Page 132 of Dagger

He had a point. If I had to choose between giving up the life and club as I knew it or meeting the reaper, I’d gladly shake hands with the hooded fucker before he spirited me off to be reunited with my ma and Bandit.

We walked inside the examination room and, from there, hustled into the recovery area that held four beds, one of them taken up by Reno, who lay flat on his back while Elise took his blood pressure.

She looked up, spotted me and Abe, and smiled. “Hey. The patient’s doing better now Sophie’s patched him up.”

We walked to the side of the bed, both taking a chair as we studied Reno’s injuries.

The blood had been cleaned from his face to reveal a broken nose and both his eyes with black bruises underneath. His jaw had been wired because he’d been kicked in the face so viciously that his jaw was badly fractured. His arm was in a sling, and thefingers on his hand were strapped together because they’d been stamped on, and the bones crushed.

Leaning forward, I peered into Reno’s face to see his eyes were fuzzy with painkillers. He’d lost all color apart from the angry cuts and bruises that marred his olive skin. The guy was from Vegas, so he’d grown up in the sun and usually looked healthy and full of life.

But not today.

Today, Reno looked close to death.

“Hey, brother,” I scraped out. “You look like you’ve been in the wars.”

Tears filled his eyes, and he whispered, “I’m sorry. Ash. Maze. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Reno. You were ambushed. You didn’t stand a chance. They were waiting for you around the next bend. Whatever happened, they would’ve attacked the cars. The way it happened meant that most of the women survived. Claire told us how you tried to protect them, and that’s why they beat you.”

“Shotgun?” he breathed.

“Taken care of,” Abe interjected. “They’re all taken care of.”

He closed his eyes and dipped his chin.

“He needs to sleep,” Leesy uttered quietly. “Good news is, tomorrow, he’ll probably feel stronger.”

“We’re heading out early,” I said huskily. “We’ll be gone a few hours. I want you to stay here with the girls, Cash, and the other men.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Why don’t you two go get some shut-eye?” Abe suggested quietly. “Iris is taking over Reno duty soon. I’ll wait here and keep her company.”

“Make sure you get a few hours, too,” I ordered gently. “You’re riding out with me.”

He nodded at the bed adjacent to where our brother slept. “I’ll grab some shut-eye on there if I have to. Don’t wanna leave Rissy alone.”

I stood and clapped him on the shoulder. “If she needs to go see Mitch, I’ll arrange it.”

He craned his neck to look up at me. “She just needs a few days to get it all straight in her head. My woman’s a fighter.”

I grinned, glancing at Elise. “Aren’t they all?”

Abe grinned back.

My eyes slid to my woman, and I watched her make notes on Reno’s chart before filling up the glass on the nightstand next to his bed with water. I smiled while she fussed over him, tucking in his sheets and plumping up his pillows.

“You ready?” I finally asked after she checked his temperature for a second time.

She looked up at me. “I don’t want to leave him.”

Abe jerked a thumb toward Reno, who was breathing heavily in sleep. “He’s dead to the fuckin’ world, woman. What d’ya think’s gonna happen? Iris will be here in a matter of minutes. What am I sitting here? Chopped liver? I can make a phone call if he chokes to death in his sleep.”

“Abe,” Leesy admonished. “Stop saying dead and death.” She sniffed haughtily. “Reno might hear you.”

He tipped his face up and looked to the heavens. “He’s asleep, Elise, not in a goddamned coma.”

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