“Because I was coming back from checking on Hayden. I saw you and this Tarin coming out of your room, looking all cozy, and Ilara was at the other end of the hall. She saw it too. The look on her face showed she was devastated. She walked off, and I was about to ask you what the fuck you were doing, when she came back and confronted you.”
I groaned and closed my eyes. Shit, no wonder she overreacted. Now, I had to tell her what had happened. I’d hoped to have a chance to think on how to break this to her. Obviously, I couldn’t wait. This should be fun. She was already pissed at me and had run off with Outlaw. I opened my eyes. They were still standing there looking at me expectantly.
“I need to talk to my old lady. I’ll explain it later.” I turned to look at Tarin. She was giving me a sad look. “Come on, Tarin, let me get you to your car.” The guys reluctantly parted and let us pass. When we got out front, she got into a little car. I leaned through the window and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” she whispered, before she drove to the gate and waited for it to open. As soon as she was gone, I started for the house. It was time to come clean with my woman and calm her down.
It was eerily quiet and dark when I got inside. I raced upstairs. As I passed Hope’s room, I looked inside. Her bed was messy, but she wasn’t in it. She must be in bed with Ilara. I hurried down to our bedroom door.
I stopped and looked around in confusion. The room was empty—no Ilara or Hope. I ran over to check the bathroom, even though I knew no one could be in there. It was dark. With a pounding heart, I raced down the hall and looked in every other room and then did the same downstairs. Nothing. As I was getting ready to run out the front door, I dialed Outlaw. I knew if I tried to call her, she’d never pick up.
He answered gruffly. “What the hell do you want?” he barked at me.
“Ilara and Hope aren’t at the house. Where did you take them?” I growled. I grabbed my gun out of the lockbox by the door. He swore.
“I took her to Zara so she could check on Hope. She’s burning up with a fever. You sonofabitch! How could you do that to her? Why don’t you stay there? She’s not going to want to see you and I don’t blame her.” I could hear the fury in his voice.
“I don’t have time to explain this to you. I need to see Ilara and explain it to her. I need to make sure our daughter is alright. I’ll be over in a minute. Someone had better open the fucking door or I’ll kick it in,” I snarled. I clicked off my phone before he could say anything. My own damn brothers believed I’d cheated.
I felt sick. I hurried over to Demon’s house. Demon was waiting at the door when I got there. He had a frown on his face. “What the hell is going on, Bear? Ilara and Outlaw are saying you were with some other woman at the clubhouse. That she caught the two of you coming out of your bedroom. She’s crushed and pissed. Outlaw is ready to kill you. I can’t say I blame him. I never thought you’d do something like this. I thought you loved her.”
“I do love her! She’s my goddamn heart and soul. She misunderstood. I need to see her and explain. I need to make sure Hope is okay,” I half-pleaded with him.
Outlaw stepped out of the shadows. He sneered at me. “Why do you care? I never thought you’d do this, Bear. I’ll take care of them. Why don’t you go see if you can hook up with your little plaything again?” Outlaw spit out.
“She’s not some little plaything! Goddamn it, I don’t have time for this right now. I need Ilara!” I yelled at him. Demon got between us. He put his hand on my chest.
“Calm down. I won’t have either of you upsetting my pregnant wife, Ilara or Hope. Zara is checking Hope out in the study. Let’s go into the living room and wait. I can’t let you go in there, Bear. Ilara will freak out if I do.”
I didn’t want to do what he said, but I knew he was right. Let Zara figure out what was wrong with Hope, then I could fix things with Ilara and then my club. Outlaw came with us. He stayed across the room and angrily stared at me. I fought down the urge to punch him in the face. Demon grabbed us all a drink. I paced back and forth. It was a tense fifteen to twenty minutes before Zara came into the room.
She gave me a nod. I guess when Demon had been texting, he’d been telling her I was here and what was happening. I hurried over to her. “Please, Zara, tell me Hope is alright. What’s wrong with her? Can I see her? Where’s Ilara?” I rattled off without taking a breath. I was about to break if I didn’t get to see them soon.
She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with her, Bear. She doesn’t seem to be teething or have an ear infection. However, her fever is high, and it’s going higher. I’ve already called for an ambulance. She needs to go to the hospital where they can run more tests. I know you’re worried, but now isn’t the time to see or talk to Ilara. She’s barely holding it together.”
I sank down on a chair and held my head. “Jesus Christ, how did this fucking happen? Why? I swear to God, I didn’t cheat on her. I would never do that. I just want to be with my woman and my daughter.”
Zara turned to Demon. “Will you make sure someone is at the gate to let in the ambulance and to direct them to the house? I’m going to go with her. I’ll be able to get them to treat her faster if I do.” Demon took out his phone. She swung back to me. “Please be patient. I know this is crazy, but Hope’s very ill, Bear. Don’t make it worse for Ilara. If you do, she may never talk to you again, let alone believe you. She was muttering a lot of dark things while I was checking Hope. She’s talking about leaving Hunters Creek.”
“No! She can’t.”
“She told me the same thing. I told her she didn’t need to do that. Regardless if she’s with Bear, she has friends here now who will support her,” Outlaw muttered. I whipped around and marched over to get in his face. He stood tall and stared back at me.
“Why the sudden interest in Ilara? You been fucking lusting after my old lady? Do you think this is your chance to get in there? If you do, I’m here to tell you that’ll happen over my dead body. Ilara is mine. I’ll kill to keep her. You being my brother won’t protect you. Stay the hell away from her,” I snarled.
“I’ll let Ilara decide if she wants me around or not. Unlike you, I can be friends with a woman without having sex with her,” he slammed me. He was still determined to think the worst. I was about to draw my fist back when there was a knock at the door. Zara went to open it. In came two paramedics with a gurney. She took them down the hall. I stayed where I was through sheer willpower. Behind the paramedics came my other brothers and some of the Dublin Falls and Iron Punishers. The party must officially be over. Bull came over to me.
“We’re going to the hospital. Demon texted that Hope needs tests. Come with me. We’ll ride over together,” he said.
I nodded. We were getting ready to leave when the paramedics came rolling out with Hope on the gurney. She looked so damn small and sick. My heart seized. Behind them was Ilara. Zara had her arm around her and was whispering in her ear. She looked drawn and sick. She never looked my way even though I was silently begging her to look at me. It was Bull and Slash’s hands on me that kept me from going to her.
“Let’s get Hope figured out, then you talk to her,” Bull whispered in my ear. I nodded because I couldn’t talk around the big lump in my throat. As soon as they were in the ambulance, we ran over to get on our bikes. We followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital.