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Ace continued toward Cooper’s place. It had become the meeting ground through the years. He knew the rest of his family would drop everything and meet him there. He didn’t know exactly why. He hadn’t given any of his brothers reason to trust him in a very long time.
Ace dialed his phone again. Coop picked up on the second ring. “I have a situation,” Ace said, forgoing the greeting.
“Are you on your way here?” Coop asked, calm and alert.
Ace didn’t understand why, but his brother’s words caused a surge of emotion to rush through him, and he wasn’t able to respond immediately. Yes, he’d known he could count on his family, but maybe there was still a small part of him that had wondered when they would stop taking his bullshit.
“Yeah. Can you call the others?” Ace finally asked. “And maybe find sitters for the kids?”
“Are we in danger?” Cooper asked.
Ace paused. “I don’t think so . . . but I still worry.”
Now it was Cooper’s time to pause for a moment. “If you think there’s danger, of course, we will gather and make sure the kids are safe,” he finally said.
Ace was still uneasy, but he needed his family. “Good,” he said.
“What’s your ETA?” Coop asked.
“One hour.”
“I’ll have the coffee brewing.”
With that, Ace hung up the phone and picked up the speed of his car. He needed to get back home. Not only did he want the help of his family, but his arm was really throbbing. He needed these bullets out. And if the attack on Dakota hadn’t been random, then he had to warn his family they could be next.
With that thought in mind, Ace felt the urgency to get back to his brother’s place and be there for his siblings like they were doing for him. He’d feel much better having Dakota surrounded by people he knew would protect her. Not only would they do it because she was with Ace, but they already cared about her as Chloe’s best friend.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Never in Dakota’s life had she been so relieved to see a group of people as she was when they pulled up in front of Cooper’s front door and she saw Ace’s three brothers and their wives anxiously standing by waiting for them.
The vehicle didn’t even have a chance to get put into park before they were swarmed by Ace’s family, all of them wearing looks of concern as they yanked open both the driver’s and passenger doors.
“You took longer to get here than you said. We were growing concerned,” Cooper said as he leaned down and looked inside.
“Is that blood?” Maverick asked, instantly doing a visual of the yard, searching for danger before his eyes focused back on Ace.
“What in the hell is going on?” Nick piped in as he assisted Dakota from the car.
Cooper and Maverick tried to help Ace out, but he brushed away their hands, grumbled about being perfectly capable of getting out of the car on his own, and then wobbled on his feet as he stood.
Dakota rushed around the vehicle to his side, sliding her arm behind his back. When everything had begun at her house, she’d been afraid and needed someone to blame. Then she’d dozed in the car for a few minutes, and when she’d woken up, she’d instantly felt guilty about having yelled at Ace. He’d saved her from being attacked and possibly killed. She’d noticed the bloodstain on his arm growing larger as they drove and the color draining from his cheeks. She’d felt responsible. Now she felt protective. She hadn’t been sure if she’d ever wanted to see this man again at the beginning of their traumatic night, but now she couldn’t imagine leaving his side.
“Why aren’t you at the hospital?” Mav’s wife, Lindsey, asked as she nudged in on Ace’s other side. Being an ER nurse, of course Lindsey was concerned about the obviously fresh wound.
“I just felt it would be best to get here,” he told her. “Besides, I knew there was a nurse on site,” Ace said with a grimace Dakota was sure was supposed to be a smile.
“I don’t have all the things I need here, Ace,” Lindsey scolded him.
“Yes, you do. I just need you to pull out the damn bullet and stitch me up,” he told her. His face was ashen, and Dakota wondered how in the world he’d managed to continue driving them for so long after being shot. It had to be the adrenaline rushing through his system. It was
the only explanation that made any sense.
“I don’t have anything to numb you with,” Lindsey insisted.
“I’m an Armstrong. A little bit of pain isn’t going to kill me,” Ace told her.
“We need to get him inside,” Chloe said. She hadn’t worked as a nurse for a while, but she would certainly be a good assistant for Lindsey. She’d been a nurse before deciding to go into physical therapy, which was how she’d met her husband, Nick. Dakota wasn’t worried about the two of them getting Ace patched up.
