Kink's Way (19 page)

Rock shook his head and turned his back on them.
Cookie led Callie over to the side of the clubhouse, and both of them leaned
against the wall. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but it felt
like an eternity. Finally the garage door opened, and Kink, Molly, and the
doctor stepped out. They were covered in blood, and Cookie’s pulse started
beating frantically again. Callie took off toward her father, and he embraced
her tightly. After several moments Callie finally let go, said something to
Molly, and the other woman took her into the garage. Kink watched his daughter
go, and this strange look covered his face. But he turned, held Cookie’s gaze,
and then smiled softly. She took off, not caring what anyone else said, and
only acting on her instincts. She flew into his arms, crying for the first time
in what felt like forever. She cried for Lucien who was hurt, cried because she
was happy the other men were okay, and cried harder yet that Kink was holding
her so tightly she could hardly breathe. It felt good to have him with her,
felt good to let her anger, frustration, and most of all sadness
leave
her in this physical way.

“Baby, you doing okay?”
Kink asked right beside her ear.

She nodded, knowing that her voice would be choked
up. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and allowed herself to loosen her
death grip on him. He was hesitant to let her go, and she smiled at that. “I’m
okay. Are you and the other guys doing all right? Lucien is okay?” She hated
asking, because she didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer. She may have
only been a part of the club for a few weeks, but they had kind of become her
unofficial family.

He nodded and cupped her cheek. “I think, but I’ll
let the doctor go into that.” He leaned down, kissed her hard and passionately,
and then leaned back and rested his forehead on hers.

“You’re trembling, Kink.”

He nodded and kept his eyes closed. “I know, baby.”
He kissed her again, more softly this time, and moved her so she was positioned
at his side. The other guys had moved forward, but they seemed to all be
waiting for something.

The doctor cleared his throat and wiped his hand on
a rag that one of the bikers had given him. The whiteness, or lack thereof,
from the rag, startled her. There was so much blood.

So much.

“Lucien looks like he’ll survive,” the doctor said,
and there was this collective sign that came from everyone. “The bullet was
lodged in his thigh, but that is what saved his life. The bullet nicked his
femoral artery, just barely, but if it had gone straight through he would have
bled out.”

“He needed blood?” Tuck asked. “I assume since it
looked like he was bleeding a geyser back there.” There was this uncomfortable
silence that stretched between everyone.

“Yeah.
I had Malcolm bring me the supplies I needed. Lucien’s hooked up to a bag of
type O negative, and although it is considered the universal donor blood type,
there could be a rare reaction, and knowing the luck of the club lately that
would be the case. I’m going to watch him closely for the next twenty-four hours.”

“What the fuck does that mean about the blood?” Tuck
asked with a bite of hostility in his voice.

“Easy, man. The doctor is doing all he can, okay?”
Kink said. Right now they need to keep their heads together.

“Since I didn’t know what his blood type is, type O
negative is the best option.” The doctor sighed heavily. “Listen, right now
it’s
touch
and go, but I’ll stay with him for the next
twenty-four hours. He’s still unconscious, but his prognosis looks good right
now.” The doctor looked back at the garage and then glanced at the cabin. “I’m
sorry, but that’s all I have right now.” The doctor looked at Kink. “I’m going
to head inside and get a place set up downstairs for him.”

“I’ll go with you,” Tuck said, and led the doctor
inside.

“I should go check on Lucien again,” Kink said, and
gave Cookie a kiss on the forehead before turning. Cookie reached out and
grabbed his forearm.

She glanced at the cabin, knowing Callie needed a
little time in there. “Kink, come inside and let me help you get cleaned up.”
Even though neither of them said anything about it, Cookie could see the Kink
knew she was referring to Callie being inside. “Just give her some time. She
had some really bad news today.”

God, she didn’t want to be the one that said it,
because after all that had happened that was the last thing they needed. But
then again this news was big, and Callie needed to be the one to tell her
father about her mom dying. Just as they went to go back inside Callie and
Molly came out. Callie, surprisingly, wasn’t in tears. “Go to her, Kink. Callie
needs you right now.”

Kink kissed her on the forehead, and went over to
his daughter. He embraced her, but even from the distance Cookie could see that
Callie was talking almost frantically. She waved her hands in fort of her and
then burst into tears. Kink embraced her, stroked her hair, and Cookie’s heart
broke at the sight of such a strong, masculine man, looking over at her with
this hollow expression in his eyes. She turned away, knowing that they didn’t
need an audience, and ushered the rest of the guys inside. “Come on, I think
the girls were making something to eat.” And right before she went inside she
looked over her shoulder and saw one tear slide down Kink’s cheek.

Chapter Fifteen

Five hours had passed since the guys had come back
to the clubhouse. They had eaten breakfast in near silence, but then again
Lucien was lying unconscious in the next room. He had gone through a pint of
blood, and so far he hadn’t had any negative reactions, which was a step in the
right direction. No one knew how long he’d be out, but they were thankful he
was alive. This life was screwed up in the worst kind of way, but then again
they put themselves in this situation. It was in their blood, in their DNA.

Kink looked up at the loft, and although he couldn’t
see Callie or Cookie, he knew they were up there sleeping in one of the rooms.
He sat at the
bar,
looking down at the shot Tatum had
set in front of him. After Callie had told him about Sarah and Dale dying in
that car accident he had called a buddy he knew on the force. Finding out the
grisly details wasn’t what Kink had been going for, but then he had found out
they had both been drunk. That didn’t make the situation any less horrendous,
but it could have been even worse with other people being involved in the
accident.

Fuck, what a
shitty day
. He took the shot and tossed it back.
The alcohol burned, and it wasn’t even noon yet, but he didn’t care. He needed
something to numb the pain, to take away the ugliness that surrounded him. It
seeped into his life and was sucking the life right out of him.

The front door slammed opened, and Cain walked in,
looking fierce, big, and pissed off. He scanned the room, stopped when he saw
Kink, and moved swiftly over to him. “What the fuck happened, brother?” Cain
was forty-five, but right now he looked old and tired, ready to kill someone,
but most of all worried.

For the next twenty minutes Kink recapped on
everything that happened, and then took him to see Lucien. The President was
still unconscious, but his color wasn’t so ashen anymore and his vitals were
stable. They stayed in the room for another ten minutes before Cain finally
needed a drink.

“That’s fucked up, man,” Cain said and sat at the
bar. He asked for a shot from Tatum.

“You’re finally out, man,” Kink said. Although he
was happy Cain was finally paroled, it was hard to be in a positive mood right
now and celebrate.

“Yeah, but it fucking sucks coming here and seeing
all this shit going down. I just wish I had been here to help out my brothers.”

“Nah, I’m glad you didn’t have to be in that
situation. You’ve been locked up for a long damn time, and the last thing you
needed was to be put in that situation.”

Cain shook his head.

“But sorry about no welcome home party.” Kink
clapped him on the back. “But once things settle down and get back to normal,
we’ll party it up.”

Cain stared down at his shot glass, and it was the
same position as Kink had been in a few moments before.
“Sounds
good.”
Cain turned just his head and glanced at him. “I need to go see
Fallina
soon though.”

Kink nodded. “How is she?” He hadn’t planned on
bringing up Cain’s daughter, because although it had been a long time since
everything had happened, and she was an adult now, that shit never left a
father. Kink knew that if some fucker tried to mess with Callie, he’d kill them
without even blinking.

“She’s doing
good
, brother.
She’s working as a preschool teacher over in Chatham View. Doing
good
with her therapy and all that shit, so I can’t
complain.” This smile covered the big biker’s face, and Kink couldn’t help but
feel the other man’s fatherly love. Hell, it was what Kink felt for Callie.
“She came up to see me every week during those nine years, man, and it broke my
fucking heart to see her leave. But at the same time I didn’t want her seeing
me behind that glass.”

Kink nodded and clapped Cain on the back again.
“Take your time, and when you’re ready, you know you’ll always have a place at
the table in River Run.”

Cain nodded and tossed back the second shot Tatum
put in front of him. “Thanks, Kink, but I have a lot of unfinished business to
take care of, shit that might get me locked away for good this time.” Cain
looked at Kink, and the hardness in his black cold eyes spoke volumes. Cain
wasn’t nearly done with the asshole that hurt his daughter, and it was clear
that the other man was going to get his revenge one way or another.

Kink leaned in close, and said, “If you need
back-up, you know we are always here for you.”

Cain nodded but didn’t say anything. They sat in silence
for a moment, and Kink realized he wanted to talk to Cain, to see how he was
really
doing. Prison changed a man, no
matter how rough and tough he was. Cain might be a whopping six-foot-six, and
even bigger in muscle mass now than when he went in, but once someone went to prison
a little piece of him was chipped away for good. If Cain wanted to talk about
it, then Kink and the rest of The Brothers would be here.

He wasn’t going to get into what had happened to
Sarah, not right now. There was so much heartache, anger, and mixed emotions
that were swarming through the men right now. Bringing this up to Cain wouldn’t
do any good. There would be time to sit down, talk about everything, and make
sure the information on both sides was out in the open. Several of the other
members came forward and greeted Cain. They had all been friends for what
seemed like a lifetime, and having the other man back was a good fucking thing,
and would strengthen the club. “Listen, I’m going to talk to you later. I want
to see my old lady.”

Cain grinned. “I heard about that from the prospect
that was jabber jaws in the car, Pierce, I think his name was.”

Kink nodded. “Yeah, he likes to run his mouth.”

“Old lady huh?”
Cain asked, still smiling. “Never thought I’d see the day when your kinky ass
would settle down. I’m happy for you.”

Kink flipped Cain off good heartedly, but smiled. He
turned and left Cain to talk with the other guys, and hunted out Cookie. He
needed her, needed to hold her. There was nothing like a nightmare of a situation
to put perspective on life in a man, even a stubborn, hardheaded bastard like
him.

****

Lucien stared at Callie through the open doorway. He
had woken up last night, was in some fucking pain, but thankful to be alive. He
remembered everything up until he looked down at his thigh and saw the bullet
wound. Then he had passed the hell out, and everything had been dark until last
night. But the fucked-up part out of all of this, even after the gunfire, the
dead bodies, and the bombing, was that Callie had been the first thing that
came to his mind when consciousness took over. It was messed up in the worst
kind of way, and although she wasn’t quite eighteen yet, and he knew he would
never touch her in that way because she was so young, he honestly didn’t know
if he’d be able to stay away when she was legal. It wasn’t about a sexual
relationship with her. It was a lot more complicated than that. He felt
something in his cold heart when he looked at her, like it was beating solely
for that one woman.

Fucking
hell, Lucien.

He knew it was wrong to want her, knew it was
against the unspoken code that no one in the club fucked with their kids. He
didn’t know why he had this need to be with her, to talk to her and make sure
she was okay. It
wasn’t just about wanting
to protect
her because she was Kink’s daughter, and that he would have done the same for
any of the members’ kids. It was a hell of a lot more, something that consumed
him ever since he had seen her vulnerable at that bus stop with those assholes
around her. He had been the one to help her, to make sure she was okay, and he
knew there wasn’t anything that could take that away, no matter how much he
thought it should be gone.