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“Um, uh, yeah,” I stammered, looking away with a wince.
“You’ve been staring at your phone like you want to cry. I thought maybe your call with your dad went badly.” The sympathy in her gaze made me feel like utter shit. I’d been fucking her brother for weeks and she had no idea. Hell, for that matter, I’d had no idea either—until today.
“No, it’s not that.” I glanced around the house that was packed full of bikers and their families. “Can we go back outside for a minute?”
“Sure,” she replied with a confused frown. We both tossed our paper plates in the trash, and she followed me outside.
Before I could say a word, her phone rang. She held up a finger, mouthing one sec, and she answered the call. “Hello?”
Her face immediately fell and she grabbed my arm.
“What is it?” I asked as I placed my free hand over where hers held my forearm in a death grip.
“Where? Is he okay?”
My heart dropped into my stomach with dread. I knew that Max—or Royal as she always called him—was Lacie’s only family.
“I understand. I’ll be right there,” she insisted, her voice breaking. Her glistening gaze locked on mine, and she choked out as she dug in her pocket for her keys. “Royal got h-h-hit on his bike. T-T-They’re taking him into surgery now. I-I-I have to get there.”
She started to rush toward the house, but she stumbled as she sobbed. I grabbed her hand.
“Give me your key. I’ll drive.” Though I was shaking, I was doing my best to hold it together for her. “Which hospital?”
She stuttered out the name of the nearest trauma center and handed me the key to her car and we burst into the house. “I have to go. R-Royal. W-W-Where’s Smoke?” she asked Nova when we got to the living room.
Everyone slowly stopped talking, and all eyes were on us.
“Is everything okay?” Nova asked as she waved across the room to where I saw her husband sitting at the breakfast bar with several of his buddies.
“Lacie?” Smoke asked as he stopped next to his wife.
But she couldn’t answer, she just started crying.
“Someone hit Royal. He’s being taken into surgery,” I explained, then told them which hospital the woman had said. Inside, I was in shock.
Chairs scraped as all the burly men got to their feet at once. Smoke gently but firmly took the key from me as a tear rolled down my cheek. He handed it to a younger guy with his dark hair in a buzz-cut. I’d seen him in passing earlier, but I didn’t know the connection. I assumed maybe he was someone’s son or brother since he wasn’t wearing a cut like the rest of them.
“Cale, drive Lacie and Luna,” he told him. The guy nodded and motioned to us with his chin.
“Styx, that’s your hospital,” Smoke said to a big Viking-looking dude with a blond beard and tons of tattoos.
“Hunter’s working, I’ll give him a call,” Styx replied as he was already lifting his phone to his ear.
“I’ll ride with them in case they need a woman’s ear instead of this nonverbal guy,” Smoke’s daughter Mattie offered. Her father nodded. Then she turned to us with a pinched brow. “Is that okay?”
Lacie didn’t respond, so I did. “Of course.”
We all made our way outside. What sounded like a million bikes roared to life and peeled off as we climbed in the car.
None of us spoke as we drove. Lacie cried on my shoulder as I tried my best to comfort her and hold my own shit together.
Cale dropped us off at the ER entrance and went to park the car. Mattie went with him, and I helped Lacie inside.
“Hi, my friend’s brother was taken into surgery,” I told the woman at the desk. Her name tag read Sutton. I gave her Max’s information and her fingers flew over her keyboard as we nervously waited.
Smoke rushed up before the woman finished. “I’ve got them, Sutton,” he told her, then to us he said, “Follow me.”
I gave a weak wave to Sutton as we did as Smoke instructed. The second we reached the next desk, the receptionist gave a tight smile.
