by Jamie Begley
“Evie!” Beth moaned.
She ran to Beth who was sitting on the floor by the bed, panting.
“My babies are coming.”
“Relax, Beth.”
“Don’t tell me to relax! There are burglars outside the door, and my babies are coming early.”
“Lily, where’s your phone?”
“I’m looking. It was on the dresser.” Evie saw Lily searching the floor for the phone while she examined Beth.
The sound of a gunshot striking the door drew screams from each of them.
“Lily, get down!”
Evie put her hands under Beth’s arms, dragging her to the other side of the bed, pushing the mattress and box springs off the bed so it would place a barrier in front of Beth.
“Lily, get behind the mattress,” Evie screamed at her when another gunshot came through the door.
“I have to find my phone. It’s the only chance we have,” Lily said, running her hands over the floor. “Please, God. Please, God, help us.” Evie’s heart broke at hearing Lily’s praying as she searched.
She crawled back to Beth who was crying, trying to stifle her screams. Evie pulled up Beth’s gown to exam her, seeing the crown of one of the babies’ head.
“Beth, listen to me. The first baby is coming, which means we’re going to have to do this alone. I’ve delivered a few babies, so I know what to do, okay? We can do this.”
Beth whimpered, “Okay.”
“I found it!”
“Thank, God,” Evie muttered. “I need something to cut the cord with.”
“I keep a small pen knife in my purse. It’s on the nightstand,” Lily answered. “I’m calling 911.”
“Tell them to send an ambulance,” Evie instructed her. The first baby was out now. She jerked the pillowcase off the pillow, carefully wrapping the baby in it as soon as she made sure the baby boy was breathing. She cut the cord using the penknife she found in Lily’s purse.
She looked over her shoulder to see Lily crying.
“My phone isn’t working. It must have broken when we moved the dresser,” Lily whispered in a low voice, but Evie knew Beth heard above the crying infant.
The sound of the men hitting their shoulders against the door had both of them rising to see over the mattresses; the door was practically bulging inward under the intruders’ attacks. However, Beth’s scream drew Evie back to her.
“Dammit, can anything else go wrong!” Evie said then could have kicked herself. She didn’t want to alarm Beth.
“What?” Lily dropped back down beside her.
“Hold the baby.” Evie took the baby away from Beth, giving it to Lily.
“Evie?” Beth’s faint whisper as she frantically tried to stem the flow of blood escaping her had Evie more terrified than she had been in her life.
Her training kicked in as she worked, making herself focus on saving Beth and her children, not the crashing of the door or the sounds of footsteps entering the room. She didn’t take her eyes off Beth when she heard the steps stop beside Lily. Evie began crying, knowing the next sound she heard was going to be Lily being killed.
“Please, don’t hurt the baby.” Evie cried helplessly as she heard Lily pleading to the intruder. “Please.”
As a gunshot rang through the room then three more, one after another, Evie didn’t stop what she was doing.
“Lily!” Evie heard Shade’s voice.
“Call an ambulance!” Evie screamed as the room filled with The Last Riders. “And get my medical bag out of my bedroom closet.”
A minute later, the bag was next to her.
“The ambulance is on the way,” King stated, moving away.
“Beth!” Razer tried to get to Beth, but there was not enough room. The room erupted with the men as they moved the bodies then the bed out of the way.
“Beth.” Razer’s voice broke as he managed to reach her hand.
Evie glanced up at him. She didn’t have to say anything; the blood seeping everywhere said it all.
* * *
The large hospital waiting room was filled with silence. Evie sat next to King, holding his hand tightly. She was wearing a set of scrubs one of the nurses had gotten for her when she had stepped into the waiting room, covered in Beth’s blood. The EMTs had delivered the second baby en route to the hospital.
“Do you need me to get you something?” King offered.
“No.” Evie brushed her tears away. They hadn’t even come out to tell them if the babies were doing okay.
“I’ve known some scary situations in my life, but when I heard those gunshots and couldn’t get to you and Lily…” Evie clung to his hand tighter, hearing King’s hoarse voice. She had to reassure him she was fine.
Razer sat next to her as if turned to stone while Lily and Shade sat on the other side.
One by one, each of the members of The Last Riders entered the room. Evie looked up anxiously when the door opened to see Sex Piston and her crew come in, followed by a grim-faced Stud.
The door to the waiting room remained open. There was a line of bikers down both sides of the long hallway. Not only were there The Last Riders that couldn’t fit in the room, but the members from the Blue Horsemen and the Destructors.
Evie’s eyes watered. Beth’s simple friendship with Sex Piston had created a bridge between the groups who should have been enemies. Sex Piston had been a true friend to Beth when Evie herself had failed.
The woman so filled with attitude, that drove everyone crazy and loved very few, knelt in front of Razer, placing her hand on his thigh. “When I met Beth, I thought there was no way she could be for real. No one could be that sweet or clueless. As I got to know her, I realized she was the most real person I have ever met.”
“The last month of my pregnancy, I was scared, afraid of the delivery, the pain, of being a mom.” Tears coursed down Sex Piston’s cheeks. “She told me not to be afraid, that I had to have faith that everything would be all right. Razer, we’re both going to listen to Beth and have faith that she and those precious babies are all going to be fine.”
Razer’s composure broke as he took Sex Piston into his arms, and Evie turned into King’s chest as her own tears fell.
“Evie, listen to her. Beth is going to be okay,” King murmured, trying to soothe her.
“I was a terrible friend to her,” Evie cried. The guilt of years ago had never left her.
“You saved her life—our lives,” Lily contradicted her. “Tonight, when those men came, you didn’t leave her side. You delivered her son, and the doctor told us it was your skills as a Corpsman that kept her alive until the ambulance came. Beth considers you more than a friend—she loves you like a sister—and I do, too.”
“Excuse me.” The exhausted doctor standing in the doorway eyed the rough-looking crowd waiting for news.
Razer rose shakily to his feet.
“Your wife is in recovery. It will be at least an hour before you can see her.” He motioned to the nurse. “Shelley will take you to the nursery. There are two boys waiting to meet their dad.”
* * *
Beth’s head turned on her pillow, her fingers closing on the hand holding hers.
“Razer,” she said softly.
Razer lifted his head, rising up on his elbow next to her.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be in the bed with me,” she warned him weakly.
“Shade will knock on the door when someone is about to come into the room.”
She turned her head into his shoulder, and his hand came down to rest on the top of her head.
“If our babies aren’t okay, please don’t tell me, Razer. I couldn’t take it.”
“Our sons are in the nursery, and they’re fine. They want to wait before they bring them in, though. Your vitals are still weak, so as soon as they get higher, they’ll bring them in.”
“Boys?”
“Two sons. You did good, kitten.” His voice choked on her nickname.
“We both
did. Lily and Evie?”
“They’re waiting to see you.”
“I thought we were going to die. Lily didn’t even ask for her own life; she just asked them not to hurt the baby.” Tears broke free. “And Evie kept trying to deliver the baby. She saved us, Razer.”
“You had two angels with you. When we pulled in the driveway and saw the front door open and the lights out, we knew something was wrong. If Shade wasn’t such a good shot… he killed those bastards before I could get in the front door.”
Beth shuddered against him.
“Kitten, I’ve never been so scared in my life. When I saw you, I thought I was going to lose you.”
“Razer, you’re never going to lose me. Even if I died, I would always be with you.”
“Don’t talk like that again! You’re not allowed to use the words ‘I’ and ‘die’ in the same sentence. You’re not allowed to die before me, ever! You think you couldn’t bear to lose our sons? Well, I couldn’t lose you and stay sane. Kitten, I know what life is without you.
“If I died…” Shocked, Beth tried to stop his words, but his finger pressed against her lips, halting her words. “If I died,” he continued, “you would be strong enough to carry on and raise our children. Eventually, you would make it through life until we could be together again. Me, on the other hand, I am an asshole. If I couldn’t have you, then there wouldn’t be anything of me left to give anyone.”
“Baby,” she kissed the finger pressed against her lips, “I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to raise those two boys, and you’re going to be stuck with me for a long time. I promise.”
“I’m going to go see if the nurse will bring the babies in.” Razer gently raised the bed to where she was almost sitting up.
“Yes, please.”
“I almost forgot.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled something out then took her hand in his, sliding her wedding and engagement rings back on with the same look on his face that had been there on their wedding day. She felt his hesitation at leaving her, his eyes on the machines plugged into her.
“Go, Razer. I’ll be right here waiting...”
King nodded to Shade, who gently clicked the door shut before Razer could catch them, then strolled down the hallway, relieved that his young cousin would be fine and she held nothing other than love in her heart for Evie.
Chapter 29
Evie knocked on the hospital room’s door, going in when Razer opened it.
She carried the heavy packages into the room with King carrying more behind her, coming to a stop by her friend’s bed. Looking down at Beth’s exhausted face as she held the two babies swaddled in blue blankets, she said a brief prayer of thanks before putting the bags on the chair beside the bed.
“I packed you a suitcase. I put a couple of gowns in it, your new housecoat, your make-up bag and your hair brush.” She lifted up a blue book bag then set it back down. “I also bought you some magazines and crossword puzzles. I found your Kindle; it’s in there, too. I also sent you an e-certificate to purchase books, so knock yourself out.”
She turned, taking a little, baby-blue suitcase from King. “I brought the suitcase you had packed for the babies, too. I took out the pink ones you had packed and put in more boy clothes. I went through all your shower gifts and picked out what you needed before you got home and packed those, too.”
She turned to King again, taking the flowers and balloons from him before setting the flowers on the bedside table. Putting the teddy bear holding the balloons on her bed, she went to Beth’s side.
“Can I hold one?” she asked.
Beth closed her mouth, lifting her cradled bundle toward Evie. “You can hold them both.” Laughing, she handed King the other one.
King gently took the baby, lifting it to his chest. “He’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Evie smiled at Razer’s proud comment.
When King lowered the baby into her other arm, Evie looked down at the babies, admiring their tiny fingers.
“Evie.” She looked up when Beth called her name. “There are no words to say how much I appreciate what you did. You saved my babies’ lives. I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
“Beth—”
“Let me finish, please. Razer told me what you said in the waiting room. I want you to know that, when I lashed out at you after Razer and I broke up, I was hurt and angry. I didn’t understand the loyalty you felt to The Last Riders back then, but I do now. I want you to forgive yourself, because I did a long time ago. Okay?”
Evie nodded her head, too choked up to speak.
Sex Piston came in the door then, breaking the emotional moment. Killyama, Crazy Bitch, Fat Louise and T.A. each filed into the room next, their arms full of bags, balloons and stuffed animals.
Sex Piston bent over the bed, hugging Beth. “Don’t fucking scare me like that again.”
“I won’t.”
Sex Piston rose, eyeing the big teddy bear on the bed with the balloons. She turned, looking at the items sitting around. Putting her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes, looking at Evie who was holding both babies. “You gonna share?”
“You going to cuss when you’re holding them?”
“I’m not going to make any promises,” she said, taking the one sleeping.
“What are their names?” T.A. asked, taking the other one from Evie.
“We haven’t decided yet.” Razer sat down on the bed beside his wife.
Evie stood up, giving Beth and Razer a hug. “Let me know when you need a babysitter.”
“I think it’s going to be a while before I let them out of my sight again.” Razer followed them out the door into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
“I thought Lily would be in the room with Beth?” Evie questioned.
“She was here earlier, but Shade made her go home to get some rest. She’ll be back later. She and Shade will stay while I go home to get some sleep.” Evie saw Rider and Train sitting in chairs in the waiting room. “Are they waiting to see Beth and the babies?”
“No, the brothers want to keep a guard on them until we can get them home.”
“Why?” Concerned, Evie stopped walking; Razer’s fierce expression told her something was wrong.
“Because Knox got an ID on those men who broke into your house; they were professionals. Until we find out what they wanted, we’re going to watch all three of you. We talked to King; he’s going to stay with you, and we have both Beth and Lily covered.”
Evie grabbed King’s arm, feeling like she was going to faint.
“Evie!” King turned, catching her.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired after being awake almost forty-eight hours. I’m going home to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Later.” Razer didn’t look like he believed her, but she had to talk to Shade. She could be wrong, but if she was right, then the only way to catch the person responsible was to let whoever was behind the attack believe the case was closed because the suspects were dead.
They drove back to King’s house, and as soon as the door closed behind them, King turned her to face him. “It had nothing to do with me. I called Henry; everything is quiet in Queen City.”
“This has nothing to do with you. We both know who is responsible.”
“Brooke? Do you think she believes she can have Shade if she removes the obstacles in her way?”
“No, I don’t think so. I believe it’s more like, if she can’t have him, then no one can.” Evie took off her shoes. “I had hoped the baby would calm her down, make her a little more human. I guess I was wrong.”
“Evie, we don’t know anything for certain. This is all speculation. We don’t know for sure.”
Evie did know, remembering the gunman standing beside Lily. The gun had been pointed at her.
“I’ll never forget Lily begging for that baby’s life.”
“Evie, it’s over. Beth, the babies, Lily—you’re all alive. Nothing else matters. Go on to my room and
take a shower. I’ll bring you a glass of wine.”
“Fuck that, bring me a whiskey.”
“All right. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Evie went to King’s bedroom. She had showered earlier when she picked up Beth’s shower presents, so another wasn’t needed.
She was pulling off her jeans when she looked across the room. Grinning wickedly, she kicked her jeans away.
As King came into the bedroom, carrying their glasses, a flash of movement caught his eye. “I see you found my surprise.” He set their glasses down on the nightstand.
“This one is better than mine,” Evie said from the top of the pole.
“I was afraid you were going to break your neck on the one you had. Henry arranged for that one to be shipped for me.”
“Who installed it?” Evie asked, flipping herself upside-down.
King unbuttoned his shirt, removing his clothes without taking his eyes off her body. He lay down naked on the bed, picking up his whiskey before he leaned back against the headboard, enjoying the show. “I don’t understand why you constantly believe I can’t do the same shit normal men do.”
Evie stopped spinning to stare across the room at him. Even naked, he looked elegant and sophisticated. “How did the fishing trip go? Catch anything?”
“No. Only Cash and Shade did. My son-in-law is beginning to give me a complex,” he complained, finishing his drink then setting his glass down.
Evie laughed, working her way down the pole.
“I didn’t see your fishing pole when Cash dropped your stuff off at my place. Where’s it at?”
“At the bottom of the lake,” King admitted reluctantly.
Evie laughed, twirled around the bottom of the pole then turned her back to it, sliding down it into a full squat.
“Come here.”
Evie sashayed across the room, crawling from the bottom of the bed to kneel beside him. “So, who installed the pole?”
“Train and Rider.”
Evie reached out, trailing her fingers teasingly along the tip of his cock. “Did you enjoy the show?”
“Can’t you tell?”
Evie bent over, sucking the tip of his cock into her mouth. His hand went to her hair, pulling it back from her face, holding it in one hand.