“Two blocks, east,” the man wheezes out. I shoot him and the top of his head blows off.
Rebel grabs my arm before I can run past him. We struggle but he won’t let me go. “Razer and Stryker are going. You need to check on them.”
“I need to fucking rip his lungs out!” I shout.
“You will, but check on your family.”
My heart is pounding and I feel lightheaded. He’s right. “We need to get Jesse to the hospital,” I tell him, remembering what Taylor said.
Rebel takes out his cell and calls someone. He is yelling them to bring the car around, we need to move Jesse fast. Ronin and Juice come into the kitchen and Rebel tells them to go with me.
My eyes lock with my VP, he nods, letting me know, no matter what, Storm isn’t getting away. Pushing past the others I hurry down the stairs to the basement, noting how they’ve bashed the door down to get to them.
“Motherfuckers,” I snarl as I take the stairs two at a time.
The others are behind me as I come to a stop at the door. There are tiny little marks in the metal. This shit is bulletproof. I hope the bullets bounced off and hit the fucker who tried to get in here.
I tap in the code and the door unlocks. When I push inside, Taylor is holding a huge bat, keeping my son and Jesse behind her. The second she sees it’s me she drops the bat and starts to cry.
“It’s okay, you’re safe.”
She falls into my arms for a second, then moves back. “Jesse.”
Juice moves around me and crouches down, he only gives Oscar a cursory look as I pull my son off the floor and hold him against me. Together they get Jesse up and run out of the room. Oscar is crying again and I hold his face against me with one arm and pull Taylor to me with the other. She presses into my side, her face in my neck.
Fuck. This is all my fault, she could have been killed, and it would have been because of me. Her arm raises and goes around the back of Oscar so she can pull both of us closer. His cries turn to hiccupping whimpers as she strokes his hair.
In that moment, I know the truth of what I’ve been trying not to admit to myself. I fucking love this woman and no matter the danger, I’m not going to stop and I’m not going to let her go. She got in the way of me and my son, thinking someone was coming in to hurt them, with a baseball bat to protect them. I don’t know how I will ever be able to thank her for that.
“Jesse needs the hospital.”
“They’re taking him.” I kiss Oscar’s head and cup her face. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “A little freaked out.”
“Freaked out,” an incredulous laugh bursts out of me. She laughs too. It’s fucking fear, nothing else. The relief that none of us are hurt is making us both crazy.
Stryker appears at the door and Taylor lets out a little yelp of surprise and grabs my hand. He looks at her but doesn’t say anything, taking in the sight of the child in my arms, a slight furrow of his brow.
“We need to get you out of here,” he says.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Ratchet will deal with your bike, there is a car waiting.”
Taylor doesn’t say a word, just does as he asks. We go outside and I’m surprised there aren’t more people out here, they’ve already dispersed, knowing the danger is gone. I help Taylor get Oscar into the car seat, I have no clue how it got there, but I’m not going to question it.
Stryker gets behind the wheel and looks out at me. Rebel is hurrying over and I almost tell Stryker to go without me but I can’t leave them.
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“Fuck.” I snap out through gritted teeth.
“We’ll find him. Get out of here. The cops are on their way.”
My fists clench and a scream of rage and frustration is trying to bust its way out of my chest but I get a hold of it before it can come out. Rebel doesn’t stop me when I grab his cut and pull him close, our noses almost touching. He knows I’m not mad at him, he understands the importance of this moment.
