Nova - The Kings of Retribution MC, Louisiana - Chapter 20

The ride from the salon to the clubhouse was a blur, and now, Cain and the rest of the guys have disappeared, to where I have no clue. I suspect it has something to do with the asshole who tried to kidnap Piper and me.

Honestly, I don’t want to think about it. I could care less what happens to him.

I know Cain won’t tell me the details, but I’m confident the club will make him pay.

When we arrived here at the clubhouse mere moments ago, I could see the struggle in his eyes. He didn’t want to leave his daughter, and he didn’t want to leave me. I felt the only thing I could do was to assure him we’d be okay.

Him taking care of business with his brothers was a priority. I know Cain needs to make sure the situation is handled so that guy would no longer be a threat.

I saw the storm brewing inside him, in his soul. He needed to release his rage on something, and that something was the man who had threatened his daughter and his woman.

So, once I assured him I have Piper, he disappeared out the front door of the clubhouse. And right now, I have no time to think about what is happening outside these walls.

My only concern right now is for Piper and Sadie. On that thought, my attention is diverted to my friend, who is sitting beside me on the sofa.

The cut over Sadie’s eye is swelling by the minute. And by the looks of it, it will need stitches.

”I’m so sorry, Sadie,” I choke out. ”I’m so sorry.”

Sadie removes the ice pack that Payton gave her from her face. ”It’s not your fault, Promise.”

Josie interrupts when she comes into the room. ”Can I get anyone anything?”

I shake my head and give her a weak smile. ”I think we’re good. Thanks, though.”

Feeling Piper fidget beside me, I turn my attention to her. ”You holding up okay, sweetie?” I wrap my arm around her shoulders. Piper nods the same time she swipes a tear from her face.

”I know you were scared, but I promise I’ll never let anything happen to you. Your dad wouldn’t either.”

”I know. I knew you wouldn’t let that man take me. And I knew dad, and Uncle Abel would show up. It’s just…”

”Just what?”

Piper takes a deep breath. ”When that guy had the gun to your head, I…I thought my dad and I were going to lose you,” Piper sobs, and I pull her in closer to me. I hold her tight and stroke her hair.

”Oh, sweet girl. It’s all going to be okay. It’s over now. You know that, right?”

Piper doesn’t speak, but I feel her nod.

Over the next several minutes, I continue to comfort Piper as the room falls silent. Soon, the door to the clubhouse opens, and Doctor Teagan walks in.

Her eyes cut to Piper first, as if to check her state before they landed on me and then on Sadie. Once she takes in Sadie’s state, her gaze doesn’t falter.

I can tell she has gone into doctor mode. With her four-inch heels clicking against the floor of the clubhouse, she goes straight to my friend.

Doctor Teagan sits on the coffee table in front of the sofa where Sadie is perched. Setting a brown leather bag down next to her, Doctor Teagan pulls out a pair of latex gloves and puts them on.

She gently assesses the cut above Sadie’s eye, causing her to flinch.

”I’m sorry,” she murmurs. ”I’m going to need to close this cut. I’ll use some Dermabond Adhesive instead of stitches. The scar should be minimal. Before I do that, I want to check you for a concussion.”

Reaching into the bag, Doctor Teagan retrieves a penlight. While she examines Sadie, she starts asking her questions.

”At any time did you lose consciousness?”

Sadie answers, ”No.”

”Do you remember what happened?”

”Yes.”

”Do you have a headache?”

”No. The only thing that hurts is the area around my eye.”

”Any nausea?”

”No.”

Doctor Teagan puts the penlight away and pulls out some gauze and some solution. She begins cleaning the cut. ”What about your vision? Any flashes of light or blurriness?”

”No. Nothing like that.”

”Good. I don’t believe you have a concussion. I would like for someone to stay with you for the next twenty-four hours, though. If you start experiencing any of those symptoms I listed, I want you to go straight to the hospital.”

”Okay,” Sadie agrees.

Over the next few minutes, I watch as Doctor Teagan tends to my friend. I take the time to study the woman. The woman I know Cain once had a thing with.

There is still a twinge of jealousy that wants to creep in, but I also know it’s not warranted. We all have a past. It’s just hard having Cain’s so close to home.

Finished with Sadie, Doctor Teagan says, ”All done. I want you to take some pain reliever and try to get some rest.”

Josie stands. ”I can show you to where you’ll be sleeping tonight if you want.”

”I’ll go with her,” London calls out.

I rub Sadie’s back. ”You should go with London. I’ll come to check on you in a bit.”

Sadie nods, then she and London follow Josie. I watch them retreat across the room until they disappear down the hallway.

My attention is back on Doctor Teagan as she turns toward Piper. ”How are you doing, Piper?”

”I’m okay. Just tired.”

”That’s understandable. Are you hurt?”

”No. I’m not hurt.”

I cut in, ”Why don’t you go on and lay down too. You need some rest, sweetie.”

I look across from me and catch Payton’s eye. We give each other a look, and she nods.

”Why don’t I make you and Sydney some hot cocoa, and we can put a movie on in my room until you fall asleep?”

Both Piper and Sydney agree as they head off to the kitchen with Payton. Josie and Payton have proven to be lifesavers tonight. Once the room is empty, Doctor Teagan looks at me. Her tone is soft when she speaks. ”I’m going to clean the cut on your lip.”

She gives me a crooked smile as she daps an antiseptic wipe across my cut. ”I could feel your gaze drilling a hole into the side of my head the whole time I was tending to your friend.”

”Was I that obvious?”

Doctor Teagan’s lip twitches. ”A little.”

I sigh.

”I get it. You’re curious about Nova and me. Right?”

”Maybe a little, ” I mumble.

Doctor Teagan stops what she’s doing. ”What Nova and I had in the past was casual. He wasn’t my boyfriend, and I had no preconceived notions where he was concerned. I’m married to my job. I don’t have time, nor do I want a serious relationship.”

“Nova is a great guy and a good friend. Now that he has you, I have no intention to interfere. From now on, my only involvement with Nova will be what I’m doing now. If the club calls on me, I will be here. But that’s where things end. You have my word.”

Don’t ask me why, but I believe her.

”Thanks for saying that, Doctor Teagan.”

She smiles. ”You don’t have to call me Doctor Teagan. Teagan will do just fine.”

I nod, and the subject of her and Cain drops.

Once my cut lip has been cleaned and Teagan asks me some of the same questions, she asks Sadie, she turns her attention to my arm.

”Is your arm bothering you? You’ve been cradling it close to you since I got here.”

She’s right. My wrist is throbbing. It started hurting earlier, but I wanted her to take care of Sadie first.

”Yeah. My wrist hurts and feels like it’s on fire. It wasn’t too bad before, but I think that was the adrenalin numbing the pain. It’s probably just a sprain.”

”Could be, but I’d like to take a look anyway.” I hold my arm out in front of me. When Teagan takes my wrist in her hands, I notice the swelling. ”Girl, that’s not a sprain. Your wrist is broken.”

”Really?”

”Oh, yeah. I can’t fix that here. You’ll have to come down to the hospital for an x-ray and a cast.”

”What’s going on?” A deep voice echoes through the clubhouse as Cain comes into the room.

Teagan speaks first. ”Promise has a broken wrist. I’ll need to treat that at the hospital.”

”Fuck, babe.” Cain appears in front of me and gently examines my wrist. ”Shit, babe. I’m sorry you’ve been sittin’ here all this time in pain.”

I try to calm him. ”Seriously, Cain. I just now started hurting. I thought it was just a sprain or something.”

He shakes his head. ”No excuse, Sugar. I should have checked you over better. This shit is on me.”

”No, honey, it’s not.” I try to take the blame off Cain, but I know he’s not hearing me.

Then Riggs comes into the room. ”You two good? I just talked to Josie. Sadie and London are sleepin’, and the girls are with Payton.”

Cain stands and turns to his brother. ”You good here for now? I’m takin’ Promise to the ER.”

”What happened?” Riggs asks.

”Promise may have broken her wrist. Doc needs to see her at the hospital.”

”Shit. Yeah, brother, I have us covered here. Take care of your woman.”

Before I can go to stand, a pair of arms slide under my legs and against my back. ”Cain, I can walk.” I try to wiggle from his hold.

”You’ll stay right where you are.”

I go to protest again. ”Cain.”

He cuts me off and stops mid-stride in the middle of the clubhouse.

”You bein’ hurt, that’s on me. That motherfucker walkin’ into your friends’ place, puttin’ his dirty fuckin’ hands on you, scarin’ my daughter, scarin’ Tequila’s sister…that shit is on me.”

”Cain,” my voice comes out soft, and I squeeze his neck with my uninjured hand.

He shakes it off. ”Not going to hear it, babe. I know you’re about to say some shit to try and make me feel like what happened is not my fault, and I appreciate that. My woman has a good heart. I know you got a good heart because of how you protected my girl. You put yourself between my daughter and the son of a bitch who came after her. Then when you got back here to the clubhouse, you hid your pain because you were more worried about Piper and your friend. Now here you are, clearly in pain, your wrist fuckin’ broken and you’re tryin’ to make me feel better. But what you’re going to do right now is let me take care of you. Can you give that to me, babe?”

Knowing this is what Cain needs right now, I stop fighting. ”Yeah, honey. I can give that to you.”

Fifteen minutes later, we are checking in at the emergency room. A nurse at a reception desk greets us. ”Can I help you?”

”I got them, Patty,” Teagan says as she approaches. She left the clubhouse a few minutes before us so she could make sure we were seen right away.

”You two can follow me back here.” Teagan leads us past the reception desk and down a hall to an empty exam room.

”Okay, Promise. Hop up on the bed there, and I’m going to have a nurse come check your vitals and do a workup before we order an x-ray.”

As Cain helps me up on the bed, a nurse walks into the room. ”Hi, my name is Candace, and I’ll be your nurse this evening. I’m going to start by taking your blood pressure, and then I’ll ask you some questions.”

I nod, and the nurse goes about taking my blood pressure. Satisfied that it’s stable, she grabs a tablet from the counter and starts asking a series of questions. She asks the basics, name and my date of birth. Next, she asks, ”Since you will be getting an x-ray, I have to ask, are you pregnant?”

”No.”

”Are you sure? Can you tell me the date of your last period?”

”Yeah. My last period was…” I stop to mull over the dates in my head when suddenly it hits me.

”Oh, my God.” I close my eyes as panic starts to creep in.

”I take it pregnancy is a possibility?” the nurse asks.

Instead of answering her, I force myself to look at Cain, even though I’m afraid of what I will see.

And when I finally allow my gaze to land on him, I am not prepared for what greets me. Cain is sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed, his face expressionless.

I can’t read what he’s thinking. An uneasy feeling settles in my gut. I start thinking about what Cain has gone through with Piper’s mom.

How even though his daughter is his world, he may not want another kid. I don’t want him to think I did this on purpose. I mean, I’m religious about taking the pill. I never miss a day.

Neither Cain nor I say a word. He stares at me, his face like stone. We’re suddenly interrupted by Teagan walking back into the exam room. ”Everything okay here. I just got word we can take Promise to x-ray.”

”I’m going to suggest we put it off for a few minutes,” the nurse tells Teagan. ”There is a possibility Miss Bailey is pregnant. I was just about to ask if you wanted to run a test.”

Over the next ten minutes, I sit in a daze while my blood is drawn, and the nurse asks a few more questions. The instant we’re left alone, Cain is on his feet in front of me. He cups my face with both hands. ”I want you to get that look off your face right now, babe.”

I close my eyes. ”I’m so sorry, Cain.” My voice shakes as I speak. ”I’m on the pill. I take it every day like clockwork. I don’t know how this happened.”

”Sugar, open your eyes and look at me.”

I don’t want to, but I do as he says. I open my eyes.

”Fuckin’ love you, Promise.”

”Wh…what?” I stutter in shock, his admission catching me off guard.

”I do, babe. I fuckin’ love you.”

”I love you too, Cain.” I sniffle. ”I love you so much. This is all so crazy, but I don’t care. I know we didn’t plan for a baby, but if I am pregnant, I want to keep it. And if this is not something you want, then I understand.”

”The fuck, babe?”

”You’re not upset?”

His head rears back. ”Upset? What the fuck for?”

”Upset that I could be pregnant. Children are not something we have talked about. We’re still new.”

Cain cuts me off by tilting my head back.

”I’m fuckin’ thrilled at the thought of you havin’ my baby in your belly. I don’t care how new we are. You’re mine, and I’m yours. End of fuckin’ discussion. You hear me?”

”Yeah, honey, I hear you.” I take a deep breath and allow some of the tension to leave my body.

”Good. Now give me your mouth.”

Without waiting for a reply, Cain claims my lips with his.

I break our kiss when there is a knock on the door. I peer over Cain’s shoulder to see Teagan walk in. Cain turns to face her while keeping his hand wrapped around the back of my neck, his thumb softly stroking where my pulse is. He can no doubt feel my heart beating wildly.

”Tell me, Doc. Is my woman havin’ my baby?”

I reach up, grabbing hold of Cain’s forearm, my nails digging into his skin as I wait with bated breath for Teagan’s reply. A warm smile spreads across her face. ”Congratulations.”

”Oh my God,” I breathe the same time, Cain growls, ”Fuck, yeah, babe.”

”I’ll give you two a minute,” Teagan says. ”Once we get your wrist taken care of, I’ll have the nurse bring in the ultrasound machine, and we’ll take a look at your baby; see how far along you are.

I’ll also give you the name of a highly recommended OBGYN.”

Once Teagan steps out of the room, Cain turns back to me.

”I’m going to have a baby,” I say aloud to him like he didn’t just hear the news himself.

”Fuck yeah, you are.”