Chapter Seven
Declan
Well, this isn’t how I planned on my day going, but as I stand with blood pouring from my side, my legs start to feel a little woozy. I don’t know which one of our soldiers tied up the fucking scum that was being tortured by Kieran and I but whoever it was should be very afraid. They didn’t check the fucking prick for weapons and my two year old niece would have done a better job on those knots.
Sitting on the workbench where we lay all our tools, I grab the small sewing kit sitting beside Kieran’s favorite knives that I keep for emergencies and begin to thread the needle. Rowan walks into the warehouse just as I ditch my shirt and slide the needle into my skin. My teeth latch on to my bottom lip as I focus on what I’m doing. My brow furrows as I carefully andmeticulously stitch up the three inch gash in my side.
I’m the on the fly ‘doctor’ for my family, but it sucks when you have to stitch up your own wounds. I mean, I’m one of six. I’ve been stitching people up since childhood, but still. I used to follow my Da’s guy around for hours at a time watching him stitch wounds and remove bullets. Most kids would have been freaked out, but I was fascinated. If I weren’t tethered to this life, I would have become a medic. That wasn’t in the cards for me though, so instead I’ll doctor up our own men in this organization I never wanted to be a part of, much less be second in command for.
“What the hell happened here?” Rowan asks as he leans his hip against the table while examining my handiwork. He’s not panicking. He never lets his control slip like that in front of anyone but his family, unless it has to do with his wife and kids. The soldiers moving around the area and cleaning up means he keeps his worry locked up tight.
“Whoever brought this asshole in here did a shit job tying him up.” I growl in frustration.
“Yeah, I can see that. You get anything from him before the brawl?” Rowan gently pokes around my wound, making me want to knock him out.
“He’s Russian.”
Rowan’s eyes flash to mine, “What was that?”
“You heard me. I have no idea what he was saying, but whatever it was, he was pissed.”
My head begins to throb, probably from the loss of blood. So, when Rowan puts my arm over his shoulder and helps me out of the warehouse, I don’t fight him too much. It isn’t until we pull up at the house that I realize all of my sisters-in-law are here, and I’m about to walk in shirtless with dried bloodall over me and a fucking knife wound in my side.
Rowan must have texted Clara though, because both she and Lelonie come out before we even have a chance to get out of the SUV. I’m standing by the door of the car when both women come straight over to the open door and begin fussing over me. They lead me into the house and straight to Rowan’s office without another word. I’m fine, but Clara loves to ‘mother’ us all, so I allow it.
“What happened?” Lee asks in a panic.
“You should see the other guy.” I make the weak joke just to see her crack a small smile.
Her lips twitch so slightly that if I blinked I would have missed it. She schools her face into a mask of annoyance. “That’s not funny. Who stitched you up? They look amazing.”
I can’t help the pride that beams through me. “I did.”
“You stitched yourself up? Are you a psychopath? What is wrong with you?” She chastises while Clara snickers and shakes her head.
“Stubborn fools. The lot of you.” She rolls her eyes, but her gentle hands wipe the blood from my side.
Rowan, the ever present ‘worry about everyone’ head of the family that he is, is watching Clara with a hawk’s eye. His anxiety bleeds through his body language now that he’s only surrounded by family. “He going to be okay?”
She smiles fondly at her husband, “He’s fine, Papa Bear.”
She finishes cleaning the wound before patting it dry, applying ointment, and bandaging it.
“Okay Dec, you’re good to go. You should probably go rest if all of that blood was yours.”
All of that blood was in fact mine, so I guess I’ll go take a nap.
* * *
I wake up a few hours later to a missed text from the last person I expected.
Mortal Enemy: You were STABBED??
I try to bite back a smirk while I type a quick response.
Declan: You worried about me?
I can’t help the smile that takes over my face. My stitches hurt like a bitch, but it’s grabbed his attention. Also, Mac is going to have to remind Lee that what she sees or hears doesn’t leave this estate.
