I woke up when I heard a female voice calling my man baby. "That better have been your Grams, mister, or you've got some splaining to do." I glared up at Ryker. His smile was gorgeous as he lowered the phone. "Not quite. My mother. And surprise, you're going to meet her today."Only his hand on my rib cage kept me from jackknifing upright in shock. "What the hell, Ryker!" I looked down at my dress. Well, I guess it could be worse. Oh wait! I couldn't even fucking stand on my own and I was going to meet the woman who had to be higher ranking than freaking Wonder Woman in Ryker's eyes. She was going to hate me. Think I was a slob who couldn't be bothered to stand up to meet her. Ryker's sigh was big enough to fell a gigantic tree. "Whatever crap is rolling through your mind, you better get it straightened out before I do. She's going to love you." He opened his mouth again. Seemed to catch himself from saying anything else. He turned, looked out the window, his jaw hard.
I jumped between my mother and Willow, cutting off my mom's view of her. "Don't ever talk to her like that again.""You get stabbed, kill a man, and now you're lying to the police? For her?" She shot to her feet. "You can do so much better than this, baby." She reached out to me. I stepped back. Kept walking backward until I bumped into the couch. I tipped my head to the side. "You just defended her. Threatened a police lieutenant."Mom snorted. "No. I corrected a bad police woman's attitude. I didn't defend Winslow Chase's daughter." She shook her head. The odd glances, the deliberately rude behavior fell into place. "That's what this is about? Making the daughter wear the sins of the father?"My mom jerked back as if I'd slapped her. I spread my arms. "Get to dressing, Mom. We both know Dad's sins. Better start pinning them to my chest.""No! She doesn't get to talk to you like that. Not in front of me she doesn't," Willow said from behind me. My mom snarled. She
Ryker moved to lift me into his arms again. And as much as I wanted to be there, I also wanted to walk. To move under my own steam. To be able to be in charge of my body. I grabbed his hands with mine. "Now, before you deny me out of hand, I want you to listen."He leaned back, hurt on his face. "I always listen to you."I grimaced. Squeezed his fingers. "Sorry. Yes, you do. And I appreciate it. But I want to walk." Clouds of doubt covered his features. His lips pursed as I saw the wheels start turning in his brain. "I'm not saying no. But I am going to ask Jessa." He pressed a kiss to my nose before turning to his bedroom door. He hollered after the pretty doctor. I didn't hear her answer, but I did hear the click, click, click of her shoes as she walked towards his bedroom once again. "She wants to what?" She popped her head through the door, her eyebrows up near her hairline. "You want to walk? Willow, you just had arterial surgery two days ago."I sighed. Pushed b
I paced the living area as Jessa talked to Willow. It killed me that Jessa wanted to talk to Willow alone. That she'd asked I move away from the door even. Jessa didn't ask much, and since it was for Willow...I'd caved."Sit the fuck down, Penn. You're giving me a headache," Nico said as he came back into the room. "The smash, smash, smash of your shoes is like a jackhammer in my brain." He stalked to the seat he'd occupied earlier, eased down into its depths. He slouched down, rested his head on the back. "Sorry." I moved over to the couch Willow had been stretched out on. "How're you feeling?""Like shit," he mumbled. "Are we supposed to share our feelings and braid each other's hair now that Turo let you in the family?"I snarled, held up my hands. "Fine. Sorry. Damn." I was on edge. Tangling with Nico wasn't going to help calm me down either. I drummed my fingers on my thighs. Tried to will the women to hurry up. I wanted Willow in my arms. And I wanted her in my arms w
Cradled in Ryker's arms, I sighed. While I liked being in his arms, it was also starting to piss me off. Both for very different reasons. Hopefully, Jessa would be able to get that CT scan figured out and I'd get an actual recovery date. "Well, it's been real. It's been fun. It just hasn't been real fun. Time for you both to leave," Ryker said to Jessa and Nico.They jerked away from each other as if they'd been having sex on the kitchen island and not just talking. Or arguing, if the red flush in Nico's cheeks was anything to go by. He didn't really ever get red in the face that I'd ever seen. "Chop, chop. Times a'wasting," Ryker prompted. If his hands had been free, I'm sure he would have clapped them at the two people we considered friends. I rolled my eyes. "You're both more than welcome to stay. In fac-""She's lying. We're going to bake. You're not invited. Leave now," Ryker said, cutting me off. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "What the hell, cupcake?""Yo
My phone buzzed in my pocket as our laughter died. I set her back, straightened my leg so I could get my phone. "Penn," I barked down the line as I thumbed away the streaks of tears off my girl's face. "Are you ready for the shitshow, you little fucker?" John Cavendish said down the line. I jerked as a low snarl purled from my throat. I pulled the phone from my ear, hit the recording button. "What shitshow, you bastard?"Willow snapped to attention on the couch. I laid a hand on her belly. Petted her. She narrowed her sage green eyes at me. I smiled. "Seems you're getting caught up with the local riffraff, Penn." He made little tsking noises. "You should know better than to associate with the criminal underground. Didn't your daddy ever teach you any better?"I barked a laugh. "The things my daddy taught me would make you shit your pants, Cavendish. What do you want?""I want the charges against Everette dropped," he snarled. "We've already had this discussio
The ride was frenetic. The car was full of expectant horror. I could almost see Ryker's brain rolling over every possible worst case scenario. I finally found Jessa's name on his contact list. I hit the button to connect the call. Holding the phone up to my ear, I was looking at the sideview mirror when I noticed a Porsche pull out into traffic after us. "Ryker, I haven't gotten it set up yet. I'm not a miracle worker," Jessa said, a smile evident in her voice. "Hey Jessa. It's Willow. Ryker got a call from Good Shepherd. They said Grams had fallen. We're on our way. Could you call and see what happened? He needs some more information," I said softly. I didn't want to break my guy's concentration as we darted and dipped in and out of traffic. "Oh my lands. Yes. Give me two minutes. I'll call you right back." She hung up. "She'll call right back with some news," I said. He nodded again as his fingers blanched around the curve of the steering wheel. I heard a faint groa
The mangled car jetted forward as Ryker's foot must have been on the gas when he went unconscious. I unbuckled my seat belt as I tried to push him back. The phone slid to the floor. "No, no, no, no, no." I got him pushed back enough that I could move the steering wheel. We scraped the sides of no less than three cars as I tried to point us in the direction of the hospital in a runaway Range Rover. I slammed on the horn as we sailed through the intersection. A cop was sitting at the light. He flipped his lights on and joined in the run behind us, his sirens blaring. I stabbed at the buttons on the dashboard. There had to be some kind of remote alarm system. Something that connected me to a human in case of an emergency. "Land Rover InControl, what can I help you with?" a pleasant female voice said. "We've been in an accident. The driver has been shot. He's still currently in the driver's seat with the gas pedal depressed. A cop is following us. Please help!" I shouted.