“I’m fine, the baby is fine, we are all fine,” I said softly and Ranger turned around.
“Not all of you,” he said and I frowned and shook my head. No one else was hurt at Southside.
“Huh?”
“Jorge Vasquez was dumped outside of my police station hours ago, the judge who handled the case was shot in the shoulder and is in surgery, the prosecutor who was involved was also shot at but wasn’t hit and then you. This is a clusterfuck, sis, so sit tight while I figure out what we need to do.”
I know my mouth looked like a fish, three people all involved in Jorge Vasquez were shot at after he had been killed. I closed my eyes, the kid had been a pain in the ass, I knew it but still, it was a senseless waste of life. What the fuck was wrong with this world? I wondered as I felt the tears welling up beneath my eyelids. Shit, hormones were going to make me look like a whiner. I took a deep breath and blew it out before I opened them again. Then I heard more yelling, oh my God, it couldn’t be.
“Are you kidding, my little missy. That is my son’s woman back there and my grandbaby, are you gonna stand there and tell me I can’t go back.” My eyes flew to Reese and Michael who were already looking at the ceiling.
“You called your parents?” I hissed and both of the men shook their heads.
“Wasn’t us!” Reese said and Fin stuck his head in the room.
“It was me, you know, I love being a prick,” Fin said and laughed.
“Where is she?” Mr. O’Malley yelled and I heard someone slam something on a counter.
“Shit,” Ranger ran his hand down his face. “Someone go and get him.”
Reese and Michael looked at the ceiling just when Mr. O’Malley yelled, “You can’t keep us out here waiting. It is unconstitutional. Anthony Roark and I are parents of the two women you brought in here, damn it.”
My eyes shot to Michael, “Maria?”
He nodded and turned pointing across the hall. “Yep, Tony is over there as is Fin and Brooklyn. And yes, all the O’Malleys are here.”
I tried to stand, damn it, I had only met the woman once and now I was suddenly thinking we were besties but I liked her. “I gotta check…” I said and Reese shook his head.
“No, you are not going to check, we are getting you outta here and somewhere safe while we figure out what the hell is going on here.”
I frowned and then looked at Ranger who was nodding. “Yep, sis, no arguments, I don’t know what the fuck is going on but whatever this is, I am not messing around.”
“But,” I said and Ranger stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulder and looked me in the eye.
“Sis, this has something to do with Noel as well, so no matter what you say, your ass is going into protective custody.”
I sucked in a breath and looked at Ranger’s eyes, he was serious. “Oh my God,” I whispered, then leaned back on the bed and stared at my brother in horror, “How?”
“I will explain it later; I really do not want you out in public right now. They shot a judge, sis, these people have no fucking remorse,” Ranger said grimly.
“Rucker,” I said quickly and then added, “where is Rucker?”
“With Mrs. Honeychil, they are en route here so I can—” Ranger was cut off.
“No worries,” Sonia Roark said from the doorway. “Maria is coming home with us, and Mrs. Honeychil and Rucker will come as well, we have plenty of room, plus we have security, Tony installed it a while back. They will be safe with us.”
Anthony Roark peeked in and smiled, “Yep, we have a plan, all is good.”
Mr. O’Malley stomped in the room. “Hell no, this is MY girl, and she is coming home with me. I cannot believe you boys are not on top of this right now, what are you doing? Get your asses out on the streets and find the bastard who shot at my girl!”
“Um, Dad,” Michael said stepping forward. “I hate to say this, but she is our girl not yours.”
Reilly O’Malley stood straight and glared at his son and then pointed a finger at him. “Zip it, I have heard enough outta you two, I cannot believe you do not have her in your home and in your bed already. Did I not teach you a damn thing, I said ‘make sure they are happy at home and in bed and you will be golden’. Didn’t I say that? A million times I said that and none of you listen. Heck, now we have Brook who STILL does not have a ring on her finger, Falon who is a man whore, Cal and Sean who refuse to contemplate settling down, and Bry, the boy is going to have to find a hearty woman to carry his offspring and those are far and few. You boys were my only hope, and look at you fucking this up.”
Falon walked into the room and shook his head. “How the hell did I get brought into this?”
I looked at Ranger and whispered, “Is there anyone who wasn’t called in the ten minutes it took you to get here?”
“Well, Michael’s sister, Mia, was in the city and didn’t know if she would make it here with traffic. Michael told her he would keep her posted and he called her back when they found out you were fine. She did say she would see you at dinner tomorrow night.”
I just stared, “Wow, one isn’t making it to the circus.”
He growled at me and then, Mr. O’Malley turned and saw I was standing up. “Oh, sweet girl, get off your feet, you had a scare, you need to rest and be taken care of. Trust me, Olivia and I will make sure you are fully taken care of at our house, we cannot have you getting tired or overworked right now. I got the book you know. What to Expect When You Are Expecting, it says a pregnant woman needs her rest more than normal in the first and second trimester, your body is gearing up.”
Olivia snorted and looked at Mrs. Roark, and Ms. Maddie who were now standing in the doorway, this room was becoming cramped. “He has been reading it out loud for the last few days. Like I didn’t have seven kids already and know what is going on. He is so damn cute.”
Anthony Sr. stepped close and glared at Tony who was watching with amusement as he, Fin, Brooklyn, and Maria walked in the room. “You think that is funny? Is there some reason I am not going to have a grandchild to play baseball with, or take to a Yankee’s game?”
Tony’s and Fin’s eyes widened and I wanted to laugh, they looked panicked as the woman beside them rolled her eyes. I assumed she was Brooklyn and I guess by her actions, if you were around this family long enough you learned to cope.
“Um, can someone help me?” I said, saving the trio and then winking at them, letting them know they owed me one.
“Well shit,” Reilly said and helped me back into the bed and get settled. I really missed my parents about now, but if they had been here, it would have made this all so much worse. When I looked over Brooklyn was giving me a thumbs up.
“Hey, Reilly?” Anthony pointed at a cart he had evidently pushed in the room with him. “Look what I found out in the hallway.”
“Oh my God,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes.
“Honey, did the doctor already do this?” Reilly said, his eyes sparklingly a little. I hated to tell him no but I had to.
“No, sir, he said to make an appointment with my OB/GYN to get an ultrasound done,” I said quietly.
“So you don’t know the sex yet?” he asked, suddenly sad.
“Nope,” I said. “But maybe soon.”
He looked back over at the machine, then reached and pulled a long wand out and my eyes widened. What the fuck?
“Olivia, they didn’t have this when you were pregnant, did they? I remember that thing strapped around your waist,” Reilly said.
“Put that down!” Olivia snapped.
“Why?” He frowned and suddenly the room erupted. The guys were yelling at their father who seemed to be trying to figure out the vaginal ultrasound machine. No way, I thought and looked around for help, I needed someone, anyone to stop this madness.
“Hey, it looks like one of those dildot thingies. You know, that they have on the HBO Channel at night,” Anthony said.
“You watch that?” Ms. Maddie said interested and I pulled the c
over up over my head. Things were getting out of control.
The parents continued to argue over the ultrasound machine while the guys just finally ignored them and began talking about how they were going to keep everyone safe. I didn’t know who to listen to, it was mayhem.
“All of the parents’ houses are monitored and wired,” Cal pointed out and I leaned up to see that yes, all of the crew was now in the room, how embarrassing, I was wearing one of the hospital gowns, damn it, I forgot my ass was probably hanging out a few minutes ago when I stood.
Ranger turned and shook his head, ready to argue when Fin and Tony butted in. “Yes they are,” Tony said. “The security they have set up is state of the art after what happened with Ms. Maddie, we made sure of it. They even have a panic button that goes to the police, and all of our pagers.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes, let the guys convince Ranger to let me and Rucker go with the Roarks, it made sense, we could share a room until this blew over, I would feel better with that. Ranger wasn’t going to sleep with the chance to bring his wife’s killer to justice, I knew it, hell, the guys knew it. I could tell by the look on their faces.
I heard a rustle and opened my eyes to see Maria working her way from the back of the room and I caught her eye and smiled. She waved and then made her way around the guys who were talking until she got to me. Both of us moved and wrapped our arms around each other.
“I am so glad you are safe,” I whispered into her ear and she tightened her grip on me. I could feel the tears flowing already.
“You too, I was so scared,” Maria whispered.
I pulled back and sniffed and tried to smile. “We can hang out and have a chicks’ weekend.”
Maria smiled and nodded. “Hell yeah.”
“Sis,” Ranger said and I looked at him. “You and Rucker—”
“Wait!” Reese said and held up his hand. “Before you get too far with these plans, Rucker and Mrs. Honeychil can stay with the Roarks but Zoey is staying with Michael and I.”
Ranger’s head snapped to the guys and I opened my mouth to argue when Tony said, “It would be best. Rucker, Maria, and Mrs. Honeychil at Mom and Dad’s and Zoey at Michael’s. They have security too, I set it up, this way we can make sure everyone is covered and has room to move around.”
“Just call the doctor dang it, he can do it while we are here, what the hell are we paying them for anyway, you know they are gonna charge her a hundred dollars for the tissue on the bedside table,” Reilly said, holding up the wand. Guess they hadn’t gotten past that yet, I shook my head when I heard Maria chuckling.
“They have lost their damn minds,” she whispered and I giggled, they had, there weren’t any other words for what was going on.
“Dad, put that down,” Michael snapped and turned back to the guys. “Now, let me make this real clear, Zoey is ours.”
Um, excuse me, I thought and got ready to yell my way into this conversation but Ranger, already knowing what I was going to do, put his hand out right to my face and said, “Shhh.”
“No he fucking did not just do that,” Maria whispered.
I narrowed my eyes at the guys and they nodded as Tony and Ranger began to talk again about the security. Maria was staring at my brother with an intense look, and she turned to me. She looked livid, and then it seemed like she suddenly knew who he was. She should I suppose since the Prosecutor’s office from the Bronx had been pushing the police in New York to make an arrest for months in Noel’s case. They knew of at least one man who had been a suspect but he hadn’t even been brought in for questioning.
“His wife was killed,” she whispered, almost to herself.
I nodded slowly and I saw the pain flash across her face. Something was going on, then Maria bent and kissed me on the cheek.
“I will call you tomorrow,” she whispered and made her way out of the room quietly and quickly. Well then, I am missing something here. Before I could question anything, in a flurry of activity Rucker and Mrs. Honeychil entered the room and suddenly it was mayhem all over again as they explained the situation.
I just closed my eyes and leaned back against the bed and thought, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home. It worked in the fucking movies at least.
“What in the Sam Hill is going on in here?” I heard a man yell and I opened my eyes, oh my goodness it was the doctor.
“Well it is a good thing you are here!” Reilly bellowed. “We need you to use this dildot looking thing and find out if I am having a grandbaby boy or girl.”
“It’s called a dil-do, not dil-dot for Christ sakes, Dad,” Bry finally spoke from against the wall where he had stood since entering the room.
“Whatever,” Mr. O’Malley said to his and then turned back to the doctor. “Well, will you?”
“I will not,” the doctor said loudly and reached for the wand and Reilly held it over his head. There was no doubt the man was huge, and so he used his size.
Ms. Maddie leaned over to Mrs. Honeychil and whispered, “You know, it is only times like these that I’m happy my husband is not here. If he were, it would have been so much worse.”
“Oh really?” Mrs. Honeychil snorted.
“Heavens yes, he would have actually tried to do the ultrasound himself.”
I burst out laughing and shook my head and then just watched as the whole situation went further downhill. The doctor ended up calling security and yes, they escorted ALL of us out. Even me with only my hospital gown and sweat pants that the guys, thankfully, had handed me and blocked the view while I put them on. The whole episode was embarrassing.
Honest to goodness, the guys and the parents had yelled the whole way out of the hospital and everyone had watched as the drama unfolded. If I could have had a hood over my head, I would have. The worst part was Ranger was acting just like them now, what was that about? I was still trying to think of an excuse as to why I couldn’t stay with Michael and Reese as we traveled through the streets of the Bronx.
The men didn’t say a word to me, I could tell they were concentrating on the road and everyone around us so I kept quiet. When they pulled up in front of a huge, gated community I almost asked if we were visiting someone, especially when it looked like they had a code. I watched with interest as they drove through the neighborhood that I had not even known existed until they were on the last road. Michael hit a button on his visor and I looked around and my mouth opened. Holy shit.
He pulled into the driveway of a huge mansion looking house, seriously it was a mansion. I watched as he pulled into the garage and the three story stone house disappeared from view.
Chapter Fourteen
Michael
Once the door was shut, I locked it and set the alarm. Bringing Zoey to the house was the only way to keep her safe, regardless of what the others said. When Reese and I were told she’d been shot at, my heart had stopped beating until we heard she was alright. As long as I live I hope to never have that feeling again.
Zoey was pale and she’d been quiet on the way to the house, though we hadn’t spoken either as we watched our surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. The adrenaline would probably wear off and then she would crash. Her skin had felt ice cold when I’d placed my hand on the small of her back to lead her in the door. We needed to get her warm and I was glad the first thing I had renovated in the house when I bought it was the master bedroom and bath. It was the room we’d put Zoey in. I would just have to take one of the smaller bedrooms down the hall, at least it had a bed in it, if nothing else. I didn’t care, I wasn’t planning to be in there that long, because one day (hopefully soon) she’d invite us in the master bedroom on a permanent basis.
“Zoe, babe, let’s take you upstairs and put your bag in the bedroom and you can take a shower or a bath to warm you up while we fix a little something for us to eat.” Her head nodded in agreement. Reese, still holding her bag, started for the stairs and I placed my arm around her waist and we followed behind him.
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br /> When we reached the bedroom, Reese placed her bag on the dresser and opened it.
“You want to take a shower or should I start filling the tub for you?” She walked over to her bag and pulled out some clothes, then turned to face us.
“A shower would be nice, I’m kinda of cold.”
“I know, baby.” I went in the bathroom to set out a towel and started the shower. I stood there while it ran and when steam started to rise I yelled for her. Reese walked in behind her and she stopped in the middle of the room and looked between us.
“What’s the matter, Zoe?” Reese asked.
“Umm…I think I can take it from here.”
“Alright, we will be in the kitchen fixing some food if you need us,” I told her and Reese and I walked out, leaving the door open so we could hear her if she yelled.
“You know, I’ve never been so grateful for mine and your mother’s pity food drops as I am today.” I pulled the chicken casserole Ms. Maddie brought over last weekend from the freezer and popped it in the microwave.
“No kidding. But come on, do you think it will stop when we finally have Zoey here for good?” Reese chuckled because he knew and I knew that more than likely it would get worse when we finally convinced Zoey to stay permanently. Which this was the start having her here now. With any luck she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon—like never.
“Bro, after the scare we got today, I don’t see myself minding them doing drop-bys. If Zoey is here, safe, and willing to be with us, they can stop in every damn day.”
“Yeah, but let’s not tell them that, Michael, we’d never get to be alone with Zoey. And, man, after the hospital and seeing your dad in action, the moms may be the least of our worries.” Reese laughed while he set plates and silverware on the table. “I’m going to go up and check on her and then I will come down and get some bread ready to go with the casserole.”
“Okay.” Reese headed upstairs, and I walked into the living room to check what was on TV. When he yelled my name, I took the stairs two steps at a time.
Pierced and Inked (KO Ink Book 2) Page 11