• Twenty-Eight •

Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Rumor

Maeme was out of the door the moment we made it to the porch, throwing her arms around me.

The tight hold she had on me as she let out a, “Thank you, Jesus,” left me with the urge to tear up and laugh at the same time.

I was positive Jesus had had nothing to do with my being here. There was nothing Christlike about the slit throats and trophy eyeballs that Gage had pulled from his pocket.

“Doc is downstairs, working on stitching up one of the boys from Mississippi and giving another one a blood transfusion, but he’s already got the ultrasound machine set up and is waiting on us,” she said, patting my arm as she pulled back and looked at me with watery eyes. “But you’re here, and you are okay.”

I turned back to King, who stood there with his crutches, and noticed the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes now that we stood under the light of the porch. He looked pale and weak.

Panicked, I let go of Maeme to turn to him. “You need to lie down. Get off your leg. Sleep,” I told him, wrapping my arm around his waist.

He chuckled. “Sweets, I’m not lying down without you. And I sure as hell am not letting you go down there and have an ultrasound without me.”

“But you look pale and like you might pass out,” I argued.

“I’m fine. Stop worrying and get your sexy ass in that house.”

“Come on now. We will see to both of you,” Maeme said, opening the door and ushering us inside.

King was good with crutches, I realized. Really good. I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time he’d ever used them. I walked beside him as we followed Maeme to the stairs leading to the basement.

Then, she paused and glanced at King. “Do you need the elevator?”

He shook his head. “I’m good.”

Elevator? I hadn’t known there was an elevator.

She didn’t argue with him, but I wanted to demand he use this elevator. I turned to look back at him, and he grinned.

“I got this, sweets.”

“What if you fall?”

He leaned close to me and pressed a kiss to my closed lips, which I was not opening until after I brushed my teeth.

“I’ve walked down these stairs in worse scenarios. Crutches are child’s play.”

“But there is an elevator. Why?”

He cupped my face. “Because it only fits one and I refuse to be away from you for a fucking second.”

Oh. I stared at him, wishing my mouth didn’t taste like vomit. I wanted to kiss him. Tell him I loved him. Instead, I turned and walked down the stairs slowly in case King needed me to catch him.

When we were both at the bottom, I sighed in relief.

Stellan, Ronan, Monte, Barrett, and Roland were all sitting in the sofas around the coffee table. They were looking at me and King.

“Good to see you, Rumor,” Ronan said.

What did I say to that? Thank you?

“She’s been through a lot. Not up for talking,” King said, placing a hand on my back. “Come on, sweets.”

None of them said anything more as we passed them. A man I didn’t recognize stepped out of one of the rooms. He looked to be about King’s father’s age, but he wasn’t dressed like the older men. His jeans, cowboy boots, and fitted black shirt reminded me of something King would wear. The tattoo that wrapped around his arm looked like chains.

When our eyes met, he looked familiar.

“Rumor, this is Linc Shephard. Stellan’s brother. He runs the Mississippi branch of the family.”

The eyes. That was it. He had Stellan’s eyes. Although that was where the similarity ended.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry you have hurt men because of me.”

He shook his head. “Not your fault.”

If I had stayed inside, like Sebastian had told me to, then it wouldn’t have happened, but I didn’t have time to argue. I wanted King to sit down. He looked like every step he took was painful.

Linc walked past us toward the room with the other men. Dr. Drew stepped out of the furthest room on the right, followed by Maeme. She was smiling.

“Come this way,” she said.

Dr. Drew gave me a reassuring look as I passed him and stepped into the room.

King didn’t allow more than a few inches of space between us. When he looked at the doctor with a scowl, I realized he was still angry about my checkup. Did he not want the doctor to do this? We needed to check the baby, and I liked Dr. Drew.

“Oh good Lord, King. He delivered you. He’s stitched you up more times than can be counted. Stop acting like he wronged you,” Maeme scolded him. “You’ve already choked him out over it. Let it go.”

I spun around and gaped at King. “You did what?” I asked him, horrified.

He threw one more glare at the doctor before looking at me. “He touched what was mine.”

“I am pregnant, King. He has to check me.”

King flexed his neck and popped his jaw like he was trying to calm down. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Ignore him,” Maeme said. “Lie on the table, Rumor.”

“I’ll also need her to pull her bottoms down just above her pubic line. Can he handle that?” the doctor asked.

“YES,” Maeme declared. “I will handle him. And if this doesn’t work and you need to do an internal one, I will call Stellan and Ronan in here to deal with his crazy ass.”

“Like hell!” King snapped at his grandmother.

She stepped around the table and jabbed his chest with her fingernail. “Do. Not. Speak. To. Me. Like. That. Again.”

To my surprise, King actually simmered down somewhat. I looked between the two of them before climbing onto the table.

King moved past his grandmother to stand beside me, taking my hand in both of his. I lifted my eyes to look up at him. His perfect face was tense as he watched the doctor setting things up.

“You want to pull her pants down for me?” the doctor asked.

King moved then and gently tugged the front of my leggings down, keeping his hand lying flat over my pubic bone as if he was hiding something. If I wasn’t so worried about him taking out the doctor, I would laugh at this behavior.

The doctor glanced at him, then looked at me. “Normally, the gel is cold, but Maeme made sure yours was warmed first,” he said with a smile before he covered my stomach with the clear gel.

I turned my head to the screen as he began the ultrasound. I didn’t know what I was seeing, but I held my breath as I waited until he said something.

A small thudding sound filled the room.

“That’s the heartbeat,” he said with a smile. “Nice and strong.”

King’s hand tightened on mine as I kept my eyes glued on the screen.

“This,” Dr. Drew said, “is your baby.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, barely making out the small pea shape growing inside of me.

“Measuring right on schedule,” he added. “Everything looks just fine.”

Turning to look up at King, I realized he was watching me. The awe in his expression took my breath away. He wanted us. Both of us. The words I love you were right there. I had to fight to keep from blurting them out right now.

The paddle on my stomach was removed, and King pulled up my leggings, covering me, then tugged my shirt into place. His need to keep me covered made me feel special. As if he saw me as something he cherished.

“Maeme tells me that you have a lot of questions and concerns. She’s ordered you a book, but I have one, too, that I brought you. My cell number is on the front. Call me, text me, with any questions you have. It doesn’t matter the time. Also, I brought you some pills to help with the nausea.”

King helped me sit up while he balanced on his crutches. I reached for the book and took it, feeling as if I had just been given gold.

“Thank you,” I breathed, clutching it tightly.

He gave me a quick smile, then stood up. “I need to go tend to my other patients. If you don’t have any other questions for me, that is.”

I shook my head, feeling guilty that there were people here who had been injured while saving me, and he was in here, giving me an ultrasound.

“Thank you. Please, go help them.”

He glanced at King before turning and leaving.

Maeme’s sniffle reminded me she was still there. I shifted my body to get off the table and looked over at her. She was wiping away tears and grinning.

“Oh my,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t know I was gonna get so emotional.”

Then, she came and gave me a quick hug before turning to King. She squeezed his arms and looked up into his eyes, saying nothing before leaving the room.

When I looked back at King, he was watching me. I wanted to know what he was thinking, if he was happy. Or did this make him feel trapped? I wished he’d say something. Let me have an idea of what he felt.

“Let’s go to bed,” he said.

I nodded, knowing he needed to lie down. All my worries could wait. Getting him healed was most important right now.