Page 49 of Scotch: Unraveled

“Fair enough,” Boss replies. He gets it. Every brother in this room gets it.

After popping my head out once more to check how much time we’ve got to pull this off and counting five Horde moving around a little too close for comfort, I retreat back inside with the brothers. “Okay, we’ve got five getting close. If ya keep low and reverse the route we came in,” I tell Crass, “with Blood and Chaos at yar back, it’ll be close and not remotely comfortable… but ya just might pull this off without anyone getting dead.”

He nods, then slips out, crushing his back to the shadowed wall once more. Keeping low. Blood and Chaos flank him. Blue, Boss, and I watch until he drops behind the closest crate, then I turn to track down my wee lassies and woman.

20.

Frankie

I’m in the throes of my breakdown when a face peeks inside the room and I scream, jumping from the bed and tumbling to the floor because I put weight on my bad leg. As I fall, I see a finger shush me and that’s when I begin crying all over again, though for a completely different reason. Rory. My Rory. The most beautiful man in the world shines his gloriously blue eyes at me. His thick, ginger hair shines like a beacon for me. He’s here to lead me home.

“Frankie.” he shouts my name in a loud whisper as he darts into the room. Strong arms wrap around me, pulling the top half of my body up off the floor. “Mo leannan…” He kisses the top of my head. “I’m sorry, baby…” he manages to get out between kisses. “So damn sorry…” He moves to my cheeks next. “Gonna get ya safe.” His lips finally fall to mine, giving me all his fear as I give him mine in return.

“The girls,” I whisper, my lips still pressed to his. “They need to see you.”

The indecision clearly shows across his face as he looks to the bed and back to me, knowing he needs to go to them, wanting to go to them, but not wanting to let me go, either.

“I’ll be all right. Get the girls,” I order. Elise’s husband, Boss, reaches a hand out to me and as I grasp it, he pulls me up gently from the floor by wrapping his other arm around my waist. Once on my feet, he hands me off to Blue, who lets me lean my weight against his solid frame. I rest my head on his shoulder, watching my man shower love on his girls.

“Ya protected ’em, didn’t ya?” he asks, twisting his head to look between me and the babies. “Red bums and they’re needin’ some food, but other than that, not a hair outta place.”

I smile the best I can. “Mm… me and Brighton.”

“Got her. She’s in bad shape,mo leannan, but she’s with Crass, who won’t put her down.” I gasp at that news. He won’t put her down? “Crass’s a good man. No one’ll take care of our Brighton the way he will.”

“But—” I begin to protest.

“She got a brother in her bed, she’s got the club’s protection. It’s the best place for her to be.”

“I… The Lords scare her. Biker life scares her. Brighton’s not… She’s a…” I trail off without finishing my thought because he’s right. Until the Horde threat is neutralized, putting a burly, sexy biker named Crass in her bed is absolutely the safest course of action.

Another good thing about the club is the other brothers who just seem to get it. Whatever thatithappens to be at the time. In this case, Blue must sense the mood shifting because he changes the subject and I could kiss him. “How do you know they need food?” he asks.

“I’m their da. Know their hungry faces.” He then bends in to kiss Mollie on the head. “Yar daddy’s here, lass. Keeping ya safe.”

Stupid tears rim my eyes seeing him so gentle with his daughter. I feel a tug on my shirtsleeve and turn to Boss, standing next to me. “You know Gun, right?”

I wipe at my eyes with my okay hand and smile. “Yeah.”

“Full name Gunner. Named after the man who almost bought it savin’ my woman. Gunner ‘Crass’ Duncan. When Scotch says he’s a good man, he means it. Your girl’ll be safe with him. He ain’t about hurtin’ a woman—ever. You get me? Got my promise on that. You didn’t see the way he looked at her, like she was a shining light through the darkness, and you didn’t see how she looked at him, either.”

“How’d she look at him?” I ask.

“Like he was her savior. We were all in the room with her, but it was him she focused on, him who kept her shit together. Him.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Right. Now we gotta get you and them little sweethearts outta this hellhole.”

I smile once again at Boss, thinking not for the first time that Elise found herself a good man, too.

When I look back to Rory, he’s got Macie, kissing her head. “Right, lass. Daddy’s got ya, too. Getting ya out and getting ya home.” Then he kisses her again and I know exactly how that feels. I needed to kiss the girls as many times as they’d let me when I finally saw them again for the first time.

“Best bet,” Blue says, speaking up, “is for two of us to take a baby and one of us to help Frankie.”

“How you wanna play this, brother?” Boss asks Scotch.

“You and Blue each take a babe. Frankie’s my woman; I gotta get her out.”

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