer unnecessarily.
“Why didn’t you just tell them right away? None of this had to happen.”
“I didn’t want to give up the location. You won’t ever be able to use it again.”
“I don’t give a shit. I would give up every safe house if it meant that you didn’t have to lose your fingers and have them-”
I cut myself off before I could say more. She didn’t need to know how bad it was.
“Sebastian.” I couldn’t look at her. I was so ashamed that she had suffered so much all because she wanted to be loyal to me. “This isn’t just about me. I had to give all of you enough time to find us. They were going to kill us all. If I had given up so easily, we’d all be dead right now. Just be happy all they took were my fingers.”
“But your back…”
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to want that fixed,” she said sleepily. The drugs were kicking in and she was starting to drift off. She turned to Sinner and gripped his hand. “Is Cara alright?”
“Yeah, Freckles. Cara’s fine. We’re gonna get these bastards,” he said vehemently.
“As long as I get to get in on the action. I have a bone to pick with them.”
Sinner grinned and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead, then he nodded to me and left the room. Maggie was asleep and I finally let it all wash over me. The fear, the anger, and the sadness for what she lost. My shoulders shook as I allowed myself just a few minutes to really feel everything that was running through my mind right now.
I blinked back the tears and wiped the moisture from my face. Sinner was right about something. Those bastards were going to pay and as soon as Maggie was released, I was going to hit them hard and make sure not a single one of those mother fuckers ever saw another day.
Derek
Shit was falling apart fast. Cap was barely holding on. Cazzo had just lost a baby and I was the one everyone was turning to for answers. There was one thing that was very clear. We needed to get someplace safe. If we stuck around the hospital too long, the Night Kings would come at us full force. The problem was, we didn’t have anywhere for everyone to go. We needed one large location where we could all gather and make a plan to fight back. I gathered everyone in the waiting area.
“We need a new plan. The safe house was attacked, but everyone got out. Maggie gave the code that triggered the explosion. It allowed everyone enough time to get out. We don’t know if any of the Night Kings survived, but I just talked to Chance and everyone is safe.”
“What about our other safe houses?” Burg asked.
I shook my head. “There’s not enough space. We need to stick together right now. I don’t want to risk splitting up and not having enough manpower. Right now, we need a new safe house to get everyone else to. They’re out there driving around and the longer they do that, the more dangerous it is for them.”
“I have a place,” Knight said. “We can all head there. It’s a place I’ve had for a while now, just in case. It’s on one hundred fifty acres and all the se
curity we could ever want.”
I nodded in agreement. That was exactly what we needed at the moment. “Alright. Get on the phone and give Chance all the information he’ll need. We need to find out how long Vanessa and Maggie need to stay in the hospital, but it would be best if we could get out of here ASAP. We don’t need the Night Kings descending on us here. We need to regroup and get a plan in place.”
“What about Cap and Cazzo? They’re not really thinking clearly right now,” Chris said.
“I’ll handle things until Cap is ready to take over. For now, everything goes through me first. Understood?”
They all agreed and I walked away, pulling out my phone. There was one more thing we needed to make sure that everyone stayed safe, and dammit, he would answer his fucking phone if I had to call him until he answered.
The phone rang and rang until finally Cash growled out a nasty hello.
“It’s Derek. Any chance you’re up for a fight?”
“What the fuck did you guys do?”
“Oh, you know. Took a woman and her kid that belonged to a gang. Took out some gang members. Now we’ve got a shit ton of trouble headed our way.”
There was a moment of silence before a deep sigh. I smiled, knowing I had him. Cash craved a good fight just as much as the rest of us.
“Which gang?”
“Gangs. The Night Kings and the Blood Devils.”
“Shit. You really are in a clusterfuck. I’m assuming you need as many men as possible?”
“That would be ideal.”
“You got weapons?”
“Could always use more.”
“What the fuck do you have?”
“A whole team of pissed off men who want to take these fuckers out,” I growled into the phone.
“That’ll do. Text me a location.”
He hung up and I grinned to myself. It was about time something went our way.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Chris
IT WAS FUCKING impossible to stay in the waiting room when all I wanted was to see Ali and Axel again. I had been holding off on calling them because of everything that was going on around here. There would be a lot of questions that I didn’t have the answers to, but now that we knew that Maggie and Vanessa would be alright, I couldn’t wait any longer. I walked over to a deserted corner of the waiting room and dialed Gabe. I knew from Knight that she was driving with him.
“Hey, Chris. Whatcha got?”
“I need to talk with Ali.”
“Hang on.” I heard a door shut and then some shuffling. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to talk to her?” he asked harshly.
“Because she’s my fucking woman and I need to hear her voice,” I growled. This wasn’t like Gabe. He wasn’t usually such an asshole. “What’s going on?”
“Man, are you sure you can trust her?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that she came to stay with us at the safe house and not even twenty-four hours later, our location was given up.”
I was pissed. I felt the rage that I had been holding back the last seventeen years breaking free. “You listen to me, you motherfucker. I’ve always trusted you and I’m putting that same trust in you right now to keep Ali and Axel safe. They didn’t have anything to do with the attack and my word should be enough for you. I swear to God, if you don’t do everything you can to protect them, I’ll put a fucking bullet in you myself. That’s my family and I expect you to protect them the way you would protect anyone else’s family. Do you understand me?”
I could practically hear him gritting his teeth together on the other end of the line. He didn’t like that I wasn’t backing him on this. Well, I didn’t like it that he was accusing them of being traitors.
“I got ya.”
“If you want to know why you were hit, you could have just asked. Maggie was fucking tortured until she gave up the location, but she also gave them the code to blow up the gate to warn you. She held out for as long as she could. So, why don’t you rein in your attitude and do the job you’re supposed to. Now, put my woman on the phone.”
He didn’t say anything else and when Ali’s voice came over the line, I finally felt the first spark of relief.
“Chris?”
“Hey, Ali. Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah. We’re good. What happened?”
“I’ll explain when I see you. We’ll be leaving soon and we’ll catch up with you at the next safe house. Just do what the guys tell you and you’ll be fine.”
She got quiet and then she lowered her voice, almost as if she was trying not to be heard. “Chris, they don’t trust me. They think I’m trying to get everyone killed.”
I could hear the rattle in her voice. She was scared, probably because I wasn’t there to protect her. She didn’t know any of the people at Reed Security and she was relying on them to keep her safe. “Baby, I know this is hard for you right now, but I need you to trust me. They will protect you with their lives.”
“Gabe won’t. He already told me that he doesn’t trust me. Chris, I’m really scared,” she said hesitantly. It fucking killed me that she didn’t feel safe with my brothers. Although, at the moment, I was hesitant to call Gabe a brother.
“I swear to you. Nothing will happen to you as long as you’re with them. I already set shit straight with Gabe. Trust me, he won’t be a problem anymore.”
She sighed and I wished that I could be there to wrap my arms around her and tell her that she was safe with me. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I’ll see you in a day or two.”
“Okay.”
“Ali…I love you.”
“I love you, too, Chris.”
I could practically see the smile on her face because the same stupid grin was on mine. It was true. I hadn’t ever fallen out of love with Ali. She was the girl I knew I would marry someday, and even when I walked away, I still wished every fucking day that she was with me. I had been a dumb fucker to stay away so long. But that wouldn’t be happening anymore. She was mine and I would make sure that she never questioned whether or not we would be together again.
When I got off the phone with Ali, I called Chance. As much as I felt I had set Gabe straight, I wanted to be certain that someone else was watching out for her and Axel.
“Chance, I need a favor, man.”
“Shoot.”
“I need you to keep an eye on my family.”
“We are. Gabe’s with them,” he said in confusion.
“He’s also shooting his mouth off to her. She’s scared. He’s accusing her of being a traitor.”
He growled into the phone and I heard him taking a deep breath. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure he fucking knows his place.”
“Thanks, man.”
“We’ll see you at the safe house. Watch your six.”
“You too, man. Stay safe.”
I hung up and walked back over to the group of Reed Security members that were currently taking up the entire waiting room. Derek was looking over a map with Knight, who still had an arm wrapped tightly around Kate. Burg and Sinner were gone, probably in Vanessa’s room with Cazzo. Hunter and Lola were sitting and arguing about something. They seemed to do a lot of that lately. Lola had been absent for months, off on a vacation. I wasn’t privy to what was going on. Cap kept that information between him and Derek’s team.
Ice and Jules were lounging in some chairs like they didn’t have a care in the world, but I knew them all too well. They were watching everything, wanting to keep an eye on everything while Derek worked shit out. Alec, Craig, and Florrie were keeping watch near the door. Ideally, we should be spread all over the hospital to keep watch, but when we talked to security about positioning people around the building, they basically told us they would have us removed if we didn’t stay in the waiting area.
Cap walked out into the waiting area looking a lot more
put together than the last time I’d seen him. “Derek, what’s the plan?”
“We need to get on the road. Is Maggie able to be moved?”
“If we need to. Where are we headed?” Cap asked.
“Knight’s giving us a place to go. I already sent Chance out there,” Derek said.
“Sebastian,” Kate said quietly. “I’m so sorry about Maggie. She wouldn’t let them take me.”
“What?” Knight asked.
She looked at Sebastian with tears in her eyes. “They were trying to take me out of the room. She begged them to take her. She told them I didn’t know anything and that she was your wife. I’m so sorry.”
Sebastian pulled her in for a hug and held her tight despite Knight’s growling in protest. “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered. “Maggie did what she thought she had to do and she wouldn’t want you feeling guilty about it.”
“But she shouldn’t have done it. She has a daughter. I’m nobody.”
Sebastian pulled back and quirked an eyebrow at her. “I think Knight would say differently. Besides, I wouldn’t want to deal with his cranky ass if anything had happened to you.”
Knight nodded to Cap, obviously approving of him trying to ease Kate’s mind. He wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her in close to him and I found myself wishing I could do the same to Ali at this very moment.
“When will Maggie be released?” Derek asked.
“They haven’t said.”
“We need to get on the road,” Derek said urgently. “The sooner the better. I know this is hard, but if we stick around here, we’re gonna get ambushed.”
“Alright, I’ll get the doctors to release Vanessa and Maggie.”
“Good. I got ahold of Cash. He’s going to meet up with us.”
“Thank fuck,” Sebastian said as he ran a hand over his face. “We need something to go right for us.”
I could see that Cap was exhausted and though he was trying to appear in control, he was still on edge. And it was my fault. It was hard to stand here while Maggie was in the other room suffering and not feel guilty. I had brought this on them and even though I knew they wouldn’t blame me, I couldn’t help but feel I needed to set some things straight with Cap. When he and Derek finished discussing plans, I nodded for him to follow me. We walked over to the coffee station and I opened my mouth to speak.
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 13