This is all my fault.
I know it is, and I hate myself for it.
NASH
There issomething rolling around inside of her pretty little head, but I can’t worry about James right now, at least not about what she’s thinking. My focus must be on how to keep her safe and at my side. Then add in how to keep the Dark Horse MC and the men safe as well.
And my family.
Fuck, I need to keep my family safe. They are my world. I would burn the MC to the ground myself if it meant my grandsons were safe. I never understood that before. Love like that. It’s always been the club first, everything else second.
Not anymore.
“Elvis,” I call out.
He takes a step toward me, his eyes finding mine and holding them. James takes a step back to allow us some space. I don’t want her going anywhere, and I’m glad that she doesn’t try to go too far from me. I don’t think I could handle her out of my sight for long.
Not yet, at least. Maybe never.
Probably never.
“I want you to take Shawn and the kids home. Better yet, take them on vacation. My treat. Stay out of this shit.”
“Dad,” he warns.
Shaking my head, I grunt. “I’m fucking serious.”
He reaches out and wraps his fingers around my shoulder with a single shake. “Dad, I don’t abandon family.”
“Elvis,” I grind out. “Fuck them. Fuck them all. Take care of my grandsons. That is all I give a fuck about.”
“Dad,” he says, his voice a bit softer.
“Go on a cruise, go to the beach, the mountains. I couldn’t fucking care less. But I need to know that my grandsons are safe.” Elvis, thankfully, doesn’t argue with me any longer. “Just until this is over,” I state.
He dips his chin and takes a step backward. I don’t know if he’ll listen to me. He probably won’t, but at the same time, I cannot say nothing. This is my family, my blood, and I’m not going to just sit back and let something, anything, happen to them. I will go to the ends of the earth for my grandsons.
Brenden and Chase are my fucking world.
If anything happened to them, I would kill every motherfucker on this whole earth. They would all fucking die. Anyone who even thought about hurting a hair on their heads would fucking die. And I would be the one who’d kill every single one of them.
“I’ll do what I can, Dad. Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“On your way out of town?” I ask.
He snorts. “On my way out of town.”
Without another word, I watch as he begins to make his way out of the hospital room. I’m sure he’ll be back tomorrow, and I am also sure that if he leaves town after that, it’s going to be so he can go home. And I highly doubt that he will take my demands to leave town seriously.
If nothing else, my son is so fucking much like me that it almost pisses me off. That shit is inherited because I didn’t raise him, and yet he’s my fucking twin when it comes to personality.
That just leaves me, Bugsy, and James in the room. Shifting my attention to him, I jerk my chin. He’s already pissed me off a decent amount by telling me that he couldn't have a man watch James for a few nights.
James takes a step backward and then another. She’s getting out of the way so we can have a discussion, but she doesn’t go so far as to walk out of the room. I don’t know if she realizes that I need her here, or maybe she just needs me, too.
Either way, it doesn’t fucking matter because she’s here with me, and that is all I give a fuck about. As long as I can have eyes on her, that is all I need. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to allow her out of my sight again. Maybe never.
Never is what I would actually prefer. I want James in my sights, at my side, for-fucking-ever. I’ve fallen in love with the woman. But as much as I want to think about that, I can’t. I need to shift my attention to Bugsy and my personal club. Even if I’m wondering right about now if Elvis is right. Maybe I should be moving back to Pineville and let these fucks deal with this shit on their own.