“That will go away soon. You got back here about two hours ago.”
“Shit, Jasmine,” I said as I tried to get off the gurney.
“Sit your ass down. You know better than to pop up like that. Go slow. Just because I healed you doesn’t mean you’re good as new yet.”
“I told her I’d be there,” I argued.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I had Phoenix go get her. They should be back here any minute now,” he said with a shake of his head. I glanced at the time.
“Dammit, Angel. Why would you wake her up at four in the morning? You should’ve just let me go to her,” I grumbled as I fell back to the pillow, not wanting to admit I was lightheaded.
“I didn’t wake her up. She called me, worried aboutyoubecause you weren’t there yet.”
“Shit,” I muttered. Jasmine needed her sleep, and she didn’t need the stress of worrying about me.
Venom, Raptor, Voodoo, Facet, Squirrel, and Blade came in. “Good to see you’re doing okay,” Venom said as he gave me a gruff but concerned look.
“Jesus, don’t any of you sleep?” I asked as I sighed and closed my eyes.
“Someone ratted us out. Gabriel’s men picked up the informant to see if he double-crossed us. No way did that guy just happen to know it was us to shoot at,” I heard Ghost say and cracked an eye open.
“If they knew it was us, then who’s to say they don’t plan to come after us?” I asked, suddenly worried about the safety of our families, but mostly Jasmine and my unborn child.
“That’s why we’re bringing everyone in. We’ll be on lockdown until we get some answers from Gabriel,” Venom said. “Everyone is already here; we’re just waiting on Jasmine and Phoenix.”
Jasmine was going to be pissed. She loved having her freedom. The last thing she would want was to be confined to the clubhouse again.
A commotion in the hall had all of us on edge until I heard my woman’s voice in the hall. “Ghost, if you don’t let me in that room right fucking now, I’m going to rearrange that pretty face of yours!”
“And that’s my sister,” Angel said with proud grin. In truth, all of us were pretty happy to hear her sounding so spunky. She’d continued with her therapy every week and had made massive strides. Though she occasionally had a setback or two, I was proud as hell of her.
The door flew open, and my whiskey-eyed, sable-haired, pregnant as fuck avenging angel burst in. “Nico!”
“I’m fine, I promise,” I said as she rushed to my side and wrapped her arms around my neck. Without thinking, I hugged her with my hands splayed over her soft long-sleeved T-shirt. The tips of my fingers brushed the skin at the neck of her shirt under her untamed hair. When ripples of memories started to surface, I quickly balled my fists and lifted them off her while keeping her in my embrace.
Her cold hands palmed my cheeks when she pulled back. “When you didn’t show up, I figured it was okay because you said it would be late, but when you weren’t home by three, I started to panic and called Angel. He sent Phoenix, who made mepack a bag.”
With a wry smile, I sighed. “Sorry, babe. We’ll get shit sorted as soon as we can.”
“As long as you’re okay, I don’t care. And I’m staying in his room,” she firmly announced to her brother with a glare. He gave it right back to her, but quickly backed down when she snapped, “No! This ismylife andmydecision. For fuck’s sake, Angel, how the hell do you think I got pregnant? Like I haven’t seen the goods already.” She rolled her eyes at her brother.
I couldn’t help it, I laughed my ass off at Angel’s expression. He flipped me off.
“Well, let’s get this big oaf to his room so we can all get a little sleep,” Venom instructed as he motioned to me.
Angel and Ghost helped me to my feet and kept me steady as I walked back to my room, where I promptly collapsed on the bed. Angel might’ve healed me, but afterward the “patient” was always a little weak and groggy. The amount of damage impacted how Angel fared. Then again, if I’d been out for over two hours, he already crashed and recuperated.
“Scoot over,” I heard Jasmine say after she shooed everyone out of the room and locked the door.
Too tired to argue, I did as she asked and waited for her to climb in. She leaned over me and kissed my lips. “I’ll be back in a sec, okay?”
I nodded, hating feeling so tired.
She went in the bathroom, and I heard her messing around, presumably getting ready for bed. Then she shut the light out and used her phone for light to get to the bed.
When her warm body curled up into mine, I wrapped an arm around her and held her close. My baby gave my arm a boot, and I smiled. I’d worry about what had happened later. For the moment, I was going to enjoy the feel of my woman cuddled up close, knowing she and my baby were safe.
For now.