“She’s pretty shaken up. Her daughter is here, and that man threatened her. I’m taking her up there. Her man is on the way. Help me get her up there, Ned. I told him I’d wait until he gets here.”
The other guy nodded. I let them take me to the fourth floor. As soon as the elevator door opened, Joker came charging up. He stopped when he saw me.
“Jesus Christ, what happened? Bear just called me, screaming that you were outside and Todd tried to grab you. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving Hope’s room? I thought you were still in there,” he growled. He was eyeing the two guys with me, which had them nervously watching him.
“I just need some air. I didn’t think he’d come here if he was even in town. How did he know I was here, Joker? How? He knows about her. He’s going to take her,” I told him as I pushed past him and ran down to her room. I raced inside and took a breath when I saw she was still asleep. Joker caught up to me and pulled me back out in the hall once he saw her too.
“Goddamnit, Ilara, Bear is going to kill me. I’m here to protect you. You can’t wander off without telling anyone. You’ve never left like this before. Who’re these two guys?” He gave them a scowl.
“They came to my rescue. This is Rich and Ned. Sorry, I don’t know your last names. I’m Ilara and this is Joker. Thank you so much. I’m not sure I could have gotten away from him.”
They both nodded. I could see them eyeing Joker’s cut. Rich was the one to say something. “We were glad to help. Listen, I think we’ll go. You have someone here. You don’t need us anymore.” He was backing up to leave. Ned was doing the same. They looked like they were scared, but of what? Joker? The elevator door chose that moment to open, and an enraged Bear came stomping out. The scowl on his face even scared me. I heard Rich, say, “Oh fuck, we’re dead. Please, let that not be her man.”
Bear raced over to me and picked me up, so my feet were dangling off the floor. He gave me an urgent kiss. When he was done, he sat me down and ran his hands down my arms. “Beloved, are you alright? Did he hurt you? Is Hope okay? Did they catch him?”
“Bear, I’m okay, just really shaken and scared. I’m not hurt. Ned chased after him, but he got away.” I pointed to Ned and Rich. Bear swung around to face them. I saw both of them gulp.
“Which one of you was I talking to on the phone?” he barked.
Rich held up his hand. “Me. Hi, I’m Rich. This is my friend, Ned. Sorry we couldn’t catch him.”
Bear held out his hand. “Thank you for coming to her rescue. Ned, you chased him?” Ned nodded. “Did you by any chance see if he got into a car or truck? If you did, did you see a make or model? Anything?”
“Man, I’m sorry. He jumped in a white SUV. I don’t know the make or model. It all happened so fast. When he drove off, I went back to see if your wife was alright.”
“Thank you. You were right to go back. Ilara was the priority.” He glanced back at me and then he frowned. His fingers skimmed along my right temple. I flinched. “What the fuck happened here, Ilara?”
“Todd punched me,” I told him softly. He swore. I watched as he fought to get control. People were starting to stare at us. He turned back to Ned and Rich.
“Thanks again. I expect you guys need to go. If you remember anything or ever need anything, just come to the Warriors’ compound outside of town. Ask for Bear.” He shook their hands one more time then they rushed off.
He looked at me. “We’re going to have a talk, but first I want someone to check your face, then I want to see our daughter. After that, you’re going to explain why you went outside alone. And you’re going to tell me how she got by you?” he growled at Joker. Shit, he was pissed.
Bear:
I wanted to tear someone apart like a grizzly would. I’d left Ilara alone for a couple of hours and she was almost taken by Hamilton! I was trying to push down my anger and not go off the deep end and scare her or beat the hell out of my brother, Joker. What the hell was he doing that allowed her to get by him in the first place? Add to it, she had a bruise forming on her face, and I was hanging on to a very thin thread.
All I could think about was what would have happened to her if he’d gotten away with her. My gut clenched. To hear she thought he would go after Hope made it a hundred times worse. How in the hell did he even know they were here?
All those questions would have to wait until after I got her face checked. I didn’t think anything was broken, but it was close to her eye. I took her up to the nurses’ station. Several nurses were standing there staring at us. We’d attracted attention at the end of the hallway. Jo, was the one who said something. She was Hope’s favorite nurse. “Can I help you guys?”
“Yeah, I want to see if a doc could check out Ilara’s face. She was punched. Is Dr. Moretti here by any chance?” It would be perfect if Zara was.
Jo shook her head no. “I’m sorry, she’s off today. I can get Dr. Warner.” I grimaced. I remember Rebel talking about him. He’d been all googly eyed with Madisen.
“What about Dr. Weeks? Is Bill on today?” He was our club’s doc before Zara came along. He, me, and Bull had been friends for years.
“Yeah, I believe he is. Give me a few minutes to see if I can find him. I’ll come find you when I know.”
“Great, thanks, Jo.” She smiled as she went to the phone on the nurses’ station. I turned back to Ilara and Joker. I led them down to the far end of the hall where we could still see Hope’s room but not be overheard. “Tell me what happened. Joker, you go first.”
He gave a deep sigh. “I fucked up, Bear. I own it. I was out here and I should have never walked away from Hope’s door. I was talking to one of the nurses and I didn’t notice Ilara leave the room. She didn’t tell me she was going anywhere, but I still should have stayed right there. When I came back to her door, I didn’t go inside. I didn’t know Ilara wasn’t in there until you called asking me what the hell was going on. I’m so damn sorry. Jesus, can we wait until we get back to the compound before you beat the hell out of me? I won’t be able to move after you do.” He had a look of remorse on his face, but he wasn’t showing fear. He knew he’d messed up big time.
“No, Bear, you can’t beat the hell out of your brother! It’s not his fault. I should’ve told him I was leaving to go outside. I saw him down the hall,” Ilara protested as she grabbed onto my arm.
“Baby, you could have been taken. Do you understand how close you came to being stolen from me? Todd could have taken you and we might not have found you in time. That’s not fucking okay. Joker knows his job when he’s on guard duty. He also knows the consequences for not doing his job. He can chase pussy on his own time,” I growled, as I glared at Joker. He gave me a nod.
“And I could have told him where I was going. You told me not to leave the room unless he was with me. Does that mean I’m going to get a beating when I get home?”