Page 41 of Recovering Ivy (Red Team #4)

Zane

“Any word on Sarah Long?” Wolf asked.

Just the mention of that bitch’s name had me seeing red.

“No. Tex and Garrett are still working on it. Ivy said she walked out of the motel room with ten grand. It might take a while for her to resurface.”

“Pleased you got to her in time,” he continued.

Had I? She might not have been raped, but she was still violated.

“Wanna tell me why your woman closed down when you came to the table?” I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying something to Abe I’d regret. He was a friend, and a good man.

“I don’t think…”

“You’re right. You’re not thinking.”

“Abe,” I warned.

“Calling it like I see it, Viper. From what I’ve heard, you found yourself a spunky doesn’t-take-shit-from-anyone woman.

The woman I met out there is far from that.

You approached, and she pulled into herself.

She was unsure, skittish, and shy. Far cry from the stories I’ve been hearing about how she puts you in your place when you try to boss her around. ”

I looked around the room trying to figure out whose ass I needed to kick for gossiping with the other men. Interestingly enough, none of my men looked guilty. They looked pissed.

“My woman is not your concern. I appreciate the help you all offered when she was taken. But your commentary isn’t welcome.”

“Too fucking bad,” Leo spoke up. “Wanna know what I just walked into? Alabama trying to stop Ivy from bolting.”

“What the fuck?”

Ivy was planning on leaving? And she wasn’t going to tell me.

“She thinks she doesn’t deserve your sorry ass. She’s ready to cut and run so you’ll be free to find someone worthy of you.”

“Worthy of me? I don’t deserve her . I promised her I would protect her from that cunt. I told her she’d be safe to breathe easy and be happy. I let her down.”

“Is that why you won’t touch her?”

My anger spiked to an all-time high.

“You’re getting ready to cross a line you won’t recover from,” I told Leo.

“Fuck the line, Viper. If you’re the kind of man who blames a woman for being violated, then you are not the man I’ve always respected. You’re not the man I would gladly give my life for. Why won’t you touch your woman?”

I looked at Linc. His jaw was clenched, his arms were crossed over his chest, and his gaze was knowing.

“Tell them, brother. Tell them while I know you hold her through the night you won’t fuck her.” I was going to beat my brother’s ass for disrespecting Ivy. “Come on, Viper, tell us why you won’t fuck your woman,” he mocked.

God-fucking-dammit.

“Because I’m terrified she won’t want me!

” I hollered. “I let her down. She was almost raped. He ripped her clothes off. Every fucking time I close my eyes I see that fucker’s dick near my woman.

One second more. One. He would have taken her.

I lied to her. Then she saw me. The real me.

Not the Zane I am at the office. The cold-blooded killer I am.

Who I am deep in my soul. She sat on my lap and I sullied a beautiful woman with the blood of the man I had killed. What kind of man does that?”

“A good one. One that will protect her at all costs. One that will always have her six,” Jaxon said.

“Fuck that noise. I can’t take it. What if I try to touch her and she rejects me? What if I hurt her because I trigger some flashback?”

“So instead you let her think it’s her fault?” Abe cut in. “Because that’s what she thinks. Man up. I respect the hell out of you, but I have zero issue telling you you’re fucking up. You’ve taken away the one thing she needs to heal and move on.”

“I held your woman in my arms while you took care of business.” Declan interjected.

The thought of Dec holding a mostly naked Ivy in his arms pissed me the fuck off.

As necessary as it was and as much as I appreciated him caring for her while I couldn’t, I still didn’t like the image.

“The only thing she wanted was you. The only thing she cared about was if you were okay. Man, all she needed was you.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “God damn.”

“You seeing it yet? Or do we need to continue?” Linc inquired .

“I fucked up,” I admitted. “I need to talk to her. I can’t lose her.”

“Thank god,” Linc breathed.

“After I fix what I broke with my woman, mark this, brother. I’m gonna lay your ass out for implying she’s a fuck and not the woman who’s gonna mother my children.”

Six men chuckled, and Abe clapped his big meaty paw on my shoulder. “You need anything you call.”

“’Preciate it.”

The moment was ruined when Cooper, Jaxon’s brother who’d flew in from California, slammed the door to the study open.

“Jasmin needs you,” he announced, pinning Linc in place. “Now.”

He was gone before we could ask what was wrong.

Seven very worried men ran after Cooper.

Leo, Declan, and Jaxon had all drawn their weapons in preparation.

If I wasn’t so worried, I would’ve laughed.

The truth was in our line of work it was always a possibility a threat would need to be neutralized.

“I’m fine.” I heard Jasmin’s pained voice and holstered my Sig.

“You’re not fine. Leo, will you go start the car?”

“It’s just a little… oh, fuck,” she cried. Linc pulled Jasmin’s slumped-over body closer to him. “Okay. I’m not fine.”

I followed her eyes to the ground and saw the fluid leaking down her leg, pooling at her feet. I didn’t know what I expected to happen when a woman’s water broke. But there wasn’t as much of a splash as I’d thought there’d be.

The other women had gathered around and I caught Ivy around the waist and tucked her to my side. She looked up at me in question and I saw it. All the pain the guys had told me was there. The anguish I’d pretended I didn’t see.

I was going to fix this.

“I love you, Ivy.”

“I love you.”

She’d said it back, but I didn’t feel the words the way I used to. If it took until my dying breath, I’d make her feel those words again.

“Lincoln!” Jasmin shouted and doubled over. More fluid trickled down.

“Come on, Sweets. I got you.” He walked her around the side of the house, Leo already there holding the side gate open.

“Congratulations!” Jasmin yelled and lifted her hand over her head in a wave.

A round of good lucks and we’ll see you soons echoed around Jaxon’s backyard.

“I should help Violet, and you need to go to the hospital with your brother.”

“No, Ivy. I go where you go.”

“But your brother - he needs you.”

“I need you more. We’ll go together in a while. Besides, she has two demons to hatch. I don’t think she’s gonna push them out in the next five minutes. I’ve heard it can take hours to get your vagina to…”

“Don’t finish that.” Ivy smiled as I’d hoped. “And it’s not nice to call your nieces or nephews demons,” she scolded.

God, I’ve missed this. Missed her smiling and happy. I was a selfish prick and I didn’t deserve her, but I was keeping her.

“We’re headed out. Tex is expecting us,” Wolf interrupted.

We said our goodbyes and when the group went to leave, the women broke away and pulled Ivy in for a hug.

She startled at first before she melted into them.

Something else I needed to thank the guys for.

I was grateful Ivy had been pulled into the fold.

Other than my team, I couldn’t think of a better group than their girl posse.

Linc had called and said it was time for everyone to come to the hospital, Jasmin was ready to push the babies out and he needed us there.

Apparently, he begged his wife to have a c-section, but she’d refused.

He was going out of his mind seeing Jasmin in so much pain.

I didn’t pretend to know what it felt like to have a human crawl out of my dick, but I’d seen Jasmin in action.

She was the toughest woman I knew. I’d seen her tortured and beaten and she’d still refused to break.

I highly doubted giving birth would either.

We stepped out of the elevator and before the last of the group could clear the threshold, I heard Jasmin scream.

Okay, maybe I’d been wrong.

“Jesus,” Leo muttered and pulled Olivia closer. “Maybe we should wait downstairs.”

“Afraid of a little crying, big man?” Jaxon thumped him on the shoulder and walked past him.

We piled into the small waiting room and I settled Ivy on my lap, refusing to allow her to leave my side. Over the next hour we waited and had the pleasure of being serenaded with Jasmin’s pleas for help and the pure venom she yelled at my brother.

Christ. Hearing Jasmin had me reconsidering putting Ivy through the pain of giving me children. I was enjoying my woman snuggling close when the door to the waiting room opened and I realized we hadn’t heard any screams in a while.

A nurse entered the room and smiled.

“Parker?”

“Yes.” Everyone answered at once.

“They’re ready for you.”

“Boys? Girls?” I asked.

“I believe the happy parents want to tell you. Follow me.”

She led us through the hall and stopped in front of the door.

I clocked Gerald off to the side indicating the President was already inside.

We filed in and I found Linc standing next to Jasmin holding a tiny baby wrapped in tight swaddle.

The sight of my brother with his child nearly brought me to my knees.

He’d done it. He had overcome all the obstacles of our childhood and grown into a man that was good and kind and had earned every ounce of happiness him and Jas had created.

“Well?” Leo asked.

“Boys. I have two healthy sons,” Linc beamed.

The room was filled to capacity as each man on the team passed the babies around. Tom was standing next to Jasmin, whispering something in her ear that was making her smile. Ivy was laughing at something Violet had said and my heart constricted.

Family. My family. All the people I loved most in the world were here to welcome the boys. I never thought any of us would have this. But seeing how much joy my nephews had brought, I was forever grateful.

Bets had been made about the sex of the babies and the debts had been settled, now everyone was trying to guess the twins’ names.

Jasmin glanced up and winked at Linc .

“Can someone hand me Asher Thomas please?”

The room went quiet and Jax and Leo both looked down at the babies they were holding. They both looked ridiculous holding these tiny little bundles in their monster-sized hands.

“Umm, I don’t know which one I have.” Leo shook his head as a look of bewilderment crossed his face.

“I don’t know how you tell these little fuckers apart. Which one is this one?” Jax asked.

Jasmin and I let out a peal of laughter. And Violet shook her head.

“I don’t know, maybe you have Robert Zane?”

I locked eyes with Linc. As much as I tried, I could not stop the emotions from overtaking me. I watched as a tear slid down his cheek, mirroring my own.

We both quickly wiped it away, hoping that no one noticed.

“A man that is any type of man sheds tears on two occasions in his life; when his woman slips his ring on her finger and at the birth of his children.” Tom’s voice sounded unusually gruff.

“Now give me this Asher Thomas. He and I have some things to discuss. Namely, his thoughts on the second amendment.”

My eyes had not left my brother’s. He came closer to me and shot his hand out. I grabbed hold of it and he pulled me in for a hug.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“There is no better big brother. We want you to know that they are yours if something happens to us. There is no one we trust more with our boys than you. We know they have a room full of honorary uncles who would give their own lives for them, but it is you that we know will teach them to be men. Because there is no better man than you, Zane. You don’t forget that. ”

He looked over at his wife, who was now holding both his sons, smiling at him like he had just given her the world instead of the other way around.

“Proud of you, Linc. Can I…” Fuck. I didn’t do this mushy shit. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Can I hold my nephew?”

Linc placed Robert in my arms and I felt Ivy wrap her arms around us.

“He’s beautiful. Those Parker genes - boy, they run true and deep. I think I may be in trouble.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because if your brother’s sons are this adorable, I’ll be fighting off teenage girls with a bat when they come around trying to find ours.”

Ours.

For the first time in a week I could breathe.

I had a lot to make up for. But Ivy was still by my side. She didn’t run. She stayed so we could fight. Together.