Page 22 of Forever Your Touch (Manwhore #4)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Mason walked outside, unable to take seeing his family in so much pain.

Some fresh air would be good for him. Well, it wasn’t exactly fresh, but it would do.

It was times like this he missed his uncle’s farm out in Virginia.

The autumn air would be crisp and smell of the coming winter.

New York had an odd scent. It smelled of machines, of the fumes from the subway, of urine in some places, but amidst all that you caught the various delicious smells of the food vendors and the coffee shops. It wasn’t unpleasant, just different.

He walked around the side of the building, wanting to stay out of the ambulances’ way should they pull up. The emergency room exit was the only one open this time of night.

There was another guy lounging against the building smoking a cigarette. What caught Mason’s attention was the MC kutte he wore. The black leather looked worn and dusty, like he’d just stopped from a long ride. Becca’s brother, maybe?

The light wasn’t great out here, but Mason could make out short cropped blond hair.

He was tall, well over six feet. Mason figured he was about Dimitri’s height.

D was the tallest of the brothers. Hell, all of Mason’s brothers were bigger than he was.

He was the runt of the litter. Sure, he worked out so he could eat like a horse, but he wasn’t as tall or nearly as broad as his brothers.

Mason wasn’t short—he was six-two, himself—but he felt short in his family of muscled giants, something he’d learned not to let bother him over the years.

“Hey,” he greeted the guy when he got closer. “You Jackson?”

The man turned and studied him. He had eyes as blue as Becca’s. This had to be her brother.

“Who’s asking?”

“I’m Mason Kincaid, her brother-in-law.”

All the tension eased from his shoulders. He didn’t smile, but he did nod. “Yeah, I’m Jackson.”

“It’s good you’re here. At least you’ll get to see Ava in case…” He trailed off, unable to even say it. The kid would be okay.

“In case?” Jackson tilted his head, his blue eyes turning to ice.

“Didn’t anyone call you?” Mason frowned. Surely Dimitri or Becca would have at least texted Jackson?

“She called earlier today to say she was going into labor. I was already on my way, so I checked out of the hotel and hit the road. Just got in. Wanted a smoke before I went upstairs. Is something wrong with the baby?”

Mason explained about the twins and why Ava was in danger. Jackson got paler and paler as Mason talked.

“Shit. I need to go see Becca.” Jackson started to run a hand through his hair before realizing it was too short for that. Mason remembered Dimitri saying he’d just gotten out of jail. They must have made him keep it short while behind bars.

“I just came from there. She finally went to sleep, but I can take you up to the nursery to see Sasha. I’m not sure if you’re on the list to see Ava or not. NICU requirements. If you’re not, I’m sure Becca will add you when she wakes up if Dimitri doesn’t first.”

“Thanks.” Jackson took another hit off his cigarette. “I need to quit these damn things, but they help with the stress.”

“My Papa has lung cancer now because of those things, but you can’t keep them from him either. My brother caught him sneaking one last week.”

Jackson threw the butt end of the cigarette down and used his foot to snuff it out. “These things are as bad as alcohol, but I’m not about to quit that either. Let’s head up to the nursery, kid.”

Once they were back inside, Mason was able to see Jackson’s cut much better.

Knights of Carnage. The emblem of a knight holding a reaper’s scythe with flames bursting out behind the knight took up most of the back of his cut.

The front held his name, no other patches.

Mason frowned. He knew for a fact Jackson held some kind of position with the MC.

He’d asked Becca about it, but according to his cut, he was just a member.

“You staying long?” Mason hit the button in the elevator for the maternity ward.

“Yeah. I transferred up from Virginia so I could be near Becca. We have a charter in the same town she’s in.”

“Really? I’ve never seen any bikes cruising the streets.”

“That’s because most of us just got out. Last big sting the feds did took down over half the members in all our chapters. We all agreed to keep things quiet and out of sight.”

“If you’re gonna be around for a while, think you might help me with my bike?”

Jackson didn’t answer right away because the door sprang open, and Mason led him to the nursery window. “Sasha’s the third one in the front row.”

The biker finally cracked a smile when he saw Sasha. “She looks like a little old woman with all those wrinkles.”

“My babushka says we come in this world the same as we go out, wrinkled and grouchy as hell.”

“What’s a babushka ?”

“My grandmother.”

“She’s not wrong, then.” Jackson rotated his head, working some of the kinks out of his neck. “So, you like bikes?”

“Yeah. My parents aren’t any happier about that than me not wanting to join the respectable workplace either.”

“You’re in college, yeah?”

Mason nodded. “Studying computers and engineering. I figured might as well major in something I’m already good at. I do some hacking too. That’s why my brother Kade gave me a part-time job at his security firm. He thinks if I hack legally, it’ll keep me away from the illegal stuff.”

“Does it?”

“No.”

Jackson laughed. “Nice. Tell you what. Once this shit with Ava gets sorted, I’ll look at your bike. Might bring you by the clubhouse. Those guys know a lot about them too.”

“Cool.” Mason leaned against the wall while Jackson went in to hold his niece. He was going to get to visit a real MC clubhouse.

Awesome.

Jo blinked, the light from the windows hurting her eyes.

She heard the steady beeping of machines and yesterday hit her full throttle.

As soon as she remembered, the pain came back.

She had no clue why the brain did that, but it always worked like that.

You didn’t feel the pain until you either saw the injury or remembered it. The weirdness of the human brain.

She looked around and saw her parents quietly talking in the corner and a strange guy passed out in the chair against the wall. The bed held a strange girl as well. She didn’t appear to be a patient. She wasn’t hooked up to anything, and she still had all her own clothes on.

“Finally.” Her head twisted around to see Keith sitting in the chair. His familiar face was a welcome sight. She’d missed him so much. Despite her anger at him trying to control her life, she loved her brother. More than she did her sisters, but she’d never admit that out loud.

“Honey!” Her mother rushed over and hugged her, tears slipping down her face. “Thank God.”

“Mom, I’m okay.” She patted her back awkwardly. “Really.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Her father might look relieved, but he was pissed as hell.

“That I was gonna mow the grass?” She cleared her throat. “Is there any water in here?”

Keith got it for her, and she took several long gulps. Her throat and mouth resembled sandpaper more than anything else.

“Thanks.” She handed the Styrofoam cup back to him. “Where’s Ray?”

“Not here.” At Keith’s clipped words, her heart sank. He hadn’t come.

“Who are the people sleeping?”

“Nik and Lily. They’re Mason’s family. Mase said they came up here to stay with you while he went to the chapel to pray for the baby.”

“Baby?”

“His sister-in-law went into labor with her twins. Something’s wrong with one of them.”

“Oh no,” she murmured. Mason had to be going out of his mind with worry. He loved his family like she did her own.

“His family has been in and out all day yesterday and all night checking on you,” Keith went on. “Just because you’re important to Mason.”

“They did?” Something fluttered in her stomach, and she felt her chest tighten. His family, who didn’t know her, for the most part, checked on her? Ray’s parents had never done that.

“Yes. We thanked them for watching out for you. The Kincaids are the nicest people.” Her mother took the last empty chair by her bed. “I like them, especially Mason. He cares a lot about you.”

“He’s turned into my best friend.” She moved, and pain shot up her entire leg into her hip, ripping a cry out of her. Damn, that hurt.

It woke both Lily and Nik, who sat up, their eyes going straight to her. Nik looked like Mason, a carbon copy of him actually. Nik was bigger than Mason. That was the only real difference between the two of them. It was a little freaky.

“Oh, hey.” Nik ran a hand through his very messy hair. “How you feeling, Jo?”

“Like my leg got run over by a lawnmower?” She noticed how quickly he got up and went over to where Lily was sitting quietly, her blue eyes wide. She reminded Jo of Snow White. Creamy ivory skin, hair as black as Nik’s, and the most beautiful dark blue eyes.

Were all the Kincaids outright beautiful? She wanted to hate them or envy them, but she couldn’t. They’d been too nice to her and her family.

Nik didn’t touch Lily right away. He gave her a second, and she blew out a breath before nodding slightly. Then he pulled her to him, giving her a quick kiss. “Good morning, Lily Bells.”

“Good morning,” she whispered. “Is there any news on the baby?”

Nik looked over to them, and Keith shook his head. “Last I heard, the doc took Ava into surgery. There were some complications. I think your family is in the chapel right now.”

“Thank you. We’ll come back and see you in a bit, Jo.” Nik took his wife’s hand and led her out of the room, presumably to find the chapel.

“That is just awful.”

“We’ve been praying for them,” her mother said. “They have to be so scared.”

“About as scared as we were when Keith told us you’d let the lawnmower run over your leg,” her dad said, the anger still in his voice.