Page 100 of Thornhill Road

Tess had been right.

He needed to keep it together.

If he lost his shit, it wouldn’t help his girl.

As far as he was concerned, she had only one parent left—and she needed him.

Twenty minutes later, the contents of MK’s stomach emptied, and her bloodwork on its way to the lab, they were still waiting for her to wake up.

“We’re going to get her admitted,” said Jenna, hugging the tablet she’d been updating only a minute earlier. “We’ll move her to the pediatrics clinic just as soon as we can sort out a bed.” She hesitated, her attention drawn across the room before she said, “You and Tess can stay with her, but we’ll have to ask your friends to stay in the waiting room.”

They both followed the line of her gaze, watching as Bull, Winnie, Twister, Wrangler, and Maverick headed their way. Mustang felt bolstered by their sudden presence. He also knew, if Bull had brought Twister and Wrangler, he wasn’t just there to check in on his brother and his daughter.

“Stay,” he told Tess, pressing a kiss into her hair. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Are you sure? I can—”

“Stay, baby,” he semi-repeated.

Before he left, he reached out, gently grazing his knuckles over one of MK’s pale cheeks.

“Daddy’ll be right back, princess.”

He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, but he wanted her to know it just the same.

When he reached Winnie and his brothers, no one spoke. Winnie grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze before she continued toward Tess and MK. Bull nodded toward the exit, and Mustang jerked his chin in agreement before the five men stepped outside.

There was a warm afternoon breeze that blew past them as they stepped out of earshot of any passersby. Mustang raked his fingers through his hair, squeezing the back of his neck as he scowled down at his boots.

“What do we need to know, brother?” asked Twister.

Mustang told them about the gummies, his call from Trix, and the subsequent chain of events that brought them to the present moment.

“Shit, man,” muttered Wrangler. He rested a hand on Mustang’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

Bull, who stood with his hands at his hips, leveled Mustang with an unwavering stare.

“Know what I’d do if it was Otto in that hospital bed. But it’s not. Regardless of the patch on the front of my kutte, this isn’t my call. She’s the mother of your child.”

Retribution.

Mustang didn’t need Bull to make it any clearer.

Neither did he need time to think about it.

He’d known since the moment he’d gotten that call.

He was done.

She’d been warned, time and time again.

His daughter fighting anoverdosewas beyond the pale of anything he could have imagined happening while she was in Trix’s care.

He tolerated her because MK loved her—but he’d lost his mother because she loved a man who loved himself more. He wouldn’t lose his MK to the same fate.

Trix wasn’t an ignorant innocent.

She’d wanted to tie herself to a Stallion.

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