“She’s fine,” he said, catching my eyes. “It’s just Molly.”
“Bad business making war with children,” Molly said quietly, her Russian accent spot-on.
“Oh, God,” my mom said as she came hurrying across the yard. There were still people everywhere, but they’d quieted down and were staring as I lifted Molly into my arms. She moaned deeply as I moved her, and that’s when I saw her arm. It was black and blue and swollen as hell.
“Someone get Dragon!” my dad yelled. “Samson, Hulk, Casper, meet you out front.”
I hadn’t even realized that he’d come up behind me.
“What happened?” my dad barked as I carried Molly toward my room. My heart was beating so hard, I wondered if I was about to have a heart attack.
“I went to my dad’s house,” Molly slurred as her eyes found Rebel in Tommy’s arms. He was keeping pace with us, just enough distance between us that he wasn’t in my way, but close enough that Rebel could see her mom. After she’d called my name, she’d gone silent, but she watched Molly like a hawk.
“Who was there?” my dad asked patiently as my mom held open the back door to the clubhouse.
“Three guys. Two big, one little. No—fat. Short and fat.” More blood came out of her mouth and I didn’t know if it was from cuts in her mouth or something else. I barely breathed as my dad swung open the door to my room and I stepped inside.
“Russian?” my dad asked as Farrah came running into the room with Brenna and Dragon on her heels.
“I think so,” Molly said, pushing against me as I tried to lay her down on the bed. I stepped back just in time for her to sit back up, holding that swollen arm against her belly. “They didn’t introduce themselves, but they sounded like Russian accents.”
“Lots of eastern Europeans have similar accents,” Dragon said, leaning against the doorframe.
“I might be wrong,” Molly admitted as Tommy carried Rebel into the room. “Come here, boo.”
Tommy set Rebel on her feet, and she walked slowly to Molly, peeking up at all the strangers as she went. Without thought, I grabbed her under the armpits and hefted her onto the bed. She’d grown a lot since I’d seen her last.
“They’re at your dad’s place?” my dad asked.
“They were when we left,” Molly answered, wincing as Reb leaned against her side. Her little face was hidden in Molly’s arm pit.
“Why’d you come here?” Dragon barked, making Molly’s eyes drop to the floor.
“I shouldn’t have,” she choked out, bracing one arm on the bed as she tried to stand back up.
I jerked toward her, sure she was going down, when Dragon spoke again.
“You’re Duncan’s kid—always welcome here. Sit your ass back down.” He sighed. “We’ll head on over to your pop’s, see what’s goin’ on.”
“You’ll be too late,” Molly said seriously, lifting her eyes from the floor. “They wanted a list and he said he’d give it if they let me go. He’s already dead.”
“Motherfuck!” Casper hissed from the doorway.
“Gotta go,” my dad said, kissing my mom’s lips as he left the room.
“Be back soon,” Dragon said to Brenna, pulling her in for a kiss as he left.
“Don’t kiss me, just go,” Farrah ordered Casper, making him grin. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Love you.”
“If you get yourself hurt, I’ll cut your balls off,” she snapped, moving toward Molly. “I love you, too.”
Tommy followed them out of the room, and it was just me and the women. I had no idea what the fuck to do. Part of me was anxious to follow my brothers, but I couldn’t make my feet move. It was the closest I’d been to Molly and Rebel in over a year and I couldn’t make myself walk away. A few seconds later, I heard the roar of pipes and realized my decision had been made for me. They were leaving me behind.
“What hurts?” my mom asked gently as she crouched down in front of Molly.
“Everything,” she mumbled through swollen lips. Her words grew more garbled by the minute, probably from the swelling. It would get worse before it was better.
“Are you okay?” Amy asked as she pushed in the door, closing it behind her. She took in Molly’s appearance, then met her gaze straight on. “You want Will out of the room?” Something in her voice made me stiffen, looking down at Molly’s scrub bottoms that were covered in blood.
“I don’t care,” Molly mumbled, her eyes quickly flickering toward me. Farrah handed Rebel her phone with some obnoxious game showing on the screen and sat next to her, speaking quietly until Rebel moved out from under Molly’s arm.
“Gotta take off that top to see what we’re workin’ with,” Amy said calmly, moving farther into the room as my mom got out of her way.