Joy (Hell's Handlers MC 7)

We’re safe.

Might take a few hundred more repetitions to actually believe it.

“That was too close.”

Copper grunted.

As he navigated his way through the snow-covered park, Shell remained quiet. Her car wasn’t exactly built to handle unplowed roads, and he’d need to concentrate. Even if she’d wanted to chat, her body might not have let her. The longer they drove, the heavier her eyelids grew until they remained closed for about ten seconds with each blink.

“Keep ’em closed, baby. Rest. I got you.”

“Copper?” She blinked and forced her eyes open.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think the baby is okay?” she asked in a tiny voice both afraid to breathe life into the question and worried about his reaction.

One massive hand lifted hers then placed it on his thigh before returning to the wheel. “Yeah, Shell. With a tough mom like you and a mean sonofbitch like me for a dad, our baby is swimming around in there like an Olympic champ.”

That was it. Her eyes refused to remain open any longer, but she squeezed Copper’s thigh in response. Of course, he wasn’t a doctor. Had no idea if his words were accurate, but the confidence and acceptance in them bolstered her.

“Love you so much, Shell.”

A smile tilted her lips as her ol’ man’s words warmed her more than the heat of the car.

“Love you, too,” she said right before sleep claimed her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ZACH

Even though his woman was safe, warm, and insisting she felt fine, Zach found it impossible to be more than one foot away from Toni’s side. Actually, he refused to remove his touch from her body.

It’d just been too damn close. And now they had Lindsey, someone connected to the Chrome Disciples in a way they’d yet to determine. No way in hell was he letting his woman out of his sight long enough to blink. Even with a prospect shadowing their every move.

“You good, babe?” he asked, probably for the hundredth time in a few hours.

With a roll of her eyes, Toni huffed. “Zach, stop fussing. I’m good. You’re the one who was shot for crying out loud. I can’t believe you wouldn’t even take any damn pain medicine.”

“What? For this tiny scratch?” He shrugged his shoulder. A sharp stab of pain nearly took him to his knees.

Okay, maybe it was more than a scratch, but he’d refused medication all the same. First, he wasn’t a pussy, and second, he needed his wits about him.

Again, she rolled her eyes. “Come on, tough guy.” She threaded her arm through his uninjured one, giving a light tug. “Let’s check on Lindsey. This is her room.” She pushed the door open and quietly stepped inside with Zach right at her back.

Toni had been treated for mild hypothermia in the emergency room, given scrubs to replace her wet clothing, then released. Lindsey hadn’t fared as well, having been out in the elements far longer than either Toni or Shell.

She’d been treated in the emergency room as well, then admitted for a night for observation, per the physician. Now, she lay in bed with electric blankets and an IV of warm saline working to heat her blood.

“Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?” Toni sat at the edge of Lindsey’s bed. The girl’s tearful eyes immediately went to the bulky bandage on Zach’s arm, and her crying went from soft tears to full-on snotty hysteria.

According to the medical staff, Lindsey was progressing nicely except for one thing. She hadn’t stopped sobbing. The team wanted her calm, and so far, they’d failed at that task in a spectacular way, so they’d come to find Toni. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea.

“I-I-I’m so s-sorry,” Lindsey said for what had to be the millionth time since she woke up on the drive to the hospital. They were the only three words she’d uttered to him or Toni. And she said them over and over again in the car, ER, and now. Toni, his amazing fucking woman, had the patience of a fucking saint. She sat at the bedside, Lindsey’s hand in hers making cooing sounds and uttering nonsense sentences to get the girl to calm.

Zach wasn’t quite as patient, and though his heart broke for the girl, they needed information, and they needed it yesterday. They now had someone the Disciples most likely considered their property. Finding out how much blowback they’d suffer became number their one priority as soon as everyone was deemed out of the woods medically.

“Lindsey,” he said in a sharp, but not harsh tone. Enough to snap her attention his way and cut off her babbling, but not to upset her further.

As predicted, the plan worked. She jumped then shifted her gaze his way as the apologizes ceased. “Y-yes, sir?”

Toni laughed. “Oh, God, don’t call him that. It’ll go straight to his head.”

The girl gave the tiniest wide-eyed, watery smile.