Zero Regret (Lost Kings MC 13)

“No strenuous activity.”

“I’ll warn his old lady.”

Doc shakes my hand.

“Thanks again, Doc,” I shake his hand and point him in Shadow’s direction. “Make sure he didn’t suffer any more brain damage than he already has.”

I swear Doc rolls his eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

I continue down the hallway and knock on Teller’s door. “Hear you were showing off your ass.”

“Fuck you. You should see the size of the hole he dug in my thigh.”

Murphy grins, ignoring Teller’s bitching. “He’s weirdly proud of his ass.”

The smile slides off my face as I approach. Teller’s whiter than the damn bedsheets. “Seriously, bro. You all right?”

“I’ll be peachy once these painkillers kick in. The fucking stitches hurt more than the damn bullet did.”

“Shit. Either of you call Rock?”

“I did.” Murphy nods. “I don’t think he found Teller’s screaming in the background all that comforting.”

Fucking great.

As expected, two hours later, Rock shows up. I know it’s him by the way he thunders down the hallway. Teller’s asleep but won’t be for long.

“Jesus Christ, is he all right?” Rock storms into the room, looking like the raging, overprotective papa bear we’re always teasing him about being times a thousand.

“Doc says he’ll be okay. As long as he follows directions.”

“Thank fuck.”

Murphy raises his hand. “Uh, I’m fine too, Prez. In case you were worried about the rest of us.”

Rock relaxes his stance and shrugs. “Of course, I’m worried about you. Don’t be an asshole.” He lifts his chin at Teller. “You all right, knucklehead?”

Teller blinks and gives Rock a serene smile. “Yup, just added a few more scars to my already fucked-up leg.”

“Ladies love the battle scars,” I assure him.

“Um, no we don’t,” Charlotte says from behind me.

I open the door wider. “Hey, sweetheart,” I say. “Glad you’re here.”

She reaches out and squeezes my hands. “Is everyone else all right?” she asks in a low voice.

“Yeah. Thanks for coming down.”

Teller holds out his hand, motioning Charlotte closer. “What are you doing here?”

“I drove down behind Rock,” she explains.

“I said don’t mention it to Charlotte.” Teller glares at Rock who shrugs.

“You take a bump to the head and forget who gives the orders?” Rock asks.

Charlotte slides around Murphy and takes Teller’s hand. She’s a damn miracle worker because his bitching dies down as soon as she snuggles up next to him.

Rock jerks his head toward the door. “I’ll check on you later. Get some rest, knucklehead.”

Murphy follows Rock and I into the hallway and over to my room.

“What the fuck happened?” Rock asks in a low, controlled voice as soon as I shut the door.

I explain what went down.

“Why the fuck are we always getting shot at down here?”

“Been shot at plenty of times in our own territory, Prez,” Murphy points out.

Rock shoots a glare at him, then me. “You trust Shadow?”

“Nope. He kind of had me in a tough spot though.”

“Yeah,” Rock finally agrees. He gives me a once-over. “You okay?”

“Not really. Don’t like getting my brothers shot.”

“Rather take the hit yourself, right?”

“Kinda.”

“Aw, I’m touched, Dads,” Murphy snarks.

Rock laughs and shakes his head. “Anyone tell Heidi yet?”

“No,” Murphy says. “She’s got an early morning class. Teller didn’t want her to know. He’ll talk to her this weekend.”

“Good luck with that.” Rock snorts.

“You staying over?” I ask.

“If you’ve got room, yeah. I’d like to visit Sway with you in the morning.”

I chuckle, not surprised at all that Rock correctly guessed where I planned to head first thing tomorrow morning.

Chapter Twenty

Z

Sitting with Sway’s gotten to be a regular occurrence when I’m not busy doing a million other things to keep his charter afloat. Today will be a little different.

“You don’t have to keep coming down, brother,” Sway says as soon as he sees Rock.

Rock actually smiles. “Sure, I do. Gotta make sure you’re not trying to keep my VP.”

Sway chuckles, then abruptly stops when he takes a closer look at our tense faces. “What’s going on?”

I shut the hospital door, wishing it had a lock. “Ran into some trouble last night.” After a sweep of the room, I give him the abbreviated version of events.

“Jesus Christ. Malone go up with the place?”

“We’re not sure. Didn’t exactly stick around and wait for the cops to get there.”

“Yeah, okay.” He stares off into space for a few seconds. “I knew Shadow had a piece he was seeing there. That’s why he usually took that assignment.”

Well, at least Shadow might not have made up the whole thing. “Is it possible she’s working with the Vipers?”

“Don’t know. Never met her.” He clenches his fists. “Feeling fucking useless here.”

Rock and I share a look. There’s no point stressing Sway out in his condition. As a courtesy, I needed to let him know what was going on, but he can’t help us right now.

“The guys are digging into it today,” I assure him. “What’s new with you? Terrorize any more nurses?”

“Nah.” He chuckles, which turns into a cough.

“How’s the baby?” Sway lifts his chin at Rock when he settles back against the pillows.

The question seems to surprise Rock almost as much as me and he takes a beat to answer. “She’s good. Hope and I talked about bringing her to visit…”

“Nah.” Sway waves the suggestion away. “This ain’t no place for a baby. Fuck only knows what she’d catch.”

“Yeah, that was our thought. But Hope sends her regards to you, Sway.”

“Appreciate it.” His gaze slides to me. “What about you? Someone said you got an ol’ lady and kid. When’d that happen?”

Surprised he gives a shit. “It’s complicated. She’s moving down here with me, so I’ll bring ‘em by soon.”

“That’d be nice.” He closes his eyes and puts his head back. “Missed a lot when mine were little. Let Tawny do it all on her own. Wish I hadn’t,” he mutters.

Rock and I share a what the fuck look. Sway’s never been one to venture into the deep end of conversation.

“They turned out good, Sway. Janice has been here every day—”

A faint smile ghosts his lips. “She’s the best parts of both of us.” He cracks open one eye. “You make sure none of the brothers are sniffing after her.”

I hold my hands in the air. “I’ll do my best, brother.”

“Danny’s been keepin’ an eye on her,” Rock says.

“Shocked he’s here at all. I was a real shit to him when he decided not to patch-in.”

Again, Rock and I are too dumbstruck to respond.

“You’re feeling awfully reflective today,” Rock finally says.

Sway huffs out a laugh. “A bullet to the head’ll do that to a man.”

“Suppose so.”

Sway’s sort of in and out of it after that. I’m thinking of asking Rock if he wants to follow me back to the clubhouse when the door swings open.

Christ, I wish we hadn’t stuck around for so long.

“Z?” Shock colors Stella’s voice and I force myself not to groan. I’d heard she’d been to visit Sway a few times. Luckily, I’d managed to avoid her.

Guess my luck ran out.

I shoot Rock a don’t you dare leave look. Thankfully, instead of laughing at the absurd situation, he nods and sits back. “Hey, S

tella,” he greets.

“Is it…is it okay? Steer said I could pop in and visit.”

“I ain’t dead yet, sweetheart.” Sway motions her closer without opening his eyes.

Wearing jeans and an oversized flannel shirt, she looks more like a college student than an adult film star. She takes Sway’s hand and stares down at him in an affectionate way that’s honestly kind of creepy since Sway’s daughter is only a few years younger than Stella.