Cole (The Ride Series) (20 page)

Chapter Sixteen

The next few days were busy. Cole and
I kept missing each other since I was working days and he was busy at night
with club business. There just hadn’t been a good time to tell him about the
baby. Admittedly, I could have probably found the time, but I was nervous about
it and wanted the timing to be right. I knew it would come completely out of
left field to him. Hell, it had shocked the shit out of me. It was unfair to
keep it from him, but I just wasn’t ready to tell him yet.

I also hadn’t shared with Cole what
Kat told me about her and Sal. I knew Cole didn’t want to be in the middle of
her relationship drama. And at the end of the day, he couldn’t do anything to
change the way his friend behaved. But I knew she was struggling and I wanted
to support her, so I spent a lot of my evenings with her, longing for the
cocktails that I couldn’t have anymore.

I collapsed in bed on Thursday night
after a ten hour day on my feet. I’d been working longer shifts to try to make
up for missing out on the night shifts. It wasn’t working, but I’d never tell
Cole that. Cole was at a meet with his pop, Benny, and Henry. Friday night we’d
planned a big get-together
with both
clubs and yes, my
ribs. Now that the negative elements of my old club life had been removed, I
was excited to see the guys and their old ladies.

I was just drifting off when Chief
started to growl. That was the first I’d ever heard him exhibit such behavior,
and my hackles rose along with his.

“What is it?” I asked him stupidly, as
though he’d respond. Axel was supposed to be posted out front and I jumped for
my phone to call him. No answer. Shit.

Chief continued to growl and I called
Cole. No answer. Double shit. I’d set the alarm, I knew I had, but of course I
started to question myself. I called Kat, and thankfully she at least picked
up.

“Chief is acting really weird. He’s
growling and I can’t get a hold of anyone.” I whispered.

“Shit!” she exclaimed. “Sal’s with
Cole,” she told me unnecessarily. Almost all the guys were in that meeting
except for Axel.

I went with my intuition. “I think you
better go get Cole, something’s wrong,” I told her.

“Done,” she answered without question.
Gotta
love my girl.

I sat in the dark bedroom hearing
nothing but my heart pounding out of my chest and Chief restlessly pacing and
growling. Should I call the police? It would bring so many questions up if I
did that. What if it was just a false alarm? All of a sudden the bedroom door
burst open and Jake stood wild eyed and huge, towering in the doorway. Well,
too late to call the police anyway and what the hell had happened to the alarm?

“You have got to be fucking joking!” I
exclaimed, surprised by my anger. I was so sick of this nutcase jerking me
around.

“When the cat’s away…” he leered
suggestively.

“Do you seriously want to die?” I
demanded. “That must be it,” I bit out, clutching the bed sheets around myself.
I wasn’t wearing anything terribly revealing, but I didn’t want him to see any
part of my skin if I could help it.

Chief was barking now and growling
loudly, practically frothing at the mouth. He looked now like the ferocious dog
I had first thought him to be, and I was glad for it. Jake hadn’t been
expecting a dog and was clearly a bit more hesitant with a ninety pound
snarling monster blocking his path.

“Call the dog off,” he demanded.

“Like hell I will,” I scoffed. “Get
the fuck out of my house.”

“I’ll shoot him,” he threatened.

My blood ran cold. “Don’t,” I said,
hating how much it sounded like a plea. If I showed any weakness with Jake it
would be bad news, and I was determined not to give him the satisfaction.

“Call him off,” he said again.

“I don’t know if I can,” I answered
honestly. “He’s pretty pissed.”

“Try,” he glared.

“What did you do to Axel? And how’d
you get passed the alarm?” I asked suddenly. Axel would never just leave me
unattended. All the guys took their jobs extremely seriously.

Jake snorted. “That was too easy. That
mother fucker was completely distracted reading a magazine. Now he’s taking a
nice little nap. I took a few classes in security, the alarm was no thing.” He
shrugged. “Really Rosie, they should have you better protected,” he sneered.
“Don’t call me that,” I said sharply. Only my father or Henry got to call me
that.

“Whatever you say,” he said as he
laughed.

I mentally calculated what kind of
time I had. I had just hung up with Kat and I inwardly cringed at realizing how
long it would take her to get all the way to the clubhouse and then for Cole to
get here. I was on my own. I had to keep Jake talking. I had questions anyway.

“What happened to my father, Jacob?” I
demanded.

His brows rose in amusement. “Oh, so
I’m Jacob now?” He laughed. “You really want to know?” he asked as he leaned in
the doorway like he owned the place. He looked casually at his fingernails and
I hated how familiar the gesture was. He’d always done it when he was
considering something. I hated knowing anything intimate about him.

I swallowed. “Yes, I really want to
know.”

Chief had calmed some, but he had
backed his way to the bed and was clearly guarding me while a low growl
continued to emanate from his throat.

Jake shrugged. “He wouldn’t give me
you, he wouldn’t give me the club, didn’t think I was worthy,” he sneered.

That’s because
you aren’t
. I thought.

“So he had to be removed,” he
explained callously.

“So you killed him,” I stated,
surprised I could even say the words.

“Well, technically his bike did.” He
grinned.

“You are fucking sick,” I hissed. “You
killed him and you never had the club, and you’ll never have me. It was for
nothing. You killed him for nothing!” I shrieked.

“Oh, I’ll fucking have you,” he swore,
advancing into the room. Chief started barking again as Jake tried to get at me,
and it looked as though Jake was going for his weapon. It wasn’t just me I had
to protect anymore, and the thought of him doing anything to injure my unborn
child made me that much more determined to protect myself.

Chief didn’t hesitate and jumped on
him, tearing at his clothes, growling and barking so loudly I could barely
think. Jake immediately backpedaled, swearing as Chief went after him. He
managed to get past the dog for long enough to haul me into him and drag me out
of the room, but I fought for all I was worth, knocking over furniture as we
went.

Please don’t hurt the baby, please, I
mentally pleaded, close to tears.

“Fuck!” he bellowed trying to get a
grasp on me.

“Get out!” I screamed back as we
slammed into the bookshelf in the living room. I was struggling for all I was
worth. Chief was following trying to get a bite out of Jake. It was utter
chaos.

He pulled my hair back painfully.
“This isn’t over, it’ll never be over,” he swore to me, kissing my neck wetly.
I shivered in revulsion as he let me go and exited abruptly out of the
backdoor.

I don’t know how long I stood in the
middle of the living room, furniture toppled over and shaking when Cole, Wes,
and Sal burst in through the front door. Chief again took guard and stood in
front of me barking ferociously at them.

“Fuck!” I heard Cole explode upon
seeing me and the obvious state of a struggle. “Babe…Scarlet. You alright?” he
demanded over Chief’s loud barking.

I managed to nod still trying to
collect myself.

“Call the dog off,” Wes commanded.

“I don’t know how,” I admitted.

“You don’t need to command him, just
tell him it’s okay. Let him know you’re okay,” Wes told me.

I took in his words and nodded. It
took me a minute and a few deep breaths before I knelt down to Chief and
wrapped my arms around his large body. “I’m okay buddy. You can calm down now.
You did a good job,” I murmured. And miraculously, it worked. Chief immediately
cooled down and stopped barking. He was still clearly on alert, but he let the
guys get further into the room.

“Is Axel alright?” I asked
immediately.

Sal nodded. “Knocked on the head
pretty good but he’ll be okay. He’s more upset than anything that he let the
fucker sneak up on him.”

I nodded, relieved that he was okay.

“What happened?” Cole demanded,
clearly seething.

I gave a brief recount of the story
and saw three sets of eyes turn black with anger.

“Far as I’m concerned that dog can
have a gold plated dish,” Cole bit out.

“I don’t think he’d care too much
about that,” I answered dumbly. I was still in quite a daze, standing in my
living room wearing very little clothing. I was starting to feel a little light
headed.

After ascertaining that I wasn’t
seriously hurt, Sal and Wes took their cue to leave and went to attend to Axel.

Cole came across the room ignoring
Chief’s low rumble and took me in his strong arms. “I’m so sorry, babe. I
thought you were being looked out for,” he choked. The emotion rippled off his
body in waves.

I interrupted him by grasping his
forearm. “I think I need to lay down or…” I wasn’t able to finish the sentence.
I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was laying on the bed
with Cole looking down at me worriedly.

“Baby, should we go have you checked
out?” he asked, his eyes bright with concern.

I felt completely rung out and not
quite lucid. “Cole,” I began, my voice somewhat hoarse. “Honey, I’m pregnant,”
I told him.

I didn’t register his reaction or his
expression. All I knew was that he lifted me and carried me to his truck. I
didn’t ask questions as he deposited me gently in the passenger seat. I just
let him take charge as we drove through the night.

He carried me in through the emergency
room exit and the next thing I knew I was hooked up to every machine
imaginable. Cole sat vigilant at my side with his large hand over mine.

When the baby’s heartbeat echoed loud
and overwhelming in its vitality throughout the room, my breath caught. It was
the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. Cole’s hand clenched in mine and I
looked over to see raw emotion painted on his beautiful face.

“I didn’t know how to tell you,” I
choked out. “It was my fault, the medication the hospital gave me interfered
with my pills,” I babbled.

“
Shhh
,
darlin
’, let me hear our baby,” he whispered, his ear
turned to the sound.

We sat and listened to the rhythmic
sound for a few moments before the nurse pulled the receptors off my belly. “Everything
sounds great,” she said as she smiled reassuringly. “Baby looks great.”

“Good,” I sighed, relieved.

“She fainted though,” Cole
interjected. He was clearly worried and not just about me.

“The doctor on staff can speak to you
about that, but the baby sounds fine,” she assured us. “I’ll just get this out
of your way and Dr. Epstein will be in shortly.”

I watched her from my place on the
exam table as she wheeled the ultrasound equipment out of the room. It felt
deathly quiet once she was gone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cole asked
quietly.

I cringed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know
how and I was afraid that you’d feel trapped or something…” I trailed off.

“How long have you known?”

“About a week,” I admitted while looking
up at the ceiling. We were in one of the urgent care rooms, with a curtain
separating the beds. Luckily no one occupied the next bed, but the room felt
huge and off-putting, especially given all that had happened that night.

“I just feel so overwhelmed,” I
admitted, my voice choked as my eyes flooded. “My life has completely turned
upside down in the past three months,” I said, the tears breaking free and
sliding down my face. “Before you I had everything so controlled. I had a grasp
on every feeling, every step I made. Then I met you and my world just exploded
with emotion and people and
life
,” I
breathed. “And I don’t know how to trust the happiness and safety that I feel
with you, I’ve never had anything like it. Anything close has been ripped
away,” I said hoarsely. I felt Cole’s hand clench in mine and felt the
confidence to continue. “I almost expected something to happen like this, it
was too good to be true that I could just move on without retribution,” I
lamented. “But tonight was something different,” I whispered. “I have this life
I’m responsible for,” I said reverently, my hand grazing my belly. “I’ve never
felt such a ferocity in my life,” I told him. “It was like I would stop at
nothing to protect this baby. And I know it’s so soon and I know we didn’t
discuss it, but I want this, Cole,” I told him, turning with tear filled eyes
to face him. “But the last thing I want is for you to feel trapped. I only want
you to be with me, be with us, if it’s what you really want, too,” I whispered.