Dodge
The hospital allowed only two people at a time to visit Justin. Emilee wouldn’t go in without me, and babies weren’t allowed. Somehow, Hustler flirted enough with the attending nurse to persuade her to turn a blind eye. She told us fifteen minutes, then she led Hustler down the hallway and went into a room.
“You ready?” I whispered to Emilee.
“In a minute.” She cuddled Dante as if soaking him up before seeing her dad. Storm had been honest, not sugarcoating Justin’s appearance for Emilee. He didn’t want her to be blindsided when she saw him, so we’d decided I’d be better off holding Dante when we went in there.
“That son of mine better be wrapping up his dick,” Ben said.
“He’s probably got kids scattered all over the country he doesn’t know about,” Cobra said, razzing his dad. “He’s by far the wildest of us boys. You’re probably a grandpa times ten.”
Ben screwed up his face. “That’s not funny.” He looked longingly at Dante. “If any one of you kids had a baby, your momma and I better know about it. And don’t you be lying. You’re just as bad. All you boys are. Piper is the only responsible kid I got.”
Cobra shook his head. “I’m responsible. If I had a kid, I’d know about it, and so would you.”
“I think I’m ready.” Emilee passed Dante to me.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Storm opened the door for us. Emilee held my hand, squeezing the crap out of it. Listening to Storm describe Justin’s condition had been nothing compared to seeing it up close.
“Oh my gosh.” Emilee hid her face in my chest.
Justin was asleep. He’d gotten worked up while Storm and Uncle Raul were with him, so the nurse had given him a sedative to calm him down. He might sleep the whole time we were here.
I rubbed her back in a soothing motion. “He’s alive, Em. He’ll recover.”
“I know.” She turned around. “I think I’m okay.” She moved closer, pulling me by the hand.
We stood there for several minutes, watching him sleep. Emilee wiped away silent tears. It was damn sad seeing Justin this way. I wanted him to throw a fit, cuss me out for getting his daughter pregnant, maybe threaten to kick my ass. I wanted him to do something—anything but lie there.
If he hadn’t taken her away, none of this would’ve happened. I was sure he’d thought of that too.
“Dad, I’m here.” She went to touch him but retracted her hand. It was the first time I’d heard her call him Dad instead of Justin. “Dante is here too. We’re both safe, Dad. I just want you to know we’re safe so you don’t worry and can get well. You need to focus on your recovery.” She hesitantly put her hand on his leg. “Dad? Can you hear me?”
Justin didn’t stir at all. If it weren’t for the machines showing his heartbeat and oxygen levels, he’d look dead.
“I thought he’d be awake.” Emilee wiped under her eyes.
“I know, baby. Maybe next time.” Although, I didn’t think I’d bring her back, not with the Rat Brotherhood wanting our son.
Dante started to squirm and fuss, eyeing Emilee. He was probably hungry.
She leaned in, placing her hand on Justin’s leg, and whispered. “I love you, Dad.”
It damn near broke my heart.
Storm called church on the drive back to the club. We hadn’t discussed what was said when he and Raul had visited Justin. We all wanted to protect Emilee as much as possible.
She didn’t want to wait for me in the clubhouse, preferring to avoid seeing Misty. So I had Hollywood guard our unit while Sugar and Tina visited her. My girl was skittish and needed to feel safe.
Storm cleared his throat. “This won’t take long.” He hit the mallet to begin church. “Justin owes the Rat Brotherhood two million dollars. That’s why they tried to take Little D.”
The corner of my lip curled. I liked that Prez called my boy by his nickname.
Lynx gasped, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, that’s a lot of money. Can’t we just take out the gang?”
“That’d be the ideal solution. Cobra and his crew are still trying to find their nest.” Storm crossed his arms over his chest. “I just wished Justin had come to us first.”