Just as Blade raised his fist ready to rap it against the door, Aiden’s voice came through the comms. “What are you doing here, Drake?”
Every muscle in Rocky’s body tightened, as every man surrounding him stared in shock for just a moment. In a second, every one of his brothers was at Rocky’s side rushing for their bikes.
Rocky was listening for any new words from Aiden as he straddled his bike and the engine roared to life. “What does that have to do with why you’re here?”
Rocky couldn’t hear the replies but every time his boy spoke it meant he was okay, so Rocky kept listening and kept praying. They were across town, and even at high speeds it would take them a bit to reach Aiden. Rocky’s stomach clenched, fear making him ill, as he wondered if he’d be too late, that he’d lose his boy because he couldn’t protect him.
The road blurred beneath him as Rocky drove at speeds that he knew would be considered reckless if any cop caught him, but facing his own injury or death didn’t hold near the power to cripple him in fear as just the thought of one hair on Aiden’s head being harmed. So, rather than slow to a more reasonable pace he pushed his bike to its limits, getting every ounce of speed he could out of it.
Occasionally Aiden’s voice would come through but Rocky wasn’t paying as much attention to the words as to the tone of Aiden’s voice. If his voice was calm then Rocky could believe that he was safe.
Rocky jerked and almost crashed his bike into a tree when he heard Aiden shout through the comms, then a gunshot rang out through the listening device, and Rocky’s heart stopped beating for a few beats, before racing like mad. Rocky tried not to let his fear take over, he tried not to think the worst, but when Aiden didn’t say anything after that shot, a tear slipped from Rocky’s eye, barely landing on his cheek before being blown away by the wind.
Aiden
Aiden watched as if the world were in slow motion as the gun in Drake’s hand was aimed straight at his head, and the safety flipped off. A million thoughts crossed his mind in that short span of time, but the strongest and loudest of all those thoughts were of Rocky. There was no way Aiden was going to let this man hurt Rocky this way. No way was he going to just sit there and let it happen.
Fear coursed through Aiden’s veins. It was the anger, though, that took the lead. How dare this man think he had the right to destroy another person that way. Aiden was under no illusions. If something happened to him, he knew that Rocky would never recover. Not after Seth. It had honestly been a miracle that Rocky had even wanted to try loving someone again.
As Aiden considered everything Rocky had been through, and all the possible futures he’d have if Drake was successful, all that anger inside Aiden turned to rage. Not for himself, but for the man he loved. So, with every ounce of rage inside him fueling his movements, Aiden leapt from his chair and straight for his assailant.
Aiden couldn’t allow doubt to take over, so he didn’t think about how much height and weight the other man had over him. He didn’t consider the differences in their physical strength. Aiden grabbed the gun with one hand, pushing it up as his opposite shoulder plowed into Drake’s stomach.
The gun fired into the air as the two men hit the ground. Drake’s shock didn’t last long however, before he was fighting back. Drake gripped the wrist Aiden was using to hold the gun so tightly Aiden was sure something would snap. He didn’t have time to focus on that though, he wrapped his other hand over the barrel of the gun and turned it at the same time as he tried to kick out with his knee. He was aiming for the other man’s junk but landed his knee just right of his intended target. The blow still seemed to be effective, though, since the breath left Drake in a whoosh and his legs raised to protect the injured area.
Unfortunately for Aiden, the other man did not loosen his grip on the weapon. Thinking of possibly using the shock factor to get the weapon away, Aiden tightened his hold on the gun and rolled his entire body until he forced Drake to release it. As he rolled, another shot rang out.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Rocky
Time seemed to drag as the distance closed between Rocky as his home, where, apparently, a madman had fired a gun. Rocky took a curve at a breakneck speed doing his best to get to his boy. Not knowing what was happening was slowly killing him. Rocky was a protector. His instinct was to make everything better and in that moment, Rocky wasn’t sure if he could because he wasn’t fucking there.
Finally, Rocky’s driveway came into view and as he made the turn, two things happened at once. His bike started to slip from under him and a second gunshot echoed in his earpiece and in the air around him.
Before the bike had a chance to go down fully, he leapt awkwardly from the seat, landing in a heap next to the fallen machine. He didn’t take time to consider anything other than his boy, scrambling to his feet and racing for the door, hollering Aiden’s name.
Rocky crashed through the entryway and made a beeline for the kitchen coming to a complete halt as soon as he took in the scene. Aiden knelt over the prone body of Drake Stallone, putting pressure on a bleeding wound. A quick perusal showed Aiden mostly uninjured, though Rocky thought he saw some swelling in Aiden’s right wrist.
The relief that coursed through him at seeing his boy okay literally sent Rocky to his knees. Pain radiated through his lower limbs as they hit the hard floor, but Rocky hardly noticed.
Just behind him the other men of the club came barreling in and chaos soon reigned as Aiden shouted for someone to call an ambulance, and his brothers rushed to help the injured man. Rocky couldn’t bring himself to care about Drake. The man had gone after Rocky’s boy so Rocky had no sympathy for him.
What Rocky needed was to get to his boy. His legs wouldn’t support him so he did the only thing he could do. He crawled to the love of his life and, as Spike took over applying pressure to the wound, Rocky lifted Aiden into his lap right there on the floor. For however long it took for the police and medical to show up, Rocky sat there holding Aiden tight, breathing him in, and assuring himself that his love was safe.
Aiden
The police had been asking questions, but Aiden wasn’t really sure what his answers had been. His mind kept circling around one thought. Had he killed someone? He didn’t know. Drake had been breathing when they’d rushed him out to the ambulance, but Aiden was here, answering questions that he wasn’t even comprehending. Just as he was wishing to be anywhere else, Daddy stepped in, interrupting the next question.
“I think Aiden is injured. He needs to be seen.”
Aiden was about to tell Daddy that he was fine, he didn’t hurt anywhere, but then he followed Daddy’s line of sight to his wrist. It did look bad. It was swollen and bruised and looked wrong. When one of the deputies cursed and went to get a medic, Aiden figured something had to be seriously off with him, because that wrist should be hurting.
It only took a moment before the deputy returned with an EMT who looked Aiden over and declared he needed to be seen at the hospital. He was in shock and needed an x-ray. Aiden didn’t want to go to a hospital, he didn’t want to be looked over and examined. The worst moments in his life had always begun with a doctor’s visit.
Aiden fought to be seen at home by Daddy’s doctor friend. At least that was one doctor that hadn’t brought sadness and ruin with him, but Daddy wasn’t having any of that. He told Aiden that Collin couldn’t do x-rays from home. Aiden still wasn’t convinced, but when Daddy reminded him that going to the hospital also meant an update on Drake, he allowed Daddy to buckle him in the car.
Aiden knew he’d still have to talk to the police eventually, but he was grateful for the small reprieve, even if it did mean seeing a doctor. And he really didn’t think he’d be able to think of anything else until he knew Drake’s condition. Part of him knew he’d simply been trying to keep himself safe, but he’d never shot anyone, and he really didn’t want to have Drake’s death on his hands.
