Page 19 of Spider
He gave me a salute and walked off.I took Luciana’s hand and kissed it.
“I’m fine,” I assured her.
“They said you lost a lot of blood.I saw it!You’re not fine.You’re pale and you could have died!”
“Luciana, my life is dangerous.I’m the President of this club and that means I have to take certain risks.But I’ll try to delegate more of those jobs to the others.I know you need me and I don’t want to leave this earth too soon.I can’t promise I’ll never get shot again.”
“When that man came and told me you’d been hurt, I think my heart stopped,” she said.“I know we’re still strangers for the most part, but it scared me.I already care about you, Trent.I don’t want to lose you.”
I kissed her hand again.“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”
“You should rest,” she said.“I’ll make some soup when you wake up.Or maybe I should check with a doctor?I don’t know what to do for you.”
“Some Tylenol would be a good start,” I said.
She nodded and eased off the bed, careful not to jostle me.She retrieved the bottle from the bathroom, then walked out only to return a few minutes later with a glass of water.I took the pills from her and swallowed them, then guzzled the rest of the cool liquid in the glass.
Luciana took the glass from me and I closed my eyes.I heard her walk out of the room once more, and that was the last conscious thought I had until after night had fallen.I didn’t know how I’d slept for so long, but the raised voices in the front of the house were enough to wake me.I groaned as I eased my legs over the side of the bed, then took a breath before rising to my feet.The room swayed, and so did I.After a moment, I took a hesitant step, then another.My head began to clear and even though I hurt like a bitch, I kept going, needing to find out what was going on.
When I got to the living room, it was to find Teller in front of a sobbing Luciana and my son, Ryker, yelling the damn house down.Like getting shot wasn’t bad enough!Now I had to deal with this shit.I leaned against the doorframe, more out of necessity than anything else.
“What the fuck is going on?”I asked, my voice not as loud or as strong as I’d have liked.
“You got shot,” Ryker said.“And this… this…” He waved a Luciana.“Wouldn’t let me see you.Since when do you keep whores in the house?”
I pushed off the doorframe and advanced into the room.I hauled back my fist and slammed it into my son’s jaw, then nearly passed the fuck out from the pain.Teller braced my weight as I glared at my son.
“That’s my wife, asshole.Watch your tongue.”
Ryker worked his jaw back and forth, then looked from me to Luciana and back again.“Is this some sort of joke?She’s younger than me!”
“And?What business is it of yours?Your life isn’t here anymore, Ryker.Hasn’t been for a while.I didn’t bitch at you about knocking up Laken.Not much anyway.I’m a grown-ass man, and your father.I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“I came to check on you because Slider said you were shot twice.Some warning I had a stepmother younger than myself or my wife would have been nice.You should sit down before you fall down.”
I grunted in agreement and Teller helped me over to the couch.I sat and propped my feet on the coffee table.Motioning to Luciana, I held her hand as she sat beside me.
“Ryker, this is Luciana.You don’t have to like the fact we’re married, but she’s not going anywhere, so you might as well get used to it.She’s also pregnant.”
Ryker blinked.Then blinked again.“You can’t have kids.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t claim this one,” I said.
“So some whore gets knocked up and you just…” Ryker didn’t get to finish his sentence before Teller hit him, landing a solid punch to my son’s gut.The kid cast a glance my way, clearly concerned that he’d just technically hit a club member, but my son needed to learn his place.
“Luciana isn’t a whore,” I said.“You know nothing about her or what she’s suffered.So why don’t you shut up before I let Teller knock your teeth down your throat?Not sure Laken would appreciate it if I sent you home all banged up.”
“This is bullshit,” he said, then glared at Teller.“I should call a vote to have you kicked out.You just assaulted a patched member of this club.”
Teller didn’t so much as flinch.“Go ahead.”
I snorted and coughed to cover my laugh.The kid had some balls, that was for certain.“Anyone asks, I authorized that hit,” I told him.“Ryker, I love you, but you’re a pain in my Goddamn ass right now.Where’s Laken and my grandson?”
“At home,” he said.
“Right.Home.As in not at the Hades Abyss compound.You might still wear the cut, but you haven’t been a true part of us for a while, son.You’re always welcome here, and I’m not going to ask you to remove that cut, but you don’t get a vote here anymore.You’re more Reaper than anything at this point.”
That made Ryker pause.“You wouldn’t be pissed if I asked to patch in with them?You said something before, but I didn’t think you meant it.You’d always wanted me to take over one day.”
