Unable to prevent herself from critiquing his appearance as her eyes traveled over his hair to his feet, she told him, “Black hair suits you better.”
“I prefer it myself.”
“How did Jonas and Hammer find me so fast?”
“Killyama.”
Skeptical, she crossed her arms over her chest. “My room was registered under my mother’s half-sister’s maiden name.”
“They’re bounty hunters. They’re used to tracking people down despite the odds.”
“The only ones in Treepoint who knew my home address were Uncle Dalton and Ice.”
“Then that shows how good they are,” he said noncommittally.
Her mouth quirked at his refusal to admit to his culpability. She wasn’t buying it.
“Maybe so. I’m just interested in which one broke and gave me up?”
“Maybe,” he mocked, “I’m just that good.”
“Could be, but I don’t think so.” Her mind went through the possibilities with rapid-fire probabilities. “It had to be Dalton. How did you convince him?” Mika feigned certainty at her guess. Either way, she had a fifty-fifty chance of being right.
“I explained the principle of the ‘rule of three’ to him.” His clever gaze showed he knew she was bluffing her certainty. He was only giving her the explanation because he wanted to.
“Most people consider relationships with three partners one too many,” she unintentionally voiced her thoughts to a man that she had never spoken to before today, too distracted in thinking about how the obstacles ahead of Jonas, Hammer, and her actually making a relationship work in the long-range future ahead of them loomed dauntingly.
He gave her an understanding smile that didn’t reach his detached gaze. “Don’t worry. Lily tells me all the time that a halo is strong enough to hold more than one.”
“I gave up my right to a halo the day Adrienne, Simone, and Avril were taken,” she said, turning back to the dead body on the bed. “You should go. Tell Harvey that I’ll sign the paperwork to get him released in two days.” The memory of seeing Hammer’s Escalade pulled over by a police officer as she was pulling out of the sheriff’s office still made her feel guilty that she had turned toward Virginia so they wouldn’t see her car pass by them. It had been useless. They had found her anyway.
Moving around the bed, he didn’t spare a glance at the prone body as he told her, “I’ve known Hammer and Jonas for a long time. If anyone can make a halo for three fit, they can. They’re Rangers”—Mika heard the conviction in his voice as he walked toward the door—“they lead the way.”
Ice walked down the flight of steps, side by side with his father-in-law. As they made it to the end of the stairway where the emergency exit was located, they found a brother waiting for them.
Seeing them, the brother slid the visitor’s pass through the card scanner. “I was starting to get worried.”
As they went out the door, Ice came to a dead stop at seeing the enormous group of brothers waiting solemnly outside, all wearing leather jackets. The difference was the patches proclaiming their loyalties. “I thought we’re supposed to be inconspicuous.”
“They are,” Whip spoke before Dalton could. “There’re over two hundred thousand brothers attending this rally. We’re just taking a rest stop before heading home.”
Ice looked at the massive fence that barred the entrance of the hospital where they had to pass through to the private parking lot. As he studied beyond the gate, he saw bikes lined up on both sides of the road, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Whip saw where he was staring. “Hollywood has a lot of friends who wanted to say goodbye.”
“More than a few.” Throwing a leg over the saddle of his bike, Ice watched the two friends say their own goodbyes.
Dalton raised his hand to grasp Whip’s firmly in his. “Thanks, brother.”
There wasn’t much that touched Ice in life, but the friendship between those two men did. It was a bond that had stood the test of time and spoke of the character of both men.
Dalton swung onto his bike then gave the hospital a last look. “God help me, but I often wondered if Mika had gone with them that day, if it would have turned out any differently.”
Ice’s cold heart twinged at the remorseful expression on his father-in-law’s face.
“You warned me to teach Adrienne how to protect herself better. I failed,” Dalton continued, looking at his long-time friend.
“You didn’t fail. You just protected Adrienne in a different way than I did. With four of them together, they might have been forced to take another cab. Maybe four would have been too many for Winston to have tried to kidnap. Or the ways I taught Mika to protect herself could have made a difference. We’ll never know. We aren’t meant to. If you had raised her differently, maybe she might not have been in the place where she met Ice, or Mika wouldn’t have been in the place where she met the two men that she wants to introduce me to tonight. It is what it is.” Whip waved his gloved hand toward the brothers waiting for them. “We learned that the hard way when we were just snot-nosed kids and joined the Angels. Regrets are for the weak—”
“—and victory is for the strong,” Dalton finished for him.
Whip’s formidable face broke into a grin. “Amen, brother.”
Dalton’s head fell back in laughter before he gave Whip another clasp of his hand.
Ice sat back and watched the two shoulder-hug each other before the Road Slayer smacked Dalton on the back of his leather jacket before getting onto his bike.
He was waiting for Whip to start his bike when his cell phone rang. Taking it out of his jacket, he saw it was Grace.
Sliding the answer button, he put the phone
to his ear, then wished he hadn’t when he heard Grace wail, “Where are you?”
“I told you that I won’t be home until later tonight,” he reminded her.
“But I’m ovulating now!” she cried.
“Well, there isn’t a lot I can do about it right this minute, unless you can figure out a way to transport my dick there.”
“Don’t be gross. Call and see if you can get an earlier flight.”
“Do you know how expensive a ticket like that would cost?”
Her voice went dangerously low. “I’ll buy it.”
“I’ll drive to the airport now.”
“Dépêchez-vous, mon amour.”
His dick went as hard as a stick. Grace hadn’t spoken in French since her mother had died.
“I love you, too.”
Dalton looked at him quizzingly when he disconnected the call. “Was that Grace?”
“Yes, she told me to hurry home,” he told him the partial truth while starting his motorcycle. “You know how you said you regretted not teaching Grace how to protect herself better?”
“Yes. So?”
“Don’t,” he said, gripping his handlebars.
“She giving you hell?” Dalton gave him a sympathetic glance.
“Always. But it isn’t anything I can’t handle.”
“I’m sure you can. You’re not a man who runs from danger.”
“No, I’m not, especially when she talks to me in French.”
Dalton’s gaze became even more empathetic. “Brother,” he said, shaking his head in agreement. “I know what you mean. That’s how Oceane caught me, too.”
Ice cast his father-in-law a covetous stare at his leather jacket. “So you know, when you do bite the dust for good, I want that jacket.”
“Sorry.” Dalton grinned unapologetically. “You have to earn a jacket like this. But if you want to chase that rainbow, go ahead.”
“Already earned it the day I married Grace.” He grinned back. “But if you want me to keep going at it, I’m game.”
Dalton’s expression turned grave. “No, you earned it when you finally told me what was going on between you and Grace. I just wanted to wait until we could be sure there wasn’t any fallout for Mika.”