Realization settled in. There was no way to know where The Collective was going to run to. They could stay in Phoenix, but they could just as easily leave. It was going to be dangerous and despite the fact that I could help them out, I needed to be here for Devyn.
“We need people to stay and take care of our families,” OD added, watching me closely.
“You’re staying with Rue and the boys.” It wasn’t a question. Of course that was what he was going to do. Even with me and Kilo here, Rue was pregnant, too, and there was no way OD was going to go far.
“You’re all staying with your old ladies and kids,” Ruck told me.
It didn’t surprise me at all that Ruck was putting this order in place before any of us even had a chance to think of it ourselves. He was about to be heading into a war and he wasn’t about to take us and leave our families defenseless. As much as I wanted to be there by his side, to help my brothers, this was where I belonged and I had no problem putting Devyn and my baby first. It was nice to see that our president didn’t have an issue with it either. We’d gone from a group of single guys to three of usabout to be—or already—fathers in a damn hurry. But the club was pivoting and adapting to our new roles easily. I was grateful for that.
“Who all’s staying behind?” I asked.
“You, OD, Kilo, and-”
“Me,” Relay said, interrupting Ruck.
I turned in my seat, staring at him. It was shocking enough the other night that he’d left with me to help with Devyn, but for him to stay behind on this? “You sure that’s a good idea?” I asked Ruck, looking at my president. “He’s going to be hugely beneficial in this fight.”
“He would be,” Ruck agreed. “But he wants to be here. And if The Collective circles back around to come after any of you again, my money would be on him. I feel more comfortable leaving him here than taking him with us. Besides, if these fuckers stay in the city, we’ll still be utilizing him. But you three? It’s your job to protect the families.
“He and Glitch got you some pretty nice places to stay,” Code said with a grin. “The houses even have pools. I want a damn pool.”
“No one wants to see you in a fucking banana hammock, Code,” Hype told him.
Code snorted. “I tan naked.”
“Even worse,” Merc grunted. “There’s going to be kids running around those neighborhoods.”
“Oh. Right. Ugh, never mind.”
I shook my head at them. “You’ve already found some houses? Shit, that was fast.”
“Not fast enough,” Drifter said dryly. “Good news is they’re close to the hospital.”
“We’re throwing money at escrow to get in there as soon as possible,” OD added.
“We want all of you in those places and out of the spots The Collective may know about as soon as possible,” Strike told me.
“Being close to the hospital was a perk Glitch thought of,” Ruck said with a grin, ignoring the fact that the guys had just said that the club was using money and whatever power it had to get us into these places quickly. He’d already had enough of me, and probably Kilo and OD, thanking him. “Never even occurred to me to see how far they’d be from the hospital. But with two pregnant women, one who works there, and a third who just had a baby…being only a couple miles away is a huge bonus.”
“Yeah it is,” I replied with a nod. “I’ll have to shoot him a message. Tell him thanks.”
“Like Code said, these places are nice, too,” OD told me. “There’s enough for all the families to move in and we’ll all be next door to each other.”
“You think your soon to be sisters-in-law will mind sharing a house?” Flir asked.
“Shouldn’t be an issue,” I replied.
“If it is, I can stay with a couple of them,” Code offered.
“Fuck no,” I told him. “You’re banned.”
“You can’t ban me,” Code huffed.
“Yeah he can,” Hype said with a smirk.
“You’re not coming over either,” I told him, chuckling when the grin slipped off Hype’s face.
“What the fuck?” Hype asked. “Why not?”
