“The fuck, Dad?” my son yelled in surprise when I kicked open the front door to the clubhouse several hours later.
“Sorry, my hands are full,” I said and tossed my prize onto the floor. “Take that down to the basement for me, would you? I need to check on my girls.”
After several seconds of Trey staring at me with the same look of fear he had on his face when I returned after avenging his mother’s death, I firmly cupped his cheek with the palm of my hand. “Nothing to worry about, boy. I didn’t kill him this time. Now, get moving. And where are the girls?”
“They’re in the room beside yours,” Copper answered. He came to a stop beside Trey and looked down at the pathetic man on the floor. “Looks like Santa brought us a present early. Who wants to play with it first?”
“Make sure there’s some left for me,” I called over my shoulder, already on my way to Mackenzie’s room.
As I was coming down the hall, Drew knocked on the door, whispered something I couldn’t hear, and then turned the knob to push it open. “She’s been waiting for you,” he said quietly. “And Brinkley’s asleep.”
“Thanks,” I said and squeezed his shoulder before I stepped into the room, closing the door behind me.
I heard her coming and turned around just in time to catch her as she launched herself into my arms. I dropped my hand to her ass and lifted. She wrapped her legs around my waist and buried her face in my neck. “Bear,” she gasped against my skin. Then, I felt her entire body shudder as she started to cry. “Thank you,” she whispered, digging her nails into my shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Carrying her into the bathroom, I sat her on the counter and kept my arms wrapped tightly around her. “How’s Brinkley? Is she okay?”
“Yes,” she nodded and sniffled against my chest. “She’s got a few bumps and bruises, but nothing major. The doctor said she’d be okay, but,” she paused when her voice hitched. “I don’t know how much she understands or will remember about what happened today.”
“Somebody tried to take my baby,” she cried. “She’s all I have. They can’t have her!”
She had me; she just didn’t know it yet. But, she would. Soon.
I didn’t try to soothe her with placating words. Instead, I held her against me and let her share her pain with me.
After several minutes, when her tears had subsided, she pushed back suddenly and pinned me with an angry glare. “And where in the hell have you been?”
With my arms still tightened around her, I leaned forward to drop a kiss on top of her head before I told her the truth. “I was out catching the son-of-a-bitch.”
Her head shot up while her mouth gaped open. “You caught him?” she whispered.
“Fuck yes, I did.”
“What did you do with him?” she asked worriedly.
“Brought him back here for the boys to lock up in the basement,” I explained and stepped back to turn on the water. “I wanted to check on you two and get a shower first before we decide what to do with him.”
While the water was heating up, I hung my cut on the door and pulled my shirt off over my head.
“Bear,” Mackenzie gasped seconds before her cold fingers touched my side.
“Holy shit, woman. Why are your damn hands so cold?” I joked, trying to cover the way I flinched at her touch.
I hadn’t looked at it myself, but I knew there had to be a nasty bruise from where I’d hit the ground earlier.
“You need to have this looked at.”
I twisted my torso and glanced at my side in the mirror. “Well, shit,” I grumbled. Not only was a massive bruise already visible, but I had a nice chunk of road rash too. “Yeah, it might not hurt to have Splint take a look at it.”
She placed her hand on my arm. “Bear?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you gonna kill him?” she whispered.
“Do you want me to?” I asked. He tried to take her child. He did take her. So what if he was stopped before he made it out of the parking lot? I still had no problem getting rid of him.
She bit her bottom lip while she considered her answer. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”