The Rockers' Babies (The Rocker... Series) (25 page)

mind? I wasn’t going to do anything to stop my dad taking me away from this monster.

There was a pause and then Vince started screaming curses at Dad and Nik. “Fine!” he shouted.

“Now give me Lucy,” Dad commanded.

“In the truck,” Vince told him, but he must have had his money because he sounded calm again.

“Lucy!” His voice was closer and I finally let a sob escape me.

“Daddy!” I tried to roll over, but couldn’t move. “Daddy!”

“Lucy… Gods.” The tailgate opened and then he was lifting me into his arms. His hands skimmed over

me from head to toe, checking me over. He couldn’t see my face clearly with just the lights from the vehicle as his only light source. I tried not to whimper when he touched my hurting face, but it was agonizing to

have his big rough hands touch my eye and cheek.

“Oh, baby. Daddy’s here.” He kissed the top of my head and carried me toward the vehicle he had

gotten out of. The closer he got to the vehicle the more light he had and when he glanced down at me,

seeing my swollen bloody face, I felt a change in him.

“Fuck…” he breathed, his eyes black as the night around us. “Nik…” He was shaking and there was an

expression on his face that would have terrified me if I didn’t know how much he loved me.

I felt another pair of hands on my still-tied arms. “Let me have her, bro.” Nik lifted me into his arms

and carried me to what I realized was Layla’s Tahoe. He didn’t say a word as he placed me on the second

row of seats and used a knife to untie my hands before cutting through the duct tape around my ankles.

“Motherfucker!” I heard Dad roar followed by the sound of groaning. I closed my eyes, knowing that

Jesse Thorton was ripping Vince Grady apart.

The sounds of flesh hitting flesh, groans and curses, filled my ears and I covered them with my now

free hands. I had never been scared of the dark before, but it suddenly felt like it was closing in on me. I

couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

“Deep breaths, Lucy.” Nik’s big hand rubbed circles on my back. “It’s okay, baby cakes. You’re okay.”

“Make it stop,” I pleaded. “Please, Nik. Please make it stop.”

His blue eyes were cloudy in the dim lighting of the overhead light in the Tahoe. I knew in that minute

he didn’t want to stop my dad from beating the man to death. Part of me didn’t either, and that just made

me sick to my stomach. “Put your seatbelt on, sweetheart.” He leaned forward and kissed my right temple,

being careful not to touch any part of my face that was throbbing. A hard task since my entire face was one big ache.

Nik stepped back and shut the door of the Tahoe. I didn’t move, but kept my eyes on Nik as he walked

toward the front of the SUV and pulled Dad away from Vince. Dad said something that I couldn’t hear

because it was practically sound proof in here. Nik didn’t seem scared of Dad like this and pointed toward

me as he said something back. Before my eyes I saw another change in my dad. His shoulders seemed to

droop and his head bowed.

Dad stood like that for a minute then nodded. He didn’t look back as he walked toward me. Nik just

stood there for a long moment. His back to me, but his shoulders told me that he was in a bad place. It took a lot to get him as mad as he was right then. He was the calm one most of the time. The one I expected to

have his cool in any situation.

The back door to the Tahoe opened just as Nik lifted his foot and stomped. I heard something crunch

and Nik stomped his foot again and again. I nearly gagged at the sound that came from Vince. It was full of pain and something else that I recognized only because I had been feeling it for hours. Fear.

Then, as if he hadn’t just left a man broken and bloody, Nik turned around and got in behind the wheel

while Dad climbed in beside me. No sooner was the door shut behind me was I climbing in his lap, and my

tears just wouldn’t stop.

From the front seat I heard Nik talking to someone. “We have her… Can you meet us in the ER? She’s

going to need a doctor… I know, man. I know. Just… Layla can’t fucking get out of bed! You don’t let

her… Shit! Okay. Okay. I’ll see you in about twenty minutes.” He didn’t say another word as he drove

through the dark night.

Dad seemed scared to touch me too much. Afraid to hurt me. He just kept me on his lap, kissing the top

of my head every few minutes, letting me cry it all out. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to cry this all out. My body would probably shrivel up from lack of water before I stopped crying.

That morning I had been so happy. Layla and my brothers were doing okay. I was actually going to get

to see and hold the babies before I got to hang out with my best friend that night. Now… I didn’t feel

happy. I didn’t feel much of anything except this need to hold onto my dad. I was still scared, even if he

was the one who made me feel safe. I was still sick to my stomach, the memory of Vince’s smell alone

making me gag. I wanted this to just be a dream, to wake up any minute with just a fading memory of this

horrible night. But the pain in my face told me that it wasn’t.

Nik had to pull over twice so I could be sick. He just stopped in the middle of the street and Dad helped

me out so I could throw up. People honked and cursed at us, but I barely heard. Vomiting only made my

pain twice as bad. By the time we got to the hospital, I was dizzy and still nauseated.

Shane was standing by the entrance to the hospital with two hulking-looking men in suits. From the

corner of my good eye I could see vans and cameras flashing across the parking lot. The press, again. I

hated the press. All they did was take pictures of me and my family and all we wanted was peace. Before

the door opened, Dad pulled a blanket out and covered me from head to toe. He didn’t want the

photographers to get a picture of me like this, and really neither did I.

I felt Dad get out of the Tahoe with me still tucked close to his body, then he was walking so fast he

was practically running. I heard Shane whispering something, my dad curse, and then there was a whole

group of voices I didn’t recognize. Someone told Dad to put me down so they could examine me. He

barked at them to get out of his way.

“Move or I will move you,” he told the woman who had told him to put me down.

“Sir, we must tend to the child,” a male voice spoke up and I struggled to uncover my head so I could

see who was speaking.

I wiggled, needing down. “Daddy, I have to use the bathroom.”

I was instantly placed on my feet and the blanket was pulled off of me, a chorus of gasps greeting me as

they saw my face for the first time. “Are you going to be sick again?”

I just shook my head and was relieved to find a sign for a bathroom just down the corridor from where

we were standing. I had to pee so badly, it was a wonder I hadn’t already gone in my tights. I locked the

door behind me and ran to the toilet, already pulling my old dress up, not caring if I tore it or not. It had been stupid to go as a zombie version of Jane Austen anyway.

When I was done, an entire minute later, I flushed and moved to the sink to wash my hands. That was

when I finally got a look at my face. I froze at the sight staring back at me. I had cried off most of the green and black makeup that I had used for my costume but I still looked like something that would roam the

streets on Halloween. My left eye was a rainbow of colors: black, blue, purple and all kinds of shades in

between. It was swollen shut, making my face look almost deformed. My top and bottom lips were split,

and even though it looked like it had started to scab it was still bleeding just a little. There was a bruise in the shape of a hand print on both cheeks. When I touched my fingertips to them, I winced as it caused the

throbbing to start all over again.

“Lucy?” I heard my dad’s voice on the other side of the door. “You okay?”

“Be right there,” I called back before washing my hands and grabbing a few paper towels to dry them.

Opening the door I found Dad, Shane, and Nik standing there while a man in a doctor’s coat and two

nurses stood behind them. “I just want to go home,” I told Dad.

He grimaced. “I know, baby. But you need X-rays at the least.” He reached for my hand and gave it a

reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’ll be right here with you the whole

time.”

Chapter 23

Layla

If I had to wait one minute longer I was going to climb the fucking walls.

It was after midnight and I knew that Jesse was downstairs with Lucy by now. Shane had rushed out

the door about ten minutes ago, keeping me from asking more questions. If he thought that was going to

stop me from asking questions or seeing my baby he was out of his mind. I’d already told the perky little

nurse that I needed a wheelchair. I wasn’t supposed to be on my feet yet, but that didn’t mean it was going to stop me from getting downstairs to my child.

Drake stood by the door, obviously standing guard. He didn’t want me to get out of bed but if he even

dared to stop me I would make sure that he and Lana only had one child. I might be sore from the C-

section but that wouldn’t keep me from kneeing him in the balls.

Lana was already helping me put my shoes on—a pair of slippers that I’d packed in my suitcase weeks

ago. I’d started packing the second I’d hit the six-month mark, wanting to make sure that we were ready for anything. Harper held my robe, waiting for the nurse to get back so that they could help me up and she

could slip it on me. Neither woman had tried to talk me out of going downstairs. They understood my

consuming need to get to Lucy.

The door opened, knocking Drake in the back of the head and ass. He stepped forward, rubbing at the

spot on his skull as the nurse wheeled in the chair. “Here we go, Mrs. Thorton.” Her smile was gone, had

been since I had told her that my daughter was downstairs and needed me. I might not like the nurse very

much, but she hadn’t protested when I told her I wanted to go downstairs to be with Lucy.

Drake cursed under his breath as the nurse and Harper assisted me into the chair. I won’t lie, it made me

hurt like hell, but I sucked it up as I settled into the wheelchair and covered my lap with a folded blanket.

“This isn’t smart.”

“Get the fuck out of the way, Drake,” Lana snapped. “You’re wasting time here.”

“Angel…” When she just stood beside me glaring at him, he sighed and opened the door for us. Harper

pushed me through and toward the elevators. “Jesse doesn’t want to upset you, Layla. You should get back

in bed and wait for him to bring Lucy up.”

“I’m not waiting another minute. Even if she doesn’t need me, I need to see her.” To make sure she was

okay, that she really was with Jesse and not still trapped in the nightmare this night had turned out to be.

The elevator opened and Harper pushed me inside while Lana and Drake stepped in behind us. It took

three minutes to get downstairs and to the ER. We didn’t stop to ask anyone where Lucy was. There was no

reason to. The two huge men standing outside of a private exam room was like a neon sign telling us

exactly where she was.

Recognizing us, the guard on the right opened the door and Harper pushed me into the room. It was

crowded inside and I didn’t see Lucy right away. Shane and Nik were standing on either end of the bed

while two nurses rushed around the room doing who knew what. A doctor was standing beside Jesse

whose face was a dark storm cloud of emotions while he listened to whatever the doctor was saying, but his

eyes were solely on Lucy who was lying on the bed.

“I can’t determine if her cheek is broken until we get the X-rays back but her lip is going to need a stitch or two,” the doctor was saying. “But what concerns me the most is the swelling around the eye. I think we

should do an MRI to make sure everything is okay.”

I gasped at what the doctor was saying, making Jesse’s head snap around. His eyes darkened even more

when he saw me but I could tell it was with concern and not anger. He took three big steps and then he was

crouching in front of me. “She’s going to be okay… Just don’t upset her when you see her.”

I blinked back my tears and nodded. When he straightened and stepped aside my eyes went straight to

the bed to find Lucy looking at me. My hands covered my mouth as I tried to stifle the cry of distress that escaped me. Her face was one big bruise. Eye, lip, cheeks. She didn’t even look like Lucy right then.

Trembling, I reached for Jesse’s hand and pulled him down to me again. When my gaze met his, my

eyes were wet but hard. “Did you kill that fucker?” I whispered.

A small smile lifted one corner of his lips. “As good as.”

“Good.”

“Mom…” At that one word I pushed Jesse aside and Harper wheeled me over to the bed before I

actually got up to get to her. Lucy rarely called me Mom. It slipped out every now and then and I was okay

with that. I was her sister just as much as her adoptive mother. I wasn’t going to pressure her to do

something that didn’t feel natural for her. But when she did call me Mom it melted something inside of me.

As soon as I could reach her I caught her hand and brought it to my lips. “Oh, baby. My sweet baby.

How are you feeling?”

Her right eye, the only one that could open, blinked a few times. “Is this what it feels like to be high? I don’t think I like it. What I can see of the world is spinning and it’s making me sick.”

I frowned and glanced at the doctor who grinned and shook his head. “Just a little morphine to help