Page 11 of Redemption

“Colt?”

“Lex?”

“Everything is fine, but Calla is in the urgent care clinic. She spiked a fever I couldn’t get to come down, and she stopped eating. Was she fussy at all this weekend?”

At all? Try the entire fucking weekend. “Yeah, but I figured it was because you weren’t around,” he says and puts his phone on speaker when Ky moves close enough to dance cheek to cheek. “But I checked for a fever, and she didn’t have one.”

“When was the last time you gave her medicine?”

“I gave her a dose of the cough syrup on Friday night, but nothing after that.”

“Okay, that helps. Thanks.”

“I’m on my way.”

She sighs. “No, stay where you are. I’ll call you if they say it’s something more serious and have you stop by.”

Running his hand over his face, he closes his eyes. “She’s my daughter, Lex.”

“I know she is. But I need her to stay calm. Noah said she wasn’t your biggest fan most of the weekend. I’ll call you and let you know what happens. I’m hoping they’ll just give me a prescription and send us on our way. You won’t need to waste a trip.”

“It’s not a wasted trip,” he growls.

She hangs up, and Ky stares at him with wide eyes. His face says everything he needs to know.

“She fucking told me to stay away from my daughter’s side at the goddamned clinic.”

“I don’t know what to say, man, but that’s not the woman I know. It sounds like the version of her who caught you getting blown by Eva. This ain’t good.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “This is so fucking stupid. She just needs to calm down.”

“Thatwascalm.”

“She wouldn’t even look at me when I showed up at Karmen’s at drop off. I had to lie my ass off on Friday when everyone was talking about her because I’m trying to protect her. She’s giving up on the club, too. Or so she says, but I don’t think she can hold on to that for too long.”

“Fuck,” he groans. “And you’ve told me everything? Because these things don’t all add up.”

Looking away, he pauses for a moment. “We stopped having sex.”

“And you weren’t cheating?”

“For fuck’s sake!” he shouts and throws his hands in the air. “No!”

“Dude, don’t jump down my throat. The two of you would go at it like damned rabbits. If you aren’t getting it from your wife, it’s a logical fucking question.”

Shaking his head, he punches the wall. “I’m going to the fucking clinic. She’s not keeping me away from my kids.”

“Colt, I don’t think that’s a good-”

He runs out before Ky can finish the statement, but he hears his best friend’s heavy boots clomping after him to his own bike.

Chapter 5

Griffin’s Beach

Lex

Alexis Nichols holds her daughter, Calla, close to her chest and is plagued with guilt. If she hadn’t left her daughter alone with Colt all weekend, maybe she would’ve been able to see how sick she was sooner. Now she’s hooked up to an IV to replenish fluids and give her antibiotics.

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