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“Don’t give a fuck,” his prez cut him off. “Take a hair sample or a mouth swab. I ain’t in any hurry, and you are not going to make my little one cry tonight.”
The nurse hurried away and returned quickly with what looked like giant Q-tips. She swabbed the two adults first, then Abby squeezed open the little one’s mouth, and the nurse quickly dipped the swab in. All in all, it appeared to be a pretty painless procedure.
When it was all said and done, and the nurse excused herself from the room, Darkness brought the sleeping child up to his face and kissed her on the forehead. “Now, about me getting out of here.”
Dr. Thomas spoke as he flipped through Darkness’ chart. “Dr. Reynolds has agreed to provide close monitoring, and against my better judgment, I’ve written a discharge order. As we discussed, you had to have one lung repaired, and you sustained a bit of internal damage. Though it’s been repaired, you must stay off your feet and refrain from heavy lifting in order to heal properly.”
Looking down at the child sleeping in his arms, Darkness reluctantly allowed Abby to take her again. Tiffany came in with another nurse and a wheelchair then, and after some kerfuffling about, Ryder found himself in the bizarre situation of helping Darkness into the back of an SUV. Abby climbed in beside him with their little one, Tiffany got into the passenger side, and Ryder elected to drive, knowing his brothers would be close behind.
He headed straight for the clubhouse since they were on lock-down until the situation with the Seven Devils could be unraveled. Dr. Reynolds followed with Ven and Hickory, though he didn’t seem a bit happy about babysitting the world’s scariest biker.
Since Darkness was in no condition to be climbing stairs, Hickory stepped up and had made arrangements for their president’s office to be traded out for his king-size bed and dresser. There was a tiny bathroom with a stand-up shower, making it the perfect set up until he made a full recovery. As icing on the cake, the brothers had made a run to some all-night department store and bought baby stuff, so everything was taken care of on all fronts.
Spinning around some strange kind of toy hanging off the side of the crib, Ryder tried to imagine Darkness toting around a tiny daughter with pretty dark hair and eyes. The whole situation was brazenly bizarre, as far as he was concerned.
Pulling off his clothing, Tiffany and Ven got Darkness into bed. Motioning to the crib, he wheezed while holding his chest. “Bring the crib over here. I want to see her while she sleeps.”
Oh yeah, Darkness was getting all kinds of attached to his little one. But who could blame the man? The kid was sweet, and more importantly his own flesh and blood.
Ven and Hickory pulled the crib over right beside his side of the bed, and Abby laid her down on the soft sheets.
In typical Darkness fashion, he rasped, “Go, I’m tired.”
Dr. Reynolds nodded. “I have to check on you every hour, so don’t get pissy.”
Quick as lightning, Darkness retorted, “I was born pissy, asshole.”
The older man frowned. “I’m going to mark that down to the pain.”
Ven slapped the older man good-naturedly on the back. “Go get yourself a drink and a whore, doc. You’re single, so you might as well enjoy your time here.”
For a second, Ryder thought the uptight physician would protest, but he surprised him. “Thank you. It’s been a long night.”
Hickory murmured, “We’ve set you up a nice room near the bar.” Turning to Darkness, he asked, “What about Abigail? Shall I make her up a room or are you sharing your bed?”
Getting comfortable on his pillow, Darkness replied coldly, “Bitch can sleep on the fucking floor for all I care.”
Sighing, Hickory caught Abby’s eye and pointed to a small recliner with a stack of clean bed clothes. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“I’m sure I’ll be just fine,” she assured him quietly.
“Get the fuck out.” Darkness kept his voice low, but his tone was deadly.
Ryder immediately grabbed his woman’s hand and headed for their private room upstairs. Stopping briefly in front of Abby, he looked her in the eyes. “Everything I said before still applies. This room is wired for security, and the cameras are being monitored. If you come anywhere near our president, we’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
Grinning, the woman asked teasingly, “Are you afraid that I’m gonna sweet talk my way right back into his life?”
Taking a step closer, Ryder tilted his head sideways. “I’m afraid you’re just about crazy enough to think you can finish the job the Seven Devils sent you to do, and you think throwing my friend’s baby into the mix is gonna help you when things go bad.”
The smile slid from her face and was immediately replaced by a dirty look that was fit to kill.
“I see we understand each other,” Ryder stated flatly.
Pulling Tiffany out of the room behind him, Ryder walked straight to the spacious utility closet the brothers had turned into a security room. There, sitting at a long desk, were two brothers. One was Peb, the only brother who could possibly be described as a techno geek. He spent most of his waking hours in the security station, and it showed. His pale skin was slowly taking on a translucent quality, or maybe it just looked that way in contrast to his jet-black hair and ice-blue eyes. The other brother was his actual brother, Cork.
The more normal of the two jerked his chin at Ryder. “You don’t have to say a word. We’re not taking our eyes off the monitors tonight. I don’t trust that bitch any farther than I can throw her,” Cork said.
Peb spoke from the far side of the desk where he was sitting with his feet resting on the edge, so he could balance his tablet on his lap. “Why is he letting her stay up here? She’s a stone-cold killer at the worst and a security threat to every one of us at the very least.”
