“Are you okay?” Talia asked.
“Yeah,” I scraped out. “Just thinkin’ about what happened and wonderin’ if I could’ve done somethin’ more.”
She twisted her body to face me. “Don’t take that on. You saved their lives, D. There was nothing that anyone could have done. We couldn’t have known that Sam was the goddamned stalker. He was clever and masked it. If anyone should have worked out what he was up to, it was me. Nobody could’ve saved him.”
My face twisted.
“No, Diablo,” she insisted. “Get it out of your head. If you hadn’t killed Sam, he may have fired off more shots and killed them both outright. Let it go, please. Neither Ice nor Saint would want you to mope over this. You did your best and you did the right thing. Stop taking this shit on.”
One side of my mouth tipped up. “You’ve got it a bit twisted, Talia. I don’t care about killing Sam. My issue is that I should’ve done it sooner. I wish I’d come out and seen it go down, then maybe Ice and Saint wouldn’t be stuck in hospital beds fighting for their lives.”
Her lips curved.
“Should’ve looked after my club better.” I leaned forward with my elbows to my knees and bent my neck to rub away the tension there. “Should’ve killed him sooner.” As the words left my mouth, the door cracked open, and Breaker appeared with Kennedy, who was holding little Kady’s hand.
Kadence’s blue eyes hit mine, and she shot me a sweet smile.
I smiled back.
“We’ve come to check on her,” Kennedy murmured, guiding Kady over to where Saint lay out completely still on the hospital bed. “My girl’s been worried.”
Talia got to her feet and jerked her thumb toward the door. “Gonna get some coffee.” Then she turned and exited the room.
Kady tagged Saint’s hand and looked at her with sad eyes. “Saint’s cold,” she said quietly, turning to Breaker. “Can I warm her up?”
Dude dipped his chin, his eyes boring into his daughter’s pretty face. “You up to it?”
“Yeah.” She smiled brightly. “I’ll spend an hour with Saint and then go see Iceman. He’s got too many people with him right now, but once they’ve left, I can concentrate.”
My forehead creased questioningly. “What’s she talking about?”
Kady’s eyes met mine, and she said, “You know. You feel it, too.”
My eyes narrowed on her.
Breaker helped Kady onto the bed beside Saint and took her sneakers off for her. Then the kid lay next to Saint and snuggled into her body.
“Don’t overdo it, Kady,” Kennedy ordered gently. “You know it wipes you out. Just sleep. That’ll be enough to make her warm again.”
Kady snaked a hand over Saint’s stomach and laced their fingers together. She smiled up at her mom as Kennedy unfolded a blanket and placed it over her before she closed her eyes and settled in.
My skin prickled, and I felt the room around me warm almost immediately. It reminded me of a time when I was a kid of about eight and my mom got sick.
Ma was strong and healthy, but one time she got the flu, and there wasn’t anyone else around to look out for her. She shivered with the cold so bad that I ended up getting into bed with her to try to warm her up.
It must have worked ‘cause she was better by morning.
Kady’s eyes opened suddenly, and she beamed at me.
A sense of camaraderie passed between us, and I grinned back at her before murmuring to Breaker, “Is she okay?”
He nodded, his eyes never leaving his daughter. “She’s fine.”
“It’s been a fucked up couple of days,” I pointed out.
He let out a short laugh. “You Virginia boys are fucking crazy.”
“What? Like you’re not? I remember a time not so long ago when we had to come and help your Wyoming chapter defend your club against an evil rival biker club and a mayor who was taking local girls and putting them in a trafficking ring.”
