“Mama, we don’t have time for this right now. It’s too early for you to be in labor. We need to get you to the hospital.”
“Don’t you dare talk to me, Dragon! It’s your fault I’m in labor. What the fuck were you thinking by letting me believe you were dead? Do you have any idea what you did to me?” She cries out and tears are pouring down her face now.
“Damn it, Mama.”
We stop, as Bull and some other members pull up outside. Crusher comes out about that same time, and they are all staring at me, like they see a ghost. Probably because to them, I am.
“Bull? Did you know?” Nicole asks.
Bull’s eyes lock on mine and his body goes rigid.
“No, I didn’t, Little Mama.”
Oh fuck no. That is not okay, no one calls Nicole anything close to that. Before I can argue, Nicole speaks up again.
“Will you take me to the hospital?” She asks and I breathe a sigh of relief, thinking she finally has come to her senses.
I take a step towards her and stop when I realize that it’s not me she’s talking too. No, it’s Bull.
“What’s wrong?” Bull asks, getting off his bike.
“My water just broke,” she whispers sounding more broken than I remember her being, even when she thought I was dead.
Bull sweeps in and lifts Nicole into his arms, like he’s carrying her over a threshold. The sight of it fuels my anger again and I step up to stop this shit and shut it down, when Nailer grabs me by the arm.
“What happened to your arm, man?” He asks, but I know he’s keeping me from Bull. I may even understand why, but I don’t like it.
“I shot him!” Nicole calls out and those blue eyes I’ve always loved stare at me with so much anger they freeze me where I’m at. “And if he comes near me again, I’ll shoot more than just his shoulder.”
I watch as Bull loads Nicole up in his truck. My eyes never leave until the truck is out of my line of sight.
“How the fucking hell are you standing in front of me?” Crusher asks. I turn away, not bothering to answer.
“Nailer, get me to the hospital.”
“Answer me, motherfucker, how are you standing here and none of us knew?” Crusher looks around at his brothers thinking they will join in. Trouble is they can’t. The only motherfuckers who didn’t know I was alive was him and Bull. It doesn’t take long for that shit to sink in.
“Oh, I see how it is.”
“Do you?”
“What the fuck man? I’m your VP! Bull’s your Enforcer! Where the fuck do you get off not letting us know what the hell is going on?”
That’s it. I snap. I’ve gone my limit.
“Tell me, motherfucker, why didn’t you bother letting me know what the fuck you were doing? Better yet, did you even try to get a hold of me after our call dropped, to tell me about the damn bomb? Did I know one thing about you killing a prisoner and burying his body? Did you clear one motherfucking thing with me?” I growl.
Crusher steps back, “Drag man…”
“While you thought I was dead, man, did you do one thing for this fucking club? Did you takeover in my stead like you were supposed to do?”
“Drag you got to understand, she needed…”
“I don’t have to understand a fucking thing. My woman is pregnant and I still put the motherfucking club first. You’re done here.”
“Drag, man…”
“You are fucking done. Turn your motherfucking cut in.”
“Drag man, we should vote on this,” Hawk speaks up.
I turn and look at him. As a full pledged in member he has a right to call for a vote. I could veto it, but I’m too fucking tired to fool with it. I need to get to the hospital to see Nicole. She’s way too early in her pregnancy to give birth to our baby and she didn’t look good.
“Whatever. Lock him down. I need to get to my woman.”
“I’ll take you, hermano,” Skull says.
I haul off and punch him. It’s not as hard as it would have been if my woman hadn’t shot me, but it still gets my message across.
“What was that for?”
“For having your hands up my woman’s dress.”
“I was worried about the bebé.”
“Yeah, until I see an M.D. after your name, keep your fucking hands to yourself.”
With that I turn and get in Nailer’s car. I imagined my homecoming a hell of a lot different. Instead, I’m heading to the hospital because my woman is in labor. I don’t have a woman and I got nothing but a gunshot wound and sore nuts. Welcome home…yeah right.
Chapter 26
Nicole
I’m lying in a hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling trying to figure everything out and coming up very empty.