Chapter Twenty-Seven
Blakedrovestraighttothe ranch, a stubborn look on his face. When he parked, he got out of the truck and opened the door to look in at me. “This is where you belong. With us. I need to be able to see you and touch you so I know you’re okay.”
I nodded, unwilling to argue, especially when I wanted to be there with them. I carried Hank inside and sank onto the couch with him. He was still fussing and tugging at my hair, but I didn’t care. I was just so glad to have him somewhere safe.
“Your sister should be here any minute.” Isaac sat next to me and gently took Hank from me. “You look like you’re about to crumble, Mal.”
“Can I take a shower?” I rubbed my eyes and rubbed at my clothes. “I just feel gross.”
“Of course. You want me to sit in there with you? With Hank, so you can still see him?”
I looked over at him and felt my heart twist a little. I cupped his face and nodded. “Thank you.”
Blake started the shower for me and brought me a drink while I waited for the water to warm up. Then he helped me undress and eased me under the showerhead. “Take your time. I’m going to keep an eye out for Kara.”
I scrubbed my body and slowly let the tension leave my muscles. I silently cried while keeping an eye on Hank. I felt like the worse parent in the world. I’d insisted on taking him to Julian’s, and I’d ended up putting him in so much danger. I felt sick.
“Out of my way! I’ve seen her naked before, idiot. She’s my baby sister.” Kara’s strong voice rang through the house, and instantly, I felt a little better.
Isaac handed me a towel a second before Kara burst into the bathroom and threw herself at me. She held me tightly and cried into my hair while feeling up and down my body, checking for who knew what. When she started looking me over, even attempting to look in my armpit, I squirmed away from her and swatted at her hands.
“Kara, I’m okay.” I wrapped the towel around me and let out a sigh of relief when she wrapped her arms around me and just held me. “Just shaken up. I’m really okay, though.
“I’m going to kill Julian. Then I’m going to kill every lousy piece of shit that is in that pathetic excuse of a biker club. Then I’m going to come back here and I’m going to kill you and you for not knocking sense into your brother before this.” She jabbed her finger at Blake and Isaac, who looked like kicked puppies. “I can’t believe you let my baby sister go up there alone. You know she survived over a decade in the city without getting kidnapped once? And she’s here for less than two weeks and she gets kidnapped because she’s fighting for your idiot brother! I’m going to burn this place to the ground if you don’t get out of my face right now. I need a minute alone with mybaby sister, who got kidnapped today.”
Blake looked like he wanted to argue, but Isaac pushed him out of the bathroom. He came back a second later with Hank’s diaper bag and handed both the bag and Hank to Kara. Then, he was gone again.
Kara looked back at me and grinned. “They’re totally scared of me.”
I sat on the side of the tub and reached for Hank. “I need to feed him.”
“I’ll do it, Mal. You need to just relax before you fall apart. I can see it all over your face.” She pulled herself up on the bathroom counter and had a jar of carrots open for Hank almost like magic. Spooning it into his hungry little mouth, she looked over at me and sighed. “Today scared the shit out of me. I never want to get a call like that again.”
“It scared the shit out of me, too. I’ve never felt so helpless. I couldn’t do anything. I just sat on a couch that I’m pretty sure was made up of more sperm than fiber and waited for someone to come save us.” I shook my head. “I’m buying a taser.”
“I already have one on the way.”
I smiled, more of the tension slipping away. “You know what’s worse? I got kidnapped after being rejected. I tried to tell that idiot Mac that he was barking up the wrong tree, but he wouldn’t listen. Do you know how humbling it is to have to tell a room full of people that the person they think cares about you doesn’t? What a fucking slap to the face.”
Kara laughed but quickly tried to hide it. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. Julian is dead when I see him.”
“And a woman named Reba kept threatening me. Reba in a tube top and a visible thong.” I groaned. “This whole fucking day was a bust. Honestly, I should’ve known when we ran into that demon at the grocery store that today wasn’t my day.”
“I know the exact woman you’re talking about. She has an eyebrow ring that looks like it’s barely hanging on to her last eyebrow hair, right?” When I nodded, Kara scowled. “She showed up at the kids’ school one day last year, picking up her kid. When no one recognized her, because she hadn’t been there to get her kid in the entire two years her kid had been going there, she freaked out and caused a big scene. I saw her tits twice by the time she was done.”
I made a face. “Do I even want to know how?”
Giggling, Kara nodded. “When she tried to grab one of the teachers, the security guard tackled her. Boobs went flying every which way. I’m pretty sure there are still some kids in therapy over it.”
“And the second time?”
Full out laughing, Kara had to put the spoon down to keep from slinging carrots all over the bathroom. “As she was storming off, she turned around and flashed everyone. I think she thought it was a moment of taking back control, but instead, she stumbled into that big tree in front of the school and I literally watched her nipple get wood burn.”
I couldn’t help laughing. It was what I needed. There was nothing scary about a woman who tripped with her boobs out and knocked her nipples into a tree.
“There you are. I was worried when I first saw you, but you’re okay. You’ve always been tough.” Shrugging, Kara wiped Hank’s face and smiled. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you smiling. Try not to get kidnapped again, okay? You definitely took ten years off of my life tonight.”
“That’s not good. You’re so old already.”