Page 28

Chapter 28

You Gotta Fight

Mensa

“Whitney, don’t!” Mensa shouted, the moment he saw Rod pull a gun. The sound of his voice was raw and foreign to his ears.

He heard the gunshot, and saw Whitney’s body jerk on impact. His whole world fell out from under him. She took a bullet in her upper torso. Then he saw Whitney fall to the ground and uncontrollable rage engulfed him. He felt Finn or Gamble grab for his arm, but he broke free and ran toward Rod. He yanked Rod around by his shoulder. Before Rod could take aim with the gun, Mensa was tackled to the ground.

Mensa shoved against the man and found Brute had taken him down. “Goddammit, let me up! I’m gonna kill that asshole!”

Over Brute’s shoulder, Rod hovered over them and laughed. “Typical Riot pussies. Won’t let another brother fight because you’re all pussy-whipped by your fuckin’ women.”

Sirens wailed in the air.

Two of the Corrupt Chrome members shuffled their feet. One of them looked toward the back gate. “We gotta move, Rod.”

Rod lifted his chin. He moved toward the bikes, passing Whitney’s body along the way, and the asshole stopped and kicked her in the ribs.

Mensa struggled against Brute’s dead weight. “That asshole is fucking dead!”

“Let him leave,” Brute muttered.

“Let me up. Whitney needs help. Get the fuck off me!”

Brute backed off by two inches and with herculean effort, Mensa shoved him away. Within seconds, he’d scrambled to Whitney’s side. He found she had a pulse, but when he rolled her over, the amount of blood on her upper chest gutted him. In a flash he shrugged out of his cut, and tore his t-shirt off to put it on the exit wound.

“You gotta fight, Blume. Don’t give up, baby,” he murmured.

The sound of motorcycles roaring away enraged him anew. A huge part of him wanted to chase after them and wreak vengeance, but there was no way he would leave Whitney’s side. He forced himself to remain calm for her sake.

She opened her eyes. He leaned forward in time to hear her whisper, “I love you.”

He stared into her eyes. “I love you, too. Now, you fight this, woman.”

She closed her eyes just as two EMTs squatted next to him. Their instructions for him to let them take over barely registered, but he found himself standing back shirtless, watching them move her onto a gurney.

One of his brothers handed him his cut, and he shrugged it on. He turned to follow the EMTs, but stopped short at the sight of police officers blocking his way. “I need to go with her, she’s my fiancée and she was shot by a Corrupt Chrome member.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” the closest officer said.

Mensa focused on the gold name plate which read, Officer Wilson. He did his best to make his tone neutral. “She could be dying.”

“We have to secure this crime scene, and question your involvement in her shooting.”

“I’ll answer all the questions you want at the hospital.”

Another officer who seemed to be in charge sidled closer. “I’ll question you and get someone to take you to the hospital.”

Something told Mensa that was all hot air, but he nodded, and prayed what the officer said was true.

The sergeant who questioned Mensa took his sweet time about it… most likely because he knew Mensa desperately wanted to get to the hospital for Whitney.

“I think we’re done here, Mr. Ragstone. I’ll have a public safety officer take you to the hospital.”

No doubt that public safety officer would be none other than Phil seeing as Mensa had caught sight of the asshole meandering the scene.

Mensa held back his lip curl. “Thanks, but I’ll ride.”

“You didn’t ask which hospital.”

Mensa’s lips twisted. “Merit Health’s the only one equipped for that sort of gunshot wound, right?”

The sergeant gave him a dry look. “Right.”

Mensa hurried out of the compound. He called Nadia on his way back to his bike.

“Mensa,” she answered, panic lacing her tone.

“Go to Merit Health. Have the prospect drive your car. Whitney’s been shot. I don’t know much more because the cops kept me from going with her.”

“Oh, dear Lord above,” she whispered.

“I’ll see you there, Nadia,” he said when he reached his bike and ended the call.

“I’m riding with you,” Finn said from his right side.

Mensa hadn’t even heard him approach.

Ten minutes later Finn and Mensa pulled into the hospital parking lot. He saw the prospect parking Nadia’s car. Mensa found a spot, parked his bike, and jogged over to Nadia.

She grabbed hold of Mensa’s forearm and walked beside him. It was the first time she’d shown signs of her age around him.

“Wyatt should be here in a little over an hour. He got a call from the EMTs when she was brought in – guess he’s her emergency contact.”

Mensa looked at her askance. “That’s gonna blow his cover.”

She shook her head. “He told me not to worry about it.”

Mensa sighed. “Whatever. I hope they’ll tell you what’s going on.”

“How did this happen?” she asked.

Mensa covered her hand on his arm. “I’ll tell you right after we know how she’s doing.”

“Did they get the shooter?” Nadia asked as they went through the sliding doors.

“Not yet,” Mensa muttered. What he didn’t say was that he hoped they didn’t because he wanted to rip Rod apart, limb from limb.

There would be time for that. In the meantime, he would strategize the best way to make Rod suffer.

The nurse behind the counter checked Nadia’s ID, typed on her computer, and looked up at them. “She’s in surgery right now. I don’t have any idea how long that will take.”

She directed them to the appropriate waiting room.

Mensa guided Nadia to a chair and she patted the seat next to her. “Now you tell me what happened, Kenneth.”

Something about her use of his first name reminded him of how Whitney said it and he sat. Always a believer in ripping off the bandage, he told her what happened as fast as he could.

“And that fellow got away?” she asked.

He scoffed. “He’s no fellow, he’s pure scum. Assholes like him never stick around when cops are coming.”

“Why did he want her?”

Mensa shrugged a shoulder. “Why does any lunatic fixate on a gorgeous woman?”

Nadia shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“The night her car was stolen, Rod interrupted her asking me about the security feeds at Twisted Talons. He’d apparently talked to her once at Dontrell’s restaurant because he claimed to remember her car. I’m not sure I buy that, but he offered to help her find the car. She told him she wanted the cops to handle it.”

“That makes sense,” Nadia muttered.

Mensa nodded. “An asshole like Rod doesn’t deal well with getting rejected. Finding out later that she’s with me didn’t help either.”

“Don’t blame yourself, now.”

Mensa tipped his head side to side. “Hard not to, Nadia. I made a big deal about how she was my woman thinking that would get through to an asshole like him. All he did was point out she wasn’t wearing a cut, and he’d recognize her as mine if she had a property patch. My guess is that upped the ante for him. Get the girl and fuck with me all at the same time.”

She patted his arm. “Still not your fault.”

He turned his face to hers. “At a minimum, I should have had her at the clubhouse with me. Or I should have had Riley, or someone go to your shop and be with her.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you?” Wyatt demanded from the entrance to the waiting room.

“This is no time for that question or that tone, Wyatt,” Nadia said.

Wyatt’s hard stare softened when he turned his gaze to Nadia. “Have they said how she’s doing?”

Nadia stood. “She’s in surgery. That’s all we know so far. Come give me a hug. Did you call your parents? I should have done that by now.”

While they hugged, Riley bustled into the waiting room. “Oh, my God, Mensa! I came as quick as I could. How is she doing?”

He stood, went to Riley, and gave her a hug. “In surgery. No idea when they’ll be done,” he murmured against the top of her hair.

She pulled back from his hold and rested her hands on his shoulders. “And you saw it happen?”

“Why didn’t you stop it from happening?” Wyatt bit out through clenched teeth from the sound of it.

“Wyatt, I’m not gonna tell you again. That isn’t going to help. He’s already spoken to the police,” Nadia said.

“Aunt Nadia, if he’s as serious about her as she is about him, then he’s gonna have to get used to me questioning him.”

Mensa turned around to face Wyatt, but he and Nadia were in a stare-down.

Nadia’s lips pursed. “Not at a time like this, he won’t.”

Mensa hated it when family members argued with one another. “If I could have taken that bullet, I would have.”

Wyatt turned back to Mensa. “Sure, you would have. Getting shot hurts like hell.”

“Strange. The surgeons told me after I got stabbed that knives are worse, but frankly, it doesn’t fuckin’ matter what hurts more. You’re aunt is right, this isn’t the time or place, and I’d rather spare Nadia from hearing this, but I’ve never been this goddamned worried about anyone before in my life. I saw her body jerk when she took the hit. My whole world fell out from under me in that moment.”

“I almost believe you.”

“Don’t give a fuck whether you do or not. She has to pull through. If she doesn’t, I’ll be in jail because I’ll make it my mission—”

Wyatt held up a hand. “Don’t finish that. I’m an FBI agent, and I’ll take action if you make a threat to kill someone in front of me.”

Mensa dipped his chin. “There wasn’t a damned thing I could do to keep that asswipe from shooting her. Not without having three or more Corrupt Chrome members shoot at her instead.”

“He’s right. Two other members had guns out when she took off, and there were two others at the edge of their clubhouse,” Roman said from behind Mensa.

“Rod’s known for demanding he gets the first shot,” Cynic muttered from Mensa’s other side.

“Christ, is your whole club here?” Wyatt asked.

Mensa looked over his shoulder to see Roman, Finn, Gamble, Cynic, Har, and Brute. He nodded at them, and slowly turned back to Wyatt. “Almost. The others are probably taking care of business at Twisted Talons.”

Har, Brute, Roman, and Cynic moved to one side of the waiting room, while Finn and Gamble joined Riley, who sat close to Nadia.

Wyatt glanced past him and started forward when a man said, “Blume family.”

Nadia stood and brought Riley with her, since she had a firm grip on Riley’s hand.

Once Nadia was closer, the doctor introduced himself. “Ms. Blume is out of surgery. She’s in serious but stable condition. The bullet missed her lung, but did nick her collar bone. We were able to remove the bone fragments. She’s going to be in a lot of pain, and her range of motion will be very limited.”

Mensa unclenched his jaw and pain flooded his tongue – he hadn’t noticed he’d been biting it.

“Will she get that range of motion back?” Wyatt asked.

The doctor pressed his lips together as he deliberated it. “That’s going to depend. She will definitely be in physical therapy for at least six weeks to rehabilitate it. The damage was done to her left side; if she’s left-handed that—”

“She isn’t,” Mensa and Wyatt said at the same time.

The doctor’s eyes darted between them. “That’s good, but she will still be challenged with some activities. If she heals well, and is diligent about her therapy, I imagine she’ll have a decent range of motion again.”

“What about blood loss? Did she need a transfusion? There was a lot of blood coming from that wound,” Mensa said.

“We gave her a transfusion. Now that we’ve stitched up the wound, as long as she doesn’t get an infection, she should be fine.”

“Can we see her?” Nadia asked.

The doctor met Nadia’s gaze. “She’s still under anesthesia and is in the Intensive Care unit for tonight – in case things deteriorate – even though they shouldn’t. Family can see her, but only one at a time. I’ll get a nurse to lead you back.”

As soon as the doctor was out of ear shot, Wyatt looked at Mensa. “You can go now.”

“Don’t be a jackass,” Riley chided.

Mensa fought laughing because that was very close to what he was going to say.

Wyatt arched his brows at Riley. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Whitney was in her wedding, so don’t you dare say it doesn’t concern her. Furthermore, I was ready to say the same thing. Nobody’s leaving, Wyatt. Your sister wouldn’t want that. Keep this up, I’ll have you tossed out of here,” Nadia said.

“Aunt Nadia—”

She held a hand up. “Nope. You sit down and say a prayer. We have a lot to be thankful for from the sound of it, and I’m not gonna have you telling the man Whitney loves that he can leave. Not only does it make me angry, you know good and darned well it would infuriate your sister. Now, knock it off.”

A nurse turned the corner, her eyes zeroing in on Nadia. “Are you Ms. Blume’s mother?”

Nadia stepped forward. “I’m her aunt. Her mother will be here as soon as her flight lands.”

The nurse nodded. “Very good. Come with me.”

Mensa felt Wyatt staring at him, and he met the man’s gaze.

“I’ll tell you what I told her. She’s too good for you. She can do better, and if I get half a chance, I’m gonna make certain she sees that.”

Riley crossed her arms. “Have you seen how happy she is with him? Hell, before they got together, did you see the way each of them looked at the other when they thought nobody else was watching? Seriously. Everyone of us knew they were meant for each other. Give Whitney a chance to be happy with someone who isn’t using her for once.”

“Riley,” Mensa muttered.

She dropped her hands to her hips. “Oh, no. I’m not breaking the girl code right now, though I’m pretty close. I knew the two of you were meant to be, but Finn wouldn’t let me say anything. All that ‘it’s not your business’ stuff that he says.”

She’d dropped her voice an octave to imitate Finn, and Mensa would have laughed, except this wasn’t the time or place.

Wyatt kept quiet for a moment. “Did she tell you her last boyfriend was using her?”

Riley shot a coy grin at Wyatt. “That’s part of the girl-code I won’t break.”

“He wasn’t using her.”

Riley arched a brow. “He didn’t help her, either, and that’s shitty enough on its own.”

Finn came to Riley’s side and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Babe, let’s go get some coffee for everybody.”

Wyatt watched them walk away. “I’m surprised you have a woman who’s so vocal on your behalf.”

“She’s my cousin, and everything she said is true. It’d be nice if you can open your mind and give me a chance to prove myself.”

At five-fifteen, a nurse led Mensa into the ICU department. Nadia and Wyatt had already visited, and Mensa’s time was limited to forty-five minutes because visiting hours for the ICU ended at six. He couldn’t decide what alarmed him more: how pale her skin was or how frail she appeared.

“Is… this normal?” he croaked out.

The nurse tinkered with a monitor at Whitney’s bedside. “I’m sorry, is what normal?”

“Her being so pale. The doctor said she had a transfusion.”

With a patient smile, the nurse nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s normal, so don’t let it worry you. She’s on the mend, even if it doesn’t look that way to you.”

Mensa nodded. “This will sound crazy, but with this kind of injury… is there anything she won’t be able to lift?”

The nurse chuckled. “Well, I don’t see her doing any weight-lifting competitions in the next year, but if she does what the doctors tell her, I don’t really think so. Is there something specific you had in mind?”

“A baby? Really, more like a toddler or small child?”

A tender look stole over the nurse’s face. “Yeah. If her recovery goes well, she should be able to pick up your children in a few months. I’ll leave you alone. You don’t have much time before I have to kick you out.”

Mensa didn’t get a chance to correct her, but the image of their children flitted through his mind. Whitney holding a little boy or a little girl with dark, wavy hair, but Whitney’s striking blue eyes gave him something to hope for…something he knew he wanted the same way he knew he wanted to be part of the Riot.

He positioned the wheeled-stool close to the bed, perched his ass on it, and grabbed Whitney’s hand. “You gotta get better, Blume. I love you, and I can’t wait to marry you and get you pregnant – and I don’t care which order that happens in either.”

The bedside monitor maintained a steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

“Your brother really doesn’t fuckin’ like me. Gonna need you to help me out with that, babe,” he murmured.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He’d never been good at talking to himself, which surprised many people since he was an only child. Seemed everyone expected him to talk to himself all the time. He might be good with his own company, but he didn’t like talking without any response from the person he was talking to.

“Love you so much, Whit. They’re gonna kick me out of here soon, otherwise I wouldn’t leave your side… no matter how much it would bug your twin.”

He swallowed down a chuckle and muttered, “Then again, bugging Wyatt would only make it that much better.”

The rhythmic beeping shifted ever so slightly.

A small smile curled his lips. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “Sounds like I get to meet your parents tomorrow. I really hope you’re awake when that happens, baby.”

A different nurse slid the door to Whitney’s room open and ducked her head inside. “I’m sorry, sir. You’re going to need to head out now.”

He nodded to the nurse, rose, and pressed his lips to Whitney’s forehead.

The door to the ICU slammed behind him. Most of his Riot brothers had left when he was finally led back to see Whitney, but Finn and Riley had told him they’d stick around.

He wandered back to the waiting room and saw them sitting on either side of Nadia. Each of them held one of her hands. Their heads were bowed, and Mensa suspected they were praying.

Whether they were done praying or they heard him approaching, they lifted their heads.

“Sorry to interrupt. Nadia, do you need a ride home?”

She gave him a feeble smile. “Far from it, Mensa. Sandy’s gonna be here in ten minutes to take me home. I had these two stick around because…” Nadia trailed off, emotion making her voice sound gravelly.

Almost as if she were a game-show host, Riley swung her arm out toward the windows. “It’s drizzling out there. In light of everything that’s happened today, she would like you to drive my car home and leave your bike here.”

Mensa cocked his head to the side a touch. “What about you? How are you getting home?”

Riley grinned. “Back of Finn’s bike, of course.”

Mensa locked eyes with Nadia. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”

Fire lit behind Nadia’s eyes. “The man I loved said the same damned thing to me on a night very similar to this one.” Her head tilted just a touch. “And he was wrong because the worst possible thing happened to him and I’ve never gotten over it. I’ll be damned if I don’t prevent that for my Whitney.”

Mensa swallowed against the emotion building in his throat. He hadn’t thought much about Brink’s accident since it happened. Hell, he’d only just earned his patch about three months before that awful night.

Mensa ran his hand through his hair and nodded. “All right, Nadia. I’ll drive Riley’s car since that will make you feel better.”

“It will. Thank you.”