Page 37 of Raptor

"She wanted to go to her, but Mallory made her swear she wouldn’t leave the house and that she'd stay with Shay. Mallory's worst fear is Micah getting her baby, and I'm not going to lie to you, Rap, those O'Leary fuckers are ruthless and they wouldn't hesitate in killing a three-month-old."

I bow my head. This is too fucking much. I can't fucking breathe. How the hell am I supposed to do this shit?

"It's gonna be alright, Rap," Wrath promises as he stands close to me.

I take everything in and realize every brother is standing close to me. I don't know if it's to offer support or to be on hand in case I need to be fucking locked down.

"Shit," Maverick says thickly. "Hey, Mal, you doing okay?"

"Shay," she whispers, her voice etched in pain.

"You're safe here, Mal. You're safe," he tells her.

She tries to get up. "Need to get to him, Mav. I need to get to Shay."

"I know, honey. I know you do. But right now, the doctor needs to patch you up. Your ma's on her way with Shay."

I've never seen anyone look so horrified in my life. I watch in absolute shock as Mallory knifes up into a sitting position and tries to push Maverick off her. "Get off me, Mav," she snarls. "Get the fuck off me."

"Hey," Freddie says as he starts to help. "You need to calm the fuck down."

She glares at him. "You need to fuck off," she spits. "Get off me. I need to go."

"You're not goin' anywhere," I say as I step forward.

The moment I speak, her shoulders droop and she glances at me. "I need to get to him."

I nod. "I know you do, but you're no good to anyone if you're dead. Let the doc patch you up, and then when she's done, he'll be here with your ma."

She begins to sob. "You don't understand. I think he's been following me. If he has, he'll know where we live. I told her not to leave. Please," she sobs.

"Fuck. Fuck," Freddie hisses. "Mallory, where will your ma be heading from? I can have some men meet her along the way, give her protection."

"Dalkey," she breathes. "Please?" she pleads.

My fucking heart is torn. I want to be so fucking angry at her, but seeing how distraught she is, I know I can't be. She's done everything she can to protect our son. But I'm still pissed she never told me about him. I'd have been here for her. Christ.

"We're on it," Tank says as he, Cowboy, and Freddie head out the door. "We'll bring your ma and boy home, Mallory."

My woman's eyes are closed as she sobs quietly. I can't hold back any longer. I push Maverick out of the way and stand at her head as she lies down. The doctor continues to do her job and clean Mallory's wound. "Tell us about Shay, darlin'."

"He looks so much like you," she says through gritted teeth. "He's such a smiler.”

Pyro laughs. "Must get that from you then. Rap doesn't know what smilin' is."

Mallory's lips twitch. "He's perfect. Honestly, so perfect."

I close my eyes and savor her words. I have no fucking doubt that he's perfect. She's one of the sweetest people I know and I know she's a great mom.

"I called you," she whispers so only I can hear her. "The night I got home from the hospital, I called you. I had wanted to tell you in person, but when I gave birth, I called you."

"I didn't get a call," I say with a frown. What?

"I called your number almost every day since and it says it's disconnected or not in service. I know I should have told you when I first found out, and I'm sorry, but I really did try and call you once he was born."

I glance at Pyro and know that he's heard every word. "Brother, you changed your number when you got here. Your cell fell into the toilet and you had to get a new one."

"Fuck," I hiss. "Christ, I should have realized. Darlin', I'm so damn sorry."

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