Page 110 of Bits and Pieces

Hitting a new pissed level, he glares back at the door before looking at me. “I’m going to murder every single one of them.”

“Our baby girl is coming,” I say and cup his jaw. We look at Blair on the other side of the glass door. “And our baby girl is okay.”

Silas shakes his head, afraid to get bogged down in soft feelings when he needs to remain on alert.

“Did they hurt you?” Silas asks Blair.

“Aunt Sandra tried to rip my cast off to prove I was faking,” she says and starts crying. “It hurt.”

Silas wants to return to the enemy and break them more. Normally, I’d love a little payback against the people who treated me like garbage for a decade. I recall the hurtful things they told Brooklyn, how they excluded Beau for being a “freak,” and claimed Blair was too ugly to be Neal’s daughter.

On the first night I met Silas, he asked if I wished Neal died slower. I told him revenge could never equal the original sin. There’s no amount of punishment that’ll fix what the Copper family did. Besides, people like them never absorb any guilt. Every bit of payback only feeds their victim complex.

“We need to go to the hospital,” I tell Silas and grip his hand. “The police are here. Your club has your back. I need you to turn off this side of you and be the other guy.”

Silas glares at me. I watch him breaking down his wall of rage. Every time he blinks, a little more anger leaves his gaze. Every breath exhales more tension. Finally, he looks at me and says, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Silas allows a smile despite the chaos outside the office. He twists and silences his thoughts and emotions until he’s in control of himself. Helping me to my feet, he looks at the receptionist.

“I need to take my kid to the hospital to get her arm checked.”

The shaking woman quickly agrees. I don’t know what the rules are normally in these situations. Yet, I sense the sooner trouble leaves the school grounds, the happier everyone will be.

Blair is soon in my arms. My relief swallows the cold panic gripping me since I learned she was in danger.

Nearby, Silas opens the door for Ruin and Armor. The men radiate violence yet find the battle over.

“Landry’s in labor and Blair’s arm got messed with. I need to get them to the hospital. No fucking around with the cops.”

“Let’s go,” Ruin says after glancing at me.

“Those fuckers will be headed the same direction.”

“Fucked them up good, huh?” Ruin asks while Armor glances outside, where the rest of the club surrounds the deputies trying to make sense of the bleeding and bitching Coppers.

“Yeah, but the old bitch also shot one of the men.”

Ruin freezes as if his brain can’t adjust to such a level of stupidity. I felt the same way a decade ago when I first met the Copper family. I hadn’t been surrounded by rocket scientists before arriving at Beehive Ridge, but even I knew these people weren’t normal.

“We’ll escort you to the hospital and keep guard,” Armor says when Ruin remains stumped.

The three men crowd Blair and me as we walk out the door and past the Coppers and police. Ruin snaps for Walla Walla and Eagle to take his place. While he stops to discuss matters with the sheriff, I shuffle along to the SUV.

“If you had to guess,” Armor asks me as he stands at the door when I climb in and Silas helps Blair, “how long until the kid comes?”

“A few hours, maybe.”

“We’ll get shit organized,” he says, but I don’t understand what “shit” he means.

As we race to the hospital with our biker convoy, Silas explains, “Someone will need to take Blair home after her arm’s checked out.”

“I want to stay with Mama.”

“You should rest,” I say as my second contraction takes my breath away. After setting my phone to time for the next one, I smile back at her. “The little ones will be scared when I don’t come home tonight. They’ll calm down if they see you.”

There’s no denying Blair needs my attention. I wish we could hang out for a while, allowing her to share what happened and helping her process the fear she must have felt. However, she really shouldn’t witness my labor when I get red-faced and overly emotional.

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