“But they’re okay, right? I mean, you’re talking to Cassie, so that means—”
Logan’s phone chose that moment to ring. Relief struck the man’s worried face, but his respite was short-lived when he looked at his phone and realized…
“It’s not Nat.” Logan frowned. “It’s…the hospital.”
Van cursed low behind them while Chase breathed out a few of his own.
“Ah, Christ.” Archer’s gut-wrenched gaze flew to Logan’s. “Hayes, man—”
“This is Logan Hayes,” Logan ignored Archer’s intended words to answer the call. “Yes, Natalie Hayes is my wife. Is she…”
The entire elevator was silent as the five-man team waited for whatever news Logan was about to share.
“Oh, thank God.” The man’s shoulders dropped with a long exhale. “She’s okay,” Logan told them. “A bullet grazed her arm, but she’s…” He stopped, as if something else had just occurred to him. And when Logan began speaking to the person on the phone once more, it suddenly made perfect sense. “What about the baby?”
“Baby?” Chase’s wide eyes shot to Logan’s. “What baby?”
“You’re sure?” Logan’s hopeful tone held promise. “Y-yes, of course. But…you’re sure they’re both okay?” The man’s watery eyes fell shut, and he tipped his head back as if to give thanks to God above. “Okay,” he spoke once more. “Just…please tell her I’m on my way.”
He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. At the same time, Archer was saying much of the same to Cassie.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can.” A slight pause and then, “I know, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay. I promise. I’ll see you soon.” Another pause, and then, “Hey, Cass? I love you.”
Seconds later Archer was off the phone, and Lucky was still trying to figure out what the fuck had happened.
“Baby?” Chase glances around at them all before staring back at Logan. “There’s a baby?”
A war of emotions raged on behind the man’s hazel stare even as he nodded. “We, uh…we were going to wait to say anything, just to be safe. But yeah.” Logan’s lips curved ever so slightly. “Nat’s pregnant.” He swallowed. “She’s right at two-and-half months.”
Somber congratulations were given, but Lucky couldn’t think of new life and joy when he still didn’t know the fate of the woman who’d stolen his heart.
Archer ended his call with Cassie and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Cass said the girls had just left the shop and were walking back to their cars when a van pulled up and an asshole in a mask jumped out and opened fire.”
“The fuck?” The news clearly pissed off Chase.
Truth be told, every man in that elevator was already running at lethal fucking levels, and they still didn’t know hardly any of the facts.
“You said Nat was grazed, but okay?” Lucky looked at Logan. “And Cass is—”
“Fine,” Archer breathed another sigh of relief. “She banged up her knee trying to take cover, but thankfully, she wasn’t hit.”
“Thank God for small favors.” Logan and the other man shared a common look.
It was the look of two men who came damn close to losing the women they loved. Again. And when Lucky caught his own reflection in the moving cart’s mirrored back wall, he realized…
I have that same look, except—
“There is something else,” Archer started as the elevator came to a stop. It dinged, the doors opened, and he and theothers hurried into the building’s main lobby. “It’s…” The man ran a tortured hand through his thick hair. “Fuck, man. It’s Ellie.”
“Ellie?” A jolt of fear slammed into him. “What about—”
“The bastard took her.” Archer met Lucky’s widened stare.
A loud, collective “What the fuck?” followed as every other man there—Lucky included—fought to process what their teammate had just shared.
Lucky stumbled to a stop. “The fuck you mean, he took her?”
“Just that.” Archer stopped and turned to face him. “Cass said he jumped out of that fucking van, started shooting at them, and while he had her and Nat pinned down, the asshole grabbed Ellie, threw her in a van, and took off.”