“Yeah, I’m telling you she’s pregnant. Six weeks according to the doctor.” All of them cheered and were telling us congratulations. Devyn had gone over to stand with Ace and whispered in his ear. She was smiling and winked at me. I gestured for them to get quiet again.
“So, we’re going to need help getting the nursery ready. And shopping for shit, like cribs.”
Tank grunted. “Cribs? Why does the kid need more than one?”
“The kid doesn’t. But the kids do.” I paused before I added, “We’re having twins.” The roar had the ER staff shushing us. They quieted down. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Harley came over and hugged me and then Jocelyn.
“That is so wonderful. Are you ready for this? It’s not just one. You might need to rest up,” she teased.
“Baby girl, I’ve been trying to knock her up almost from the start. Surprised it was this quick, but I’m more than happy and ready. Two in one. Damn, I’m good.” I chuckled as the guys told me I was cocky as hell.
Terror hugged me. “Damn, Bull, you never do anything half-assed, do you? Twins. I can’t believe it.”
Harley was hugging Jocelyn and talking low. All the guys and the other old ladies from Dublin Creek were trying to hug and congratulate her. The nurse came back out.
“It’s time to get her back to her bed. She should be discharged soon.” I wheeled her back. Once she was situated in the bed, I sat down to hold her hand. She was looking at me with so much love in her eyes. What did I do so right, to earn this woman’s love?
“Nick, I can’t believe it. What are we going to do with twins?” she asked with wonder and a bit of fear in her voice.
“We’re going to love and protect them. It’ll be a lot of work, but we’ve got this. We have the cleaner now for the house. I’m definitely going to be hands-on. I was never that guy who left it all to the woman to do. And if we need more help, we’ll get it. I still want you to go back to school. We can get a nanny to help, though working might have to take a backseat at first. I can’t believe it happened so quickly. It took over two years for Kelly and me to conceive Harley.”
She smiled. “I guess my eggs couldn’t resist you.” I laughed. “It’s that Warriors’ charm.”
Her face got a little scared. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“I’m a little scared. I’m thirty-five, Nick. This makes it a higher risk pregnancy because of my age, and twins add to that. I just don’t want anything to go wrong.” Her words made my gut harden. I hadn’t thought of that. But it was in God’s hands. I had to believe he wouldn’t let us get pregnant unless he meant for us to be parents. I told her this. She relaxed.
An hour later, I’d sent those in the waiting room back to the compound. They’d left the SUV so I could bring her home. Terror, Ace, and Demon all volunteered to stay, but I wanted them to go back and relax. We were supposed to be having a party. Another thirty minutes and we were ready to go. I pulled the SUV up to the door, so I could load her inside.
Getting in, I winked at her as I pulled out of the parking lot, and we headed out of town. Like the Dublin Falls compound, we had our acreage outside the town of Hunters Creek. There were no close neighbors to complain about noise or watch what we did. When we’d found the vast property years ago, it had been a gem. I held her hand the whole way.
We were close to the road she lived off before she and Devyn moved in with me. It was dusk. As we passed it, I felt an impact. The SUV was thrown to the side. I fought to keep it steady. It skidded off the road into the ditch and into a tree. The stop was jarring. I’d hit my head on the steering wheel. I’d been busy trying to hold Jocelyn back from hitting the dashboard. As I shook my head to clear the ringing in my head and my blurred vision, the door on her side was wrenched open.
Standing there looking in, was Jonathan Burk. He tore the seatbelt off Jocelyn and tugged her out. I tried to grab her, but he was too quick. I was slow because of the hit to my head. I struggled to get my belt loose and out of the vehicle. As I rounded the front of it, I saw him tearing away in a car. Jocelyn was slumped over in the front seat. I screamed my rage. I had my gun, but I wouldn’t risk shooting at them and hitting her. I went back to the SUV and hunted for my phone. It had been in the center console. I finally found it under the seat. I dialed Tank. He answered on the first ring.
“You two on your way?”
“Fucking Jonathan just took Jocelyn!” I yelled. I heard him swear and yell for everyone to get quiet. I assumed he’d put me on speaker phone.
“What happened? Where are you?”
I told them quickly what happened. I tried to start the SUV while I talked but it wouldn’t turn over. Hitting the tree must have done damage to the engine. I swore and beat the steering wheel in frustration.
“Bull, we’re on our way. Be there in five minutes. Hang on.” He cut off the call before I could respond.
I paced along the vehicle, waiting impatiently for them to get there. All that kept running through my mind was what Jonathan would do to her and if the accident had hurt her or the babies. When I got my hands on the motherfucker, he was going to beg for death. A couple of minutes later, I heard the roar of bikes, and at least twenty-five bikes came into view. One of the prospects was driving another SUV. They pulled in beside me. Terror, Ace, Demon, and Tank raced over to me. I pushed by them to get to my bike. It looked like Slash had ridden it for me.
They were trying to look at the laceration on my forehead. I waved them away. “I’m fine. Let’s go get my woman.” I kicked my bike to life, and we headed down the road. When he’d left, he’d headed down another road that would take him away from town and the compound. I opened the throttle. I was riding as fast as I could safely go, which wasn’t that safe. I had to get her back.
What had he been thinking? Did he really think he'd get away with taking her? He had to know we’d hunt his ass to the ends of the earth. As we took off, I got a call. It was Smoke. He’d stayed behind with the women and kids so he could help track Jocelyn’s tracker. At least Jonathan didn’t know about that. I was so thankful I’d gotten them implanted a few weeks ago.
He informed me she was about ten minutes ahead of us, headed toward Cookeville. I was in the lead, and the others followed me. Keeping Smoke on the line, I pushed it just a little more. Slowly we gained on them. Another ten minutes had the car coming into view. It was still a half mile or more ahead. I knew when he saw us. His speed picked up. He was already driving too fast. In addition to speeding more, he became erratic.
As we pulled closer, I could see Jocelyn. She was hitting at him. He was trying to fend her off while trying to protect himself. I was proud of her for fighting back but I didn’t want her to endanger herself or the babies. I pulled up beside the driver’s window. He threw me a scared look. I gestured and shouted for him to pull over. He didn’t. I pulled out my gun and pointed it at him. The others had surrounded the car. Some were in front, others on the passenger side or behind it. I saw the moment he realized he couldn’t go anywhere. He pulled over to the side of the road.
We were on a stretch where there were no houses. I got off the bike, keeping him in my gun’s sight. Terror was opening the passenger door and helping Jocelyn out. I wanted to go to her, but I needed to keep this bastard under control. He was sweating and looked pale. I could see what looked like a shiner forming on his right eye.
I opened the door and yanked him out. Tank, Ace, and a few others had taken over holding a gun on his ass. He whimpered. “Please, don’t hurt me. I swear, I’ll leave her alone.”