“Unlikely,” the sheriff said. “The Mitrofanovs’ product has always been meth. The long-established Chicago mafia, The Outfit, has been in a turf war with them for quite some time. Add to that Sergei and the ten underlings you and your brothers took down, besides the two stool pigeons out of the picture, and any power the family has is gone. Keep your woman with you here in Destiny. Everything will be fine. I’ll contact you with any new details that come up in this case. How’s that agreement work for you, Emmett?” Wright held out his hand to seal the deal.
After Wright’s account of where things sat, Emmett’s strain of worry for his little one eased up. “Works fine, Sheriff.” He shook the man’s hand.
“Okay, that’s it. I may not work in this hospital, but I am a nurse. One of you can stay, but everyone else out.” Amber’s sister was a real spitfire. “Emmett needs his rest.”
Wright gave her a mock salute. “Stone, I’ll be in touch.”
“Better get back to your wife and kids.” Emmett laughed. “Sounds like you and Zane have your hands full.”
“Yes we do, and we’re loving it, although I definitely need a new hat.” Wright exited with a wave.
Belle nodded her approval. “That leaves five. I’m sure Juan is hungry, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am. May I have a hamburger?”
Amber’s sister’s edge softened as she looked at the boy. “Of course.” She turned back to the rest of the group, and her inner hellcat, claws at the ready, was back. “Two more better be right behind us or else. The one who decides to stay better be quiet and let the patient go back to sleep. Capisce?”
Belle didn’t wait for anyone to answer but turned with Juan and left the room.
“Your sister is something else, Amber,” Cody said.
She smiled and shook her head. “Wait until you really get to know her.”
Emmett looked at his brothers, his best friends in the world. “Don’t think you’re off the hook for your duties. The ranch can’t run itself.”
“You’re right about that.” Cody nodded, smiling. “I’m betting you’ll milk the two itty-bitty bullets you took for several weeks.”
“Two?”
Bryant nodded. “One in your chest and another in your leg, Emmett.”
“Quite the overachiever,” Cody teased.
In addition to the pain in his chest, he was suddenly aware of the soreness just above his right ankle. Pain meds must’ve been running low. “Are you saying that between the three of us we only have three good legs? Some kind of cowboys we make.”
Emmett and his brothers laughed, though laughing for him was a few added twinges. Best to keep chuckles to a minimum for now.
“Sawyer and Reed are picking up the slack. Should they need help, Eric and Scott said they could come out.”
Emmett smiled. The plane crash that took their parents also took Sawyer, Reed, and Erica Coleman’s parents, as well as Eric and Scott Knight’s. They’d all been teenagers at the time, and the event had sealed them together into a tight circle of eight orphans. “The Knight brothers might love being in the saddle more than being behind the desks at Two Black Knights, but I can’t imagine they’ll have time to check on our livestock and still run their multibillion-dollar company.”
“TBK will be just fine.” Cody’s eyebrows shot up. “Hell, the thing practically runs itself now.”
Amber squeezed Emmett’s hand even tighter than before. “Master, I think you, Bryant, and Cody make the best kind of cowboys, working legs or not. I love you. I love all of you.”
“I love you, little one.” He turned to his brothers. “Get out of here before Broom Hilda returns. Amber stays. Deal?”
“You bet,” Bryant said.
Cody nodded. “Take good care of our hero, sweetheart. We need him back on his feet.”
“I promise, I will.”
His brothers left him in the care of the woman who held their hearts in the palms of her delicate, little hands, the woman they would spend the rest of their lives with. “You and your sister are quite protective of Juan.”
She nodded.
“You’re going to be an amazing mother, Amber.”