All I saw after that were flashes of metal.

And then I saw darkness.

Chapter Eighteen

Kick

Fuck.

I pushed through the hospital doors, heart in my gut, and jogged the rest of the distance to the emergency room. It had been over half an hour since Loretta had phoned me to let me know Evie had been in a car accident.

Thirty fucking minutes too long.

My gut swirled with dread.

How fucking bad was this accident? Loretta hadn’t been able to tell me much over the phone, and my mind had conjured up the worst possibilities.

As I entered the emergency room, Loretta rose from her seat and came to me, a look of sheer panic on her face.

Fuck.

Her arms reached out, and I pulled her close to hug her. “Kick . . . it’s going to be bad . . . I just know it . . .” Her voice cracked, and she started crying.

I let her get it out and then asked, “Have you spoken to a doctor yet?”

Shaking her head, she said, “They haven’t been able to tell me anything. No one’s giving me anything!” Her voice gradually rose to almost a wail.

“Shhh,” I whispered. Loretta wasn’t the most stable woman and I could see she wasn’t coping with this at all. “I’m going to go and see what I can find out. You wait here, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her voice barely audible.

I left her and approached one of the nurses at the counter. She gave me a bored ‘what-the-fuck-do-you-want?’ look. “I’m wanting information on my girlfriend. She was brought in after a car accident.”

“Name?” Still with the bored look.

“Evie Bishop.”

She typed Evie’s name into her computer and after reading the screen for a moment, said, “Please take a seat. I’ll call you as soon as you can go through and see her.”

I did as she said and took a seat next to Loretta. Fuck knew how long we’d be waiting.

“Did they tell you anything?” she asked, her voice almost pleading for me to say yes.

I shook my head. “No, I think we’re in for a long wait.”

Thank fuck she was the kind of woman who didn’t engage in unnecessary conversation. I didn’t have the patience for that. Pulling my phone out, I said to her, “I’ll be back in a minute.” I stood and headed outside to ring King to let him know I wouldn’t be back to the clubhouse any time soon.

“Kick,” he answered, “I was just about to call you. We’ve heard rumours that your girlfriend’s accident wasn’t an accident.”

“Keep talking,” I said, more calmly than I felt. My blood was pumping furiously through my veins now.

“It seems this was a hit organised by Gambarro.”

“Motherfucker!” I roared as I turned around and punched the brick wall behind me.

“I’ve got the boys finding out where Gambarro is. We think he’s still out of the country but have to verify that. You stay with your woman, and we’ll let you know once we have the info.”

“Thanks, brother.”

We ended the call and I stalked back inside.

Gambarro would fucking pay for this.

***

“Evie,” I said softly, trying to wake her up. She’d been exhausted and had been drifting in and out of sleep for the last couple of hours while we’d been waiting for the all clear.

Her eyes fluttered open, then shut, and open again. She gave me a small smile before wincing and placing her hand to her side. Before she could speak, I placed my finger to her lips. “Shhh, baby, don’t try to speak because it will probably hurt.”

She had fractured some ribs in the accident. Besides that, she had whiplash but nothing else. She’d been lucky considering a car had rammed her, causing her to slide into the path of a truck. The good fortune of the day had been the quick thinking of the truck driver who had swerved to miss her, and, in doing so, had only clipped her car.

The doctors had done x-rays and verified it was only her ribs and that in time they would heal by themselves. They’d dosed her up on strong painkillers and had told me I could take her home soon.

Thank fuck.

She ignored my advice not to speak. “When can I go home?” she asked, her face contorting in pain with every word.

Loretta was standing on the other side of her bed and grabbed her hand. “They’ve said you can go home in the next hour or so. They’ve just got to get your discharge ready and your pain medication.”

“Thanks, Mum.” She hissed through the pain.

I frowned at her insistence to talk, and she just pulled a face back at me. My woman was too damn stubborn sometimes.

The doctor came back to us with a smile. Looking at Evie, he announced, “You’re good to go. The nurse will have your medication in a minute. If you experience any of those symptoms I mentioned to your family, you need to come straight back to the hospital.” He waited for her response, and when she agreed, he nodded and left us alone.

I eyed her mum. “Can you give us a minute, Loretta?”

As she left, I raked my gaze over Evie again. Gambarro would hurt for this.

At her questioning look, I said, “Sweetheart, this wasn’t an accident. This was retaliation for me getting your dad’s debt wiped. The guy who organised this will pay, I promise you that.” Her eyes widened, but before she could say something, I silenced her again with a finger to her lips. “I’m gonna take you home, and when I get the call from King, I’ll organise for one of the boys to come over and watch out for you while I go and take care of this.”