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I didn’t want to leave him there just dangling. Waking him up and taking him apart, joint by joint, was on my list of things to do. Except Kellan was right.
Freddie didn’t even argue. I had to commend him on holding his temper in check. It would be easy for him to cut the man up. But he didn’t.
Not yet.
As it was, we cleaned up and ripped the tape off his face in case he decided to vomit. No one wanted him to off himself that way without us. Once the bag was back on his head, we were out.
I left Kellan and Milo talking to Liam while I headed back to the clubhouse. Freddie and Jasper weren’t far behind me. I thought Doc was coming with, but he moved to talk to his guys.
Pausing at the door, I watched them. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that Ms. Stephanie was gone. I honestly wasn’t sure how any of us were up and functioning—we had no choice.
Dove needed us, and she’d been in this fight her whole life. As much as she wanted to get away from her uncle, she wasn’t abandoning us to do it. Not that it was ever a thought in my mind.
“He’ll be okay,” Jasper said, following my gaze. “We’ll all get through this, just like we have everything else.”
“Who are you, and what did you do with Hawk?” I asked, eyeing him. “When did you become Mr. Positivity?”
“The day she said yes,” he told me, and really—how the fuck did you argue with that?
Inside the clubhouse, Rome and Dove weren’t downstairs, so I made coffee and Jasper put together sandwiches. I checked for any bloodstains on me before we headed up.
The others hadn’t returned yet, and I wouldn’t fault them. They needed a moment; Milo probably more than the rest of us. When we got to the suite, it was dark in the living room, but the running lights around the ceiling were on, as was the television.
Dove was curled up in Rome’s lap, and a movie was playing on the screen. It was one of the Fast and Furious ones. Five, maybe.
“How is she?” Freddie asked as he settled on the sofa near them.
“Exhausted but strong,” Rome said. “She insisted on seeing her mother.”
I grimaced, and so did Jasper. “How’d that go?” He yanked off his shoes before he stood up.
Rome just shrugged. “Lots of tears, her mother’s, and anger, Starling’s.”
Brushing the hair away from her face, I asked, “You good, or do you need to move?”
“I’m good,” Rome said, and Freddie shifted to sit next to him and passed Rome a coffee.
“I’m grabbing a shower,” Jasper said. “Be out in a few.”
That was not a bad idea.
Thirty minutes later, we were sprawled on the sofa when Liam and Doc made their way up. Kellan and Milo were still downstairs. Doc disappeared into Dove’s room for a shower, and Liam sprawled in a chair where he could keep an eye on her and the movie.
It was what we were all doing. We finished the food, switched to the next movie, and Doc took over the other chair when Kellan came in.
“Jas?”
Jasper cut a look at him.
“Can you handle first watch?”
“Yep,” he said, rising, then bumping my shoulder.
“Four hours, then Vaughn will relieve you.”
I gave him a thumbs-up before I stretched back and closed my eyes. If I had four hours, I needed to take advantage of it.
“I’m showering, then we put her to bed,” Kellan continued.
