Page 106 of My Retribution Too

“The surgery went well,” informed the doctor. “We were able to find where he was bleeding into his heart and repaired the tear. He is still in critical condition and will remain in ICU until the morning, if all goes well.”

“Can we see him?” Mrs. Nelson asked.

The doctor nodded. “Let’s get him settled and we’ll have someone come and fetch you. But let’s keep the visit short. And no one but family.” The doctor glanced at me before back at the relieved couple and I recognized the doctor. It was my old pal Roddickless.What were the odds?

Mrs. Nelson shocked me when she replied, “These men are his family. They will be crucial to my son’s recovery. But we will keep our visit’s short.”

Rod straightened his spine but didn’t look in my direction. I fought back a side grin and remained quiet until he gave a nod to the Nelsons then turned the opposite direction and left.

Hugs went all around with the good news. Even though Brady had a long road ahead of him, we felt it in our guts he would be okay. He was too stubborn to die.

I pulled out my phone to give Phoebe a call one more time and fuck if she didn’t pick up. My heart damn near fell out of my chest.

“I don’t know what kind of fucking game you’re playing, but…”

“Phoebe?”

She paused and remained silent. I remembered what Ivey said and dropped the nickname I had given her. “Kitten.”

She burst into tears.

“Lock?” she questioned in between sobs and laughter.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, baby. It’s me. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

I heard her breathing heavy, before she spoke again. “Oh thank God you’re okay. I saw you get shot. He said you were dead.”

“Who baby?”

“Byron. He showed me a video and…” she sobbed and sniffed loudly then started to cry again.

“Sweetheart,” I called out to her, doing my best to ease her fears at the same fucking time, I needed to keep my shit in check. I found myself heading for the staircase of the hospital, taking multiple steps at a time down until I was at the ground floor. I headed for my truck all while doing my best to soothe my woman.

“I’m fine. I promise you.”

“It looked so real,” she whispered.

“I know it did. But I was wearing a vest. It saved my life.” I didn’t mention that Brady also saved my fucking life. The paramedic said that if he hadn’t stepped in front of me when he did, I would’ve been the one bleeding out, not Brady. “Kitten, where are you?”

She grew silent for a long time, and I had to look at my phone to make sure she was still with me. I started up my truck and pulled out of my parking space. I had no fucking idea where I was going, I just started to drive.

Our call switched to the Bluetooth connection in my truck and I said, “Love, talk to me. You’re scaring the shit out of me. Where are you?”

She blew out a breath and said, “I’m sorry about Homer.”

That hit me in the gut, and I damn near crashed my truck. My heart sank hearing her say those words. It just made this shit so fucking real.

“Tell me what happened,” I instructed, hoping that doing it would calm her down a little. She took a deep breath and gave me the story.

“Byron had Homer killed. They must have shot him through the window or something. I’m not sure how because the blinds were closed. But when I went back into the living room he was lying on the floor, half of his…um…head was gone. I tried to save him; I really did.”

“I know you did, baby. Homer was lucky to have you there with him.”

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