“Locks, baby, look at me,” he softly pleaded. When I met his eyes, the compassion I saw in his blue depths had me choking back a sob. “It’s too late to try and protect your heart. The only thing you’re doing now is denying it, and denial won’t stop the pain, baby.”
The dam broke. I launched myself into his arms and buried my face in his neck while I cried out years and years of heartaches, disappointments, and losses. He held me in his arms, gently rocking me, never uttering a word.
When my tears finally stopped and I regained some composure, he tightened his hold on me and said vehemently, “You are not an obligation to me. I want you here. I want to take care of you. Damn it, Locks, I just want you.”
I looked up and met his eyes. “You’ve got me.”
“You’ve got me, too,” he rasped.
Chapter Nineteen
Copper
The time Layla and I spent snowed in was exactly what I needed, what I was looking for when I went up to Badger’s cabin almost two weeks ago. While I’m glad I went, because I wouldn’t have found Layla if I didn’t, I did need those few days of solitude. To have found that solitude in my own home with Layla endeared her to me that much more. And that terrified me.
My club was attacked and every single one of my members was threatened, as well as their families, by a source we’d yet to identify. If anyone figured out Layla was important to me, she would instantly become a target.
I knew I needed to tell her she was in danger by being with me, but I didn’t want to. I was afraid she would run. Considering her recent past, I couldn’t fault her if she did. But I just got her, and she felt like the lifeline I needed. There was no way I could let her go.
Maybe I could keep her with me and keep her safe without having to tell her anything. Once we took out the threat, all would be right again. An idea began to form in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more I was sure it would work.
She came around the corner with a shy smile on her face, almost looking embarrassed. “What’s that look about?”
She shrugged and turned her head, but not before I saw her cheeks flush. “I’ve enjoyed the last few days here, and I guess I don’t want to leave.”
I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms. “I know, baby. I don’t want to leave either, but we have to. The club has been at Boar’s place for three days waiting on me to get there so we can make plans and get back to our normal lives.”
“I know. I just liked having you all to myself.”
I grinned, “That’s because I kept you well fucked. Don’t worry, Locks, I plan to keep up the good work in Reedy Fork.”
She scoffed, “I’m not even going to acknowledge that statement.”
“Didn’t we recently have a discussion about denial?”
“I’m not denying anything. I’m ignoring it. Big difference. Are you ready to go?”
I threw my head back and laughed. She was too cute sometimes. “Yeah, Locks, let’s roll.”
The drive to Reedy Fork took much longer than usual due to the vast amount of road closures, downed trees, and accidents. Judging by the amount of destruction I saw, it would be at least a few more days before power was restored to Devil Springs.
Hours later, when we finally made it to Boar’s rental house, I was greeted like I’d just been released from prison. The boys were on the front porch cheering and clapping. When I got closer, I was bombarded with handshakes and back slaps.
“It’s about time you showed up,” my pain in the ass brother said.
“Fuck off, Bronze. I got here as soon as I could. In case you missed it, a huge ass tree fell on my house. It took almost two days to get it cut up and moved so I could use my driveway.”
“I’m sure having fresh pussy available didn’t speed things up any,” he said while glaring at Layla.
I fisted his shirt and met him nose to nose. “The fuck is your problem?”
He tried to shove away from me, but my grip was not relenting. “It must be nice being the president. You get to stay home and play with new pussy all day while the rest of us are sent away to figure out how to handle your fucking problems!”
“My problems?! Last time I checked, this shit involved the whole club. I didn’t realize we’d started singling people out in our brotherhood.”
“That was back when you cared more about your brothers than a piece of gash.”
“Call her gash or pussy again, and I’ll put you on your ass,” I gritted out.
Bronze smirked and cast his eyes toward Layla, “How many times have you been bought and sold, sweetheart?”
A sob burst from Layla’s lips, and I snapped. I cocked my fist and launched it at his face, but it never made contact. Vice-like arms clamped around my shoulders and pulled me back. I fought hard against them to get to the dickhead being held back by Batta. Tiny stepped in front of me and placed his hands on my chest to help hold me back.
“Breathe, Prez. Something ain’t right with him. I should’ve said something, but I was waiting for you to get here,” Judge said low enough for only me and Tiny to hear. “I think it has something to do with his head injury. He’s been having major mood swings, angers easily, and he keeps forgetting things.”
As Judge spoke, he continued pulling me away from Bronze and away from the crowd. My eyes darted around frantically, “Where’s Layla?”
“Mom’s got her. They went inside.”
When he deemed we were far enough away, he released me, and I whirled around to face him. “Did you talk to Splint about it?”
“In a roundabout way. I asked about the lasting effects of a concussion and asked him to keep an eye on Bronze and the girls for any signs of trouble. If you didn’t come today, I was going to call and tell you. It seems to be getting worse, not better, and the last thing he needed was another blow to the head.”
“Good looking out, brother. Can you find Splint for me?” I pinched the bridge of my nose and took in a deep breath. “This is the last thing we need to deal with right now.”
Judge squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get him sorted and get this other shit sorted.”
Fuck me. I should have known something was wrong with him. Bronze had never come at me with such hostility before. Sure, we got into fights and scrabbles when we were younger, but that’s to be expected from brothers, particularly brothers who are only seven months apart. Thanks to Mom’s fertility and Bronze’s premature birth, we grew up more like twins. We were even in the same grade throughout school.
“What’s going on, Prez?” Splint asked as he approached me with Judge following behind.
“I need to talk to you about Bronze,” I said warily. It felt wrong to talk to him about Bronze’s behavior before I talked to Bronze himself, but it was clear he was in no frame of mind to rationally discuss my concerns. I told Splint about Judge’s observations and about the encounter I just had with him. “What do you think we should do?”
“Honestly, Prez, this is out of my realm of knowledge. I agree that something isn’t right with him, but I don’t feel comfortable trying to take a guess as to what might be wrong. You could ask Patch,” he offered.
“Good idea,” I said and wasted no time making the call.
After I brought Patch up to speed and asked what we should do, his response was immediate and filled me with dread. “Get him to a hospital now, Copper. Right now! Don’t wait for an ambulance. Get him and go. I’ll call ahead and speak to one of the doctors working there tonight. Don’t wait another second, Copper. Now.”
“Got it. Thanks, Patch,” I said and ran toward the house with Judge and Splint on my heels. I didn’t have to tell them; they could clearly hear Patch screaming his orders into the phone.
“He may try to fight us. Protect his head and restrain him if you have to,” I ordered.
“I’m going to get Tiny and Batta to help,” Splint said and took off down a hallway.
Judge led me to the room Bronze had been staying in since they ar
rived. I didn’t bother knocking before I flung the door open and let myself in.
Bronze was on his feet instantly. “The fuck are you doing?” he growled.
I held my hands up to show him I didn’t come to fight with him. “Bronze, I need you to listen to me, as my blood brother, my best friend, right now. The boys said you’ve been acting strange since the explosion, and I just witnessed it myself. I called Patch, and he said we need to get you to the hospital right now. He said there’s a good chance something is wrong, and they can fix it if we get there before it’s too late. Please don’t fight me on this. Let me help you, little brother.”
He stood unmoving for a few beats. Then, I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes before he masked it with a neutral look. He shrugged, “Fine, I’ll go let the doctors have a looksee, but, for the record, I think this is a complete waste of time and money.”
“If it is, I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Let’s go,” I replied and left the room. Thankfully, he followed without protest.
We piled into my truck, and Judge drove us to the closest hospital. The ride was silent for the majority of the trip, but Bronze started talking when we were five minutes away. “I’ve been having headaches. Well, I’ve had a constant headache since the explosion, and it’s been progressively getting worse. I thought it would go away over time.” He sighed and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. I knew by that action alone he had more to say. “I knew I was acting like an ass, but I couldn’t stop it. The smallest things were setting me off. I would suddenly be consumed with rage, and when it was over, I couldn’t remember why I was mad. Like with you this afternoon; I know we argued, and I was pissed at you, but I don’t remember why.” Then, he tore my heart out when he asked, “What’s going to happen to me, Copper?”
“We’re going to get you to the hospital, and we’re going to find out what’s wrong. Then, we’re going to fix it,” I assured him, even though I had no clue if my words were true.
When we arrived, we were taken back to a room immediately. Judge and I were told to wait in the exam room while Bronze was whisked away to have some kind of scan done. Before Bronze returned, Patch came barreling through the door followed by Phoenix.
“Where is he?” Patch asked as he tried to catch his breath.
“They took him for a brain scan about an hour ago,” I replied, rising to my feet to greet them.
“Good. I’ll go find out what’s going on,” Patch said and left the room.
“You should have called me,” Phoenix grumbled.
“I’m sorry, Phoenix. Everything happened so fast, and I—”
“There’s no need to apologize. Just know you can call me any time for any reason, especially for something like this. I know I wasn’t around a lot when you two were growing up, but I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thanks, man. How’d you manage to get here so fast? The roads were a mess when Layla and I drove up from Devil Springs.”
He chuckled, “Shaker used his family’s name and money to have a helicopter fly us here. I don’t know how he did it, but we landed on the hospital’s launch pad and were escorted inside.”
“Be sure to thank him for me. I hate that you had to leave Annabelle and Ember. How are they doing?”
He smiled like a proud peacock. “They’re getting bigger by the day, but I will deny saying that if you repeat it. Dash is staying with them at my house until I get back.” He snorted, “Annabelle told me she would shove her foot so far up my ass her toes would tickle my throat if I didn’t get my ass up here to be with you and Bronze.”
I laughed, “That sounds like her. Sounds like Layla, too. Fuck! Layla…” Caught up in the mess with Bronze, I had forgotten all about Layla.
“She’s fine, Prez. She’s with Mom, and she knows what’s going on,” Judge added, looking up from the phone in his hand. “She said to call her when you had a chance, but to let you know she’s fine and she understands.”
My lips involuntarily curled into a shy smile. That woman was something else. Phoenix elbowed me in the ribs, “You’re always trying to be like me.”
I shoved him back and chuckled. He was right. Growing up, I had a bad case of hero worship for Phoenix. He was my badass older cousin, and I wanted to be just like him. In some ways, I still did, but I would never tell him that.
Patch came through the door; the look on his face causing my gut to twist. “Copper, I need you to come with me. They’re taking him straight to surgery. We can meet them outside the operating room so you can see him before they take him in. Sorry, Phoenix, I can only take one person back.”
“Not a problem, man. Go. Tell him I’m here, and I love him,” Phoenix said. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
Patch all but sprinted through the hospital, which alarmed me even more. He hadn’t said what was wrong with Bronze. It had to be something with his head, which meant my brother was being rushed to emergency brain surgery. The thought nearly sent me to my knees. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not to Bronze.
Patch skidded to a halt as a rapidly moving stretcher rounded the corner. White coats were flapping, machines beeping, voices shouting orders as they closed the distance between us. Patch leaned closer to me, “You’ll have to make it quick.”
They stopped in front of us, and I stepped closer, grabbing Bronze’s hand. “I’ll be here when you wake up, little brother. Phoenix is here, too. Told me to tell you he loves you.” I took a deep breath and choked back the emotion clogging my throat. “I love you, brother.”
I wasn’t seeing the badass biker my brother had grown up to be. To me, he looked like the same scared little boy he was when he was being wheeled into the operating room to have his appendix removed many years ago. “Love you, too, Copper. And I’m sorry, for whatever we were arguing about. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, man. I know it wasn’t you talking.” I squeezed his hand, “Go get better. I’ll see you soon.” He squeezed my hand in return, and then he was gone.
“Come on, let’s go back to the room, and I’ll explain what we found on the scan,” Patch said.
When we entered the exam room, I took a seat, and Patch delivered the news. “The scans showed a small, slow bleed in Bronze’s brain. It’s so small that it’s barely visible even now. So, this isn’t something that was missed or overlooked. Due to the size and location of the bleed, it will be a somewhat challenging procedure for the surgeon. That’s the bad news. The good news is a small bleed means less damage to the brain and higher chances of a full recovery.”
“What are the chances of, of him,” I couldn’t finish my question, couldn’t bring myself to utter the words.
Patch seemed to understand without me saying the rest. “There is a risk with every surgery. A lot of physicians will spout off percentages and statistical data regarding expected outcomes. I try to avoid doing that whenever possible, because I feel like it’s pointless. We never know who’s going to fall into the favorable percentage and who isn’t. What I will tell you is he has a phenomenal surgeon operating on him, the team in there will do everything they can for him, and he has his age and health on his side. The rest is out of our hands.”
“Thanks, Patch. I appreciate everything you’re doing for him.” I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the ceiling. The next few hours were going to be some of the longest of my life.
Chapter Twenty
Layla
I was sitting in Leigh’s bedroom, trying not to drive myself crazy with worry when a knock on the door startled me. “It’s just me. Can I come in?” Leigh called from the other side of the door.
“Of course, you can. This is your room,” I reminded her. I was told a camper had been reserved for Copper and I to stay in, but Leigh thought it would be better for me to stay in the house until Copper returned. I completely agreed with her.
She entered with her phone to her ear. “Here she is,” she said and handed the phone to me.
“Hello?”
Copper’s tired voice filled my ear. “Locks, baby, you doing okay?”
“I’m fine. How’s Bronze? How are you?” I asked.
“I need you to keep this to yourself, okay?” I readily agreed, and he continued. “They found a small bleed in his brain from the explosion. They took him right into surgery after they found it. He’s in recovery now and should be going to a room soon. The doctor said everything went well with the surgery.”
“You don’t sound relieved in the slightest. What are you not telling me?”
He sighed, “He’s not out of the woods yet. There’s a chance his brain could start bleeding again, and he would have to go back to surgery if that happened. On top of that, we won’t know if there’s any permanent damage until he wakes up.”
“Oh, baby, I wish I was there with you.”
“I know you do, but it’s safer for you to stay there. Judge, Phoenix, and Patch are here with me. I don’t know how long they’re staying, but I won’t be back tonight. Not sure about tomorrow. Where are you staying?”
“I’ve been hanging out in Leigh’s room. She said there was a camper outside for you and I, but she thought it would be better if I stayed in the house until you were back.”
“I would feel better if you were in the house, too. Tell you what, I’ll have Judge stay in the camper, and you can stay in his room in the house tonight.”
Despite my protests, he insisted and I relented. He had too much on his plate to be bothered with trivial issues. We spoke for a few more minutes before he had to go, promising to call with an update in a few hours.
I handed Leigh her phone. She smiled, “Come on, I bet you’re hungry.” I really wasn’t, but it sounded like I couldn’t refuse.
I followed her through the house to the kitchen. The house was surprisingly quiet and seemed relatively empty. I had expected to be bumping into people left and right.
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