“Somebody's ass better be on fucking fire,” I growled as I made my way downstairs and out onto the front porch.
“Might want to light a fire under your own ass, brother.”
“What the fuck?”
“Might want to grab your woman and get the fuck outta dodge.”
“Fuck,” I groaned, understanding what Breaker was telling me with his suggestion. “How long?”
“Nova left here driving like a bat outta hell, but even speeding, you probably have two and a half, maybe three hours.”
Fueled by rage and without an extra passenger, I was betting he'd make excellent time.
“You want to explain how the fuck he knows where we are?” I gritted out through clenched teeth. I was mad as hell, but I couldn't see Nova breaking any of our brothers. Something else had to have happened.
“Dax.” Mac's voice came through the line this time. “I told him.”
I was speechless for a moment. Mac had promised to keep the boys quiet, and now he'd betrayed me… He was my president, and I respected the hell out of him, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt before threatening to cut off his balls when I returned. “You?”
“The text you sent bought you some time, but when she didn't even call on his birthday, he started to worry. Then when he was getting ready to head back home for her graduation, he found out she'd lied about the date and freaked the fuck out that he couldn’t get ahold of her. But shit really hit the fan when he found Arya's bike a couple of hours ago.”
Shit. I should have had it moved off the premises.
“Wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't found it, though. I couldn't have held him off much longer, Dax,” he said as if sensing my train of thought. “He was on the verge of calling hospitals and talking about getting in touch with Huntley.”
“Huntley? Damn.” Huntley was the brother-in-law of our treasurer and one of our connections in the world of special ops. “If it were my sister, I'd be doing the same,” I admitted.
“Exactly. I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that he's on a fucking warpath. But don't take Breaker's shitty advice. Face him like a man and claim your woman.”
“Never intended to do otherwise,” I assured him gruffly. I sent up a silent prayer that I'd accomplished my goal while we'd been at the cabin. It had been two weeks, and based on Arya's estimation of her cycle, we'd know sometime in the next week if I'd been successful in knocking my girl up. Something inside me was confident that my boys had done their job, but baby or not, Arya was mine. If Nova was expecting me to simply give up in the face of his wrath, he'd be really fucking surprised when he realized that the only way to keep me from his sister would be to put me six feet under.
“Good. Oh, and just to be sure you don't kill each other...or to help bury a body, Patriot and Dash are on his tail.”
“Dax?” I turned at the sound of the soft sweet voice. Arya was standing in the doorway, poking her head around the screen. The comforter from the bed was wrapped around her, exposing her slender shoulders and the top of her mouthwatering cleavage. She looked sleepy, adorably mussed, and thoroughly fucked. My body tightened at the sight, and all I could think about was taking her back to bed and—
“Is everything okay?” Arya's question brought me out of my filthy thoughts. I smiled, lifting my arm in invitation.
“Yeah, baby.” She returned my smile and hurried to tuck herself into my side. “Nova's on his way here, though.”
“What?!” she shrieked. “Are you kidding? Why aren't you freaking out? Holy cow! What are we going to do?”
“Have fun,” Mac grunted with a rough chuckle before hanging up.
“Relax, baby,” I soothed as I shoved my phone back into my pocket. She was still spouting worries and freaking out, so I scooped her into my arms. I stalked back inside and dropped down on the couch, keeping her on my lap and wrapped in my arms. “Breathe, Arya. Everything is going to be fine.”
She took a deep breath, but it didn't seem to help because then she shouted, “How? What if he hurts you? What if he forces me to leave?”
I growled and captured her chin in my hand, forcing her to meet my eyes. “I will never, ever, let anyone take you from me, Arya. Do you understand?”
She inhaled deeply again and held it in for a moment, then exhaled slowly while nodding.
“I can't promise we won't both get a little banged up in the process, though,” I warned her honestly.
Arya's dark eyes widened with fear. “I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”
I would have been insulted, especially since I have a good sixty pounds and several inches on Nova. But he had a deceptive build, appearing lean and wiry. However, I'd seen him fight in bars and in a ring—the dude was a fucking machine and lethal as hell. I knew I'd be able to hold my own against him, but I wouldn't walk away without taking a beating.