Page 117 of With A Little Luck
Surprisingly enough, I feel much better after half a plate of party foods. After taking a long sip of my water, I refocus on the two women.
“Sorry I ranted earlier. I wish I could have a do-over there.” I smile, thankful at how not weird it’s been to have them here.
“The first day I met Valor and Omen, I forced my way into their cell…” Saylor shrugs. I blink repeatedly until I remember Ridge told me she was kidnapped. I guess there was more to that story than he mentioned. “Valor wouldn’t come out of the bathroom, and it was an emergency. I busted right in but forgot to close the door. Omen still picks on me about it anytime I try to kick him out when I have to pee.” She laughs, doing an Irish impression. “But I thought you liked having an audience, pet.”
“They give you privacy when you pee?” Briar laughs. “I’m going to have to be firmer about telling Keir and Easton to get lost.” She turns toward me. “There was a massacre at my first wedding. It was a bloodbath. I’m lucky to be alive. I finally found a safe place to wait for one of them to pick me off, but I had something hard in my mouth. At first, I thought I lost a tooth.” She makes a gagging face. “Nope, it was a bone fragment…and not my own. The warmth all over my face was blood, and I didn’t even realize it was what I had been tasting. Yeah, let that sink in.”
“Wow, that’s actually disgusting,” Saylor says, eyeing the pepperoni and cheddar on the cracker she was about to bring to her mouth. She laughs and shoves the thing into her mouth.
That is a pretty intense story, but I don’t know what to say, so I keep my mouth shut and grab a miniature brownie.
“We’ve all been there. You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Briar says, smiling. “Plus, you’re pregnant. I feel like that means you get a free pass for anything.”
They’re kind, and I do hope to get to know them better eventually, but maybe when I’m feeling like myself again. I’m still stuck in survival mode at the moment.
I just really need to know that Ridge is going to be okay. Then maybe I’ll feel like I can breathe.
Shit.
And I should probably check on Sutton.
I meant to text her last night, but the wave of heat came out of nowhere… That about seals it. I’m a terrible friend and an awful baby mama. No matter what Ridge said, I should have gone with him and held his hand.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ridge
Several Hours Earlier
“They took a shot at me with my pregnant baby mama three fucking feet away,” I grind out, lying on the table in the makeshift hospital room that Easton keeps in the Shadow Security outfitting warehouse. “I am going to rip Costa’s heart out with my bare hands.”
“Simmer down,” Easton says blandly.
“I’m serious. I need to get patched up fast so I can get out there and fuck some shit up.”
Easton and Trigg must have some weird psychopath telepathy going on.
That, or weird half-brother vibes.
They each grab an arm, pinning me to the table.
Easton shows no mercy as my wound bubbles with blood. “Trigg and I will regroup to make a plan once you’re safely at home and recovering. For now, keep your ass on the hospital bed, or I will have the doctor sedate you.”
“Fuck no,” I hiss, shaking my right arm out of his hold. It hurts like a bitch since that’s the shoulder that was clipped.Calling it my trapezius would be more accurate, but Shaw already gave me shit about how the bullet likely would have missed me if I didn’t skip leg day.
Whatever.
I like to work my shoulders and arms.
If they’re not going to let me go on the offensive after this, I need to get back to Quincy as soon as possible. She was freaking out, and I know she’ll want to see with her own two eyes that I’m okay.
“Then lie back and cooperate while Dane patches you up. The wound packing Leo did is not going to keep you from bleeding out. You’re concerningly pale,” Easton growls.
“Oh, he’s definitely going to need a transfusion,” Dr. Dane says. Fuck if I know if that’s his first or last name. “I’m just waiting for the database to load to make sure I have his blood type on hand.”
“Ridge and I are a match,” Shaw says, pushing off the wall in the corner. “He direct donated to me last time I got pegged.”
“I still prefer to use cleared donor blood unless we have no other option,” the doc says.
