Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

“I will,” she said, her voice trembling as her chin lifted just a fraction.

“It’ll be okay,” I said as her face fell and she started to cry again.

“You got a black eye wrestling with one of the kids,” Will said as he parked at the hospital.

“I have a black eye?” I said as I climbed out of the car.

“Oh, yeah,” Kara said as she followed me.

The emergency waiting room was busy, but I saw my dad and Tommy immediately. Trying not to call attention to myself, I hurried toward them, my heart in my throat.

“Took him back to surgery,” my dad said as I reached him. He wrapped his arms around me and Kara. “Haven’t heard anything yet.”

“We should be upstairs, then,” Will said.

“Just waitin’ on you,” Tommy said.

We headed toward the elevator, and Kara let go of me to walk beside my dad. A wave of pain hit me so hard that I nearly stumbled as she put her small hand in his and he looked down at her in surprise.

“He’ll be alright,” Tommy said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Man’s built like a bull.”

“Like a Mack truck,” Will said as we stepped into the elevator.

“That’s why he’s called Mack?” I said in surprise. “I thought it was because his last name is MacKenzie.”

“Both,” my dad said, smiling down at Kara.

“His real name’s Jacob,” she said. “My Nana and Grandpa call him Cubby.”

Tommy snorted. “Oh, hell, yes,” he muttered.

“Cubby, huh?” Will said with a chuckle.

“Your dad’s gonna kill you,” my dad said to Kara.

“My dad’s name is Asa,” I said, bumping Kara with my shoulder as we got off the elevator. “But you should hear the names my mom calls him.”

“Hey, now,” my dad said. “Don’t be tellin’ tales.”

I was so thankful that my dad and brothers were keeping things as light as possible for Kara, but as I checked in with the woman working at the desk, my chest felt like it was going to cave in at any second.

Mack had been in really bad shape when I’d left him, and I had no idea how much worse he’d been by the time they found him. Questions were on the tip of my tongue, but it was a while before I had the chance to ask them.

“I’m gonna head downstairs and get Ma,” Tommy said, looking up from his phone. “They just pulled in.”

“I’ll go with you,” I said quickly. Everyone looked at me in surprise. “I need to move.”

“I’ll go, too,” Kara said instantly, getting to her feet.

“Nah, baby,” my dad said. “You hang with us. They’ll be right back.”

Kara glanced at him and then back at me. I could see the indecision in her eyes, but her respect for authority had her dropping back in her seat.

“Right back,” I said. “Promise.”

I kept my mouth shut until the elevator doors closed, blocking the view of my family.

“How bad?” I asked immediately, turning to Tommy.

“Pretty fuckin’ bad,” he replied, running his hand through his hair as he met my eyes. “Don’t know how we got him here in time.”

I covered my mouth with my hand, muffling the moan that I couldn’t seem to silence.

“He was still breathin’,” Tommy said, pulling me against his side. “He was askin’ about you when we got there.”

“Of course he was,” I whispered tearfully. “Did you get the guys who took us?”

Tommy looked at me oddly. “Nah,” he said slowly, making my heart stop. “One of ’em was dead in the yard, pair of gardening shears in his face. The other one was mangled on the pool table.”

I closed my eyes in relief.

“Gardening shears?” Tommy said as the doors opened. “Seriously?”

“It was the only thing I had,” I muttered as we stepped off the elevator.

“Jesus,” he said. “I’m never pissin’ you off again.”

“Give it a couple days,” I said dryly as my mom and the rest of the women headed toward us.

“Boys are on the way,” my mom said as she hugged me. “They needed to finish some stuff up.”

“How’s Mack?” Trix asked as we stepped back on the elevator.

“He’s in surgery,” I told her. “We haven’t heard anything.”

“How bad is it?” Molly asked nervously.

“It was bad when I left,” I choked out, staring at the doors as we moved upward.

“Some stab wounds,” Tommy said quietly. “His face was pretty fucked up. Fingers were mangled.”

“He’s going to be pissed if he wakes up without a beard,” Molly said, trying and failing to act nonchalant.

“I think the missing fingernails will probably bother him more,” I replied as the doors opened.

Lily’s arm wrapped around my waist as I headed for Kara, and I welcomed the support.

“He’ll be okay,” Lily whispered. “If for no other reason than he wants to make sure you’re safe.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head to look at her.