Griffin Chapter 18

I knew she was in trouble. My gut was clenching, and she was taking too long in the bathroom. I had no idea how but I knew she wasn’t in there alone. I had to find a way in without getting her hurt or killed. When I talked to her through the door, I already had some of my guys in motion. They had secured Travis in a room with two inside with him and a couple outside. The others with me on her detail got all the civilians out of the immediate area. I sent Heath to the vent access. Before coming here, we’d studied the blueprints of the building extensively. We knew every exit and window. Part of our memorizing and studying included the vent system.

My mistake was assuming, along with my brothers, that it was too small for anyone to get through it. We were all big guys, so we believed it wasn’t a viable way to get in or out of a room. It was the only possibility to explain how someone could be in there since I cleared the bathroom myself. The reason I chose Heath was he was lankier than the rest of us, although not by much. If anyone had a chance to get through the damn opening, it would be him.

It was hell to wait until he was in position. Luckily, there was access not far down the hall through a utility closet. We’d worn comms for this trip so he could whisper an update when he got there: “In position. She’s not alone. I’m going in.” Hearing this confirmed, I gave the order to breach. As I went to kick open the door. I heard her scream, and then I heard a shot. The door flew open, and we raced inside.

My heart jumped as I dove for the man who had her in his arms. Thank God the gun was pointed away from her. As I grabbed his arm to keep his gun off me and her, I tore him away so he had to release her. I knew Beau or one of the Marauders would get her clear. As I fought him, I realized who it was, fucking Rockwell. I was gonna kill the bastard.

It was chaotic with me fighting, Hadley crying out and I heard swearing and the pound of feet. I had to give it to him, he tried, but he was no match for me. It took me less than a minute to disarm him and take him to the floor. As I subdued him, Sarge got zip ties on his wrists and ankles. When he was secured, I let go and stood.

That’s when I took in what was happening around me. My stomach dropped when I saw Heath on the floor and the blood. I rushed to him. Beau was working on him. Hadley was kneeling beside him, putting pressure on the wound with her bare hands. Tears were running down her cheeks.

“Don’t you dare die on me. You hear me?” she was telling Heath.

He tried to smile at her. “I won’t. If I do, you’ll probably follow me to hell and kick my ass.”

She gave him a choked laugh and nodded. “You’re damn right I will. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to get shot?”

“Yeah, but I had to impress you somehow. How else can I win you from Griffin?” he teased her through his obvious pain.

“Well, I hate to kick a man when he’s down, but this won’t do that. I love that man. Sorry,” she told him.

I wanted to crow with glee that she loved me. Yeah, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted to find out, but it would do. She didn’t even seem aware of what she said, but I was, and so were the others. Heath turned to look at me, and he winked.

“Hey, boss, can I get extra vacation time for this? Also, your woman won’t stop mauling me. I think she likes me.”

“Like hell, you’ll get extra time. I expect you to be working tomorrow. As for my woman liking you, that’s not it. She likes to help strays and shit.”

He laughed, then groaned. That’s when I tuned into the other sounds in the room. Jinx’s voice caught my attention first.

“Hey, Griffin, we’ve got a doctor here. He needs room to take care of Heath.” A hand on my shoulder made me move away. A man in a white coat and a woman took my place. Slowly, they had Beau and Hadley move back, but my woman stayed nearby. I didn’t mind because I had something else to do. Rockwell was screaming profanities. I finally paid attention to what he was saying.

“She doesn’t fucking love you, and she never will. She loves me, and I love her. You won’t keep us apart. Wait until I talk to her dad. He’ll see I’m the only one who can protect her.”

I stomped over to him, and I leaned down to sneer in his face and hiss at him. “Listen to me, you deranged cockhead. Hadley is mine. We’re getting married, and she’s moving in with me. We’re gonna have a houseful of babies, and you’ll never see her again. Your ass is going to prison, fucker. That is if you make it there.”

There was nothing I wanted more than to take him out of here, torture his ass for not only shooting my man but for terrifying her and her dad. The threats he’d made to Travis haunted me. Her dad had shared the exact words with me when she wasn’t present on a call. Lucky for Rockwell, security guards from the building came pushing inside at that exact moment. The bathroom was overcrowded, so I stepped outside with one of them. They were confused and kept trying to detain us. It took time to get them to understand we were the good guys. By the time we did, paramedics were there to transport Heath to the hospital.

We had Travis and his guards with us by then. He was frantic to see that Hadley was alright. It was so damn crazy, but I had Undertaker take him to the bathroom to see her. Heath was wheeled out not long afterward. The doctor was with him.

“I’m going with him to the ER. I work there part-time. This happened to be one of my office days, but I’m done seeing patients for the day. You can meet us there.”

“Thanks, Dr….” I trailed off. I had no idea what his name was.

“It’s Dr. Kern. You’re welcome. You have your hands full here. I’ll take care of him. He’s lost blood, but he’s awake and talking, so I think he’ll be alright.”

Jinx grabbed Hadley to prevent her from going with Heath. It took another twenty minutes to get things straightened out so we could follow, mainly because the actual cops showed up, and we had to explain everything all over again. They were cool enough to settle for one of us staying to explain everything and make an official statement, which allowed the rest of us to go to the hospital.

I wanted to stash Travis and Hadley with guards somewhere first, but they refused to do it. They wanted to go to the hospital so that was what we did. I kinda felt sorry for the cops who were left to question Undertaker. His intimidating presence was affecting them big time. I knew deep down he was enjoying the shit out of it too. It was why he volunteered to stay. He could be a bastard sometimes.

Before we left, Beau and Hadley washed their hands, but their shirts were trashed with blood. She covered hers with her sweater. His was less noticeable since it was on a black shirt. In the SUV, this time, we let Travis ride with her, and he sat on one side of her and me on the other. She was cuddled up against me. She kept asking me to promise her that Heath was really going to be fine. I did my best, but she was still stressed.

At the hospital, we entered the waiting room like a wave. People were staring even harder there than at the doctor’s office. I got them seated with guards posted before I went to the desk to tell them who I was and why I was there. The woman behind it promised to let the staff know and to get us an update as soon as possible. I had no choice but to accept it.

As we sat there, I saw Justin go to the desk not long after we got settled. He stood there talking until someone came out and waved at him to follow her. It wasn’t into the back so I had no idea where they went. About five minutes later, he was back, and he had clothing in his hands. He held them up. “Here’s something for you two to change into. You have to be tired of those bloody clothes. It’s not high fashion, but it’ll work and be clean.”

That’s when I realized they were scrub tops. He handed the biggest one to Beau and the other to her. They thanked him. After a quick shuffling, we got her to the ladies’ room and him to the men’s bathroom. This time, I didn’t leave her alone. I went in with her. She needed to sponge the blood off her skin that had soaked through. I threw her bloody top away. I’d buy her a new one. She was back to crying, so I washed and dried her, then pulled on the clean shirt. I hugged her tightly.

“Shh, baby, stop.”

“I can’t. What if the doctor is wrong and he dies? It’s all my fault. I should’ve beat Rockwell’s ass rather than trying to calm him and wait for a break. If I had, he wouldn’t have shot Heath.”

I pushed her away so I could see her face. I gave her a gentle shake. “No, if you did that, he might’ve shot you. Heath knew the risk, and he was willing to take it. We all were. You did the right thing. Later, after we get the official notice that he’s fine, you can tell me what the bastard had to say while he had you trapped in there.”

“I can tell you now. I might as well since we’ll be waiting for a while. It’ll help me not think about what’s happening with Heath. Come on.”

She’d stopped crying now that she had something to do, so I didn’t object. Back out in the waiting area, we got the crew off to one side so she could tell us what Rockwell said. When she was done, I was confused. What he said to her didn’t make sense. The only explanation was he was crazy and had no idea that he wasn’t protecting her but rather threatening her. He hadn’t even mentioned the threats he made to Travis. I’d make sure to let the cops know when we gave our statements. I didn’t want him to get off due to insanity, but it might be the case. Whichever way it went, I’d make sure he spent years away from her if I could.

The hours dragged by. We got a couple of updates, but all we were told was Heath was still in surgery. We moved to the OR waiting room when they told us that. When we were finally told he was in recovery, the relief was immense. They tried the whole “family only” thing, but we told them he didn’t have any. We were his family.

Ben went first after Heath was out of recovery and in a room. They’d been friends for years, and they were as close as brothers. He came out wearing a relieved expression. Next, I went with Hadley. She was about to lose it if she couldn’t see Heath with her own eyes. When she got to his bedside, I had to hold her back from throwing herself at him. Instead, she had to settle for grabbing the hand he held up to her.

“Oh, thank God you’re alright. I’ve been so worried. I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” she babbled.

“Like hell, it’s your fault. It was that shithead Rockwell’s fault. He held you captive and was carrying the gun. He shot me. When I get out of here, I’m gonna beat his ass. You stop blaming yourself, you hear?” he ordered her sternly. She didn’t say anything, but she did nod her head. He glanced over at me.

He held out his other hand to me. I was careful not to grab too hard. He had an IV in that one. I gently squeezed it. “It’s good to see you talking, but don’t think you can milk your sick leave,” I joked.

He pouted out his lip as he pretended to whine. “Ah, come on, boss. Surely, this has earned me an extra week off.”

“Nope. A week and that’s it. The way I heard it, you barely had a scratch.” It was worse than that, but I knew he’d want to downplay it. He snorted but didn’t disagree. We didn’t stay long since we didn’t want to tire him out, and there were more who wanted to see him. We asked if he needed anything and promised we’d be back to see him.

By the time everyone was done, it was early evening. We were tired and hungry and still had to talk to the cops. They’d shown up, and I had held them off from talking to Hadley but the most we could hope for was they’d wait until morning. This meant we couldn’t leave town, which was what I wanted to do. A debate ensued as to where to stay. In the end, we decided to go back to their estate, which wasn’t far.

With Rockwell behind bars, there was less of a worry. We’d still want to be alert in case he wasn’t working alone. I had to wonder if any of the other guards had been working with him. His remarks to her and what the one cop who came to the hospital told us sounded like he was the only one involved. He denied threatening her. He claimed he was protecting her, and they were in love. He was insisting on seeing her and talking to Travis.

Speaking of Travis, he was done in. He looked pale and shaky. I was worried about how this mess would affect his health. He didn’t need anything that would wear him down faster. Hadley needed all the time she could get with her dad.

Suffice it to say, we didn’t warn anyone at their estate we were coming. When we pulled up to the gate where the first two security guards were posted, their looks of astonishment and then nervousness were warranted. I wondered if they had been fucking off with them both gone. They followed the protocol we’d set up before leaving to the letter before letting us inside. It was with relief we got out at the front door, where we were dropped off. A couple of the guys would park the cars and then join us.

Hadley entered an electronic code to open the front door. It was nothing as mundane as a regular lock for them, but knowing the kind of things they worked on and that they did at least some of it at home, it made more sense. As the door opened, Porter scurried toward it with a furled brow.

“Mr. Travis, Ms. Hadley, I wasn’t expecting you. Welcome home. I’m so happy to see you. How may I assist you tonight? Have you eaten? I can have something prepared.”

“Thank you, Porter. I hate to get Mrs. Farnsworth back here this late. We can fend for ourselves. I do need you to make sure we have beds ready for all the men. Jinx, we had most of Griffin’s men in the house, but we have other housing for the guards and some other staff. Will that be alright? If not, I can have rooms made up here in the main house. It’s entirely up to you.”

The Marauders were busy taking in the beautiful and obviously wealthy house. Jinx shook his head. “There’s no need to go to any trouble for us. We can bunk wherever Beau and the others are at. You have an amazing house here, Mr. Gerard.”

“Thank you, and you must treat it as yours. You have free access to it and if you need something, ask Porter. He’s our butler, and he keeps this well-oiled machine working. We can’t do it without him. Oh, and please, call me Travis. Okay, if you follow me, we’ll raid the kitchen.”

There was happy muttering from most of us as we followed him. Porter stayed a discreet distance behind until we were in the kitchen, and then he disappeared. I guessed he was off to arrange the sleeping quarters. I would be staying in the house with Hadley. Only this time, I’d be sleeping with her unless Travis had objections. I’d have to ask him. Since he hadn’t voiced any objections to me and her so far, I didn’t think he would, but you never knew.

Hadley made her dad sit down and rest. I helped her get in the fridge to see what we could find, and then we raided the pantry. There were lots of options for sandwiches, a huge container of homemade soup, and various other things. It was enough to feed us. It was loud and a bit chaotic as we got ourselves situated. We sat or leaned against the counters and island. They offered the formal dining room, but we told them this was fine.

The others joined us after parking the cars. The only one missing was Beau. He’d opted to stay at the hospital with Heath. We’d switch him out later. That was one of the things I had to talk to the guys about after we ate. I had to decide who would be doing what tonight until we made up the guard rotation in the morning. Although I was mostly convinced Rockwell had worked alone, I still wanted to be sure, at least for a few days.

Travis was drooping with fatigue and could barely keep his eyes open. Hadley was yawning. I had to take care of them first.

“Babe, I want you and your dad to go to bed. You’re beat. I’ll post a guard outside each of your rooms.”

“You guys are just as tired,” she protested.

“We are tired, but we’re used to going without sleep for long periods of time. However, as soon as we set the guard duty for the night and the guys get shown where they’re staying, we’ll go to bed, too. I bet the cops will be here bright and early to get the rest of our statements. They’ll want to talk to you,” I reminded her.

She sighed and nodded. A short discussion later, it was decided that Aryan would be her guard and Giovanni Travis’s. I made sure to give her a kiss and speak to Travis before they were taken to their rooms. She gave me a questioning look when I asked to speak to him for a moment alone. We went into the hallway.

“What’s wrong, Griffin,” he asked worriedly.

“Nothing. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. I wanted to ask you something. You know Hadley and I are together, and it’s serious.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“Well, I would never want to disrespect you or your home, and if you object, I’ll understand. I—,” I said. He cut me off with a smile.

“You want to know if you can stay with her in her room.”

“Yes, that’s what I want to do, but only if you’re okay with it.”

“Son, I’m not as old-fashioned as you might think. Of course, if you were in a casual relationship, I probably wouldn’t like it, but since you’re not, I’m fine with it as long as she is.”

“Thank you. I’ll ask her once I’m done here. You might think it’s too fast, but I love your daughter, and I plan to tell her. There’s nothing casual about us and never will be.”

He had a faraway look on his face accompanied by a smile. “I knew her mom was the one for me within an hour of meeting her. I declared my love within a week, and we were married two months later. I believe in love at first sight, so you’re behind the power curve, son.”

I laughed along with him. Then, seeing he was done for, I escorted him back and they left for their rooms. Once they were gone, we got down to business. I wanted to join her as soon as possible. The thought of sleeping with her safe in my arms made me impatient.

It didn’t take long to figure out who would sleep first, who would guard, and then who would relieve them. Ben and Justin offered to show the Marauders where they would be sleeping, so I wished them a good night about ten minutes later. I checked the doors and windows on the first floor before going up, even though I knew the roving guard, Sarge, would do it. Porter was giving him a guided tour. I would’ve done it, but Porter was chomping at the bit to help with something.

Upstairs, I went straight to her room. According to Porter, our bags had been taken up. I’d go get mine from my old room after I made sure she was alright with me staying with her. Aryan nodded to me when he saw me. He was standing at attention in front of her door.

“Everything is quiet, Wraith. Do you want me to stay here or go outside?”

“Since I’m with her, you can get some sleep, but have Porter show you where to go. I want you to sleep first, and then you can rotate in tomorrow morning. We’ve got the night covered until ten in the morning. Go get a shower and crash.”

“Alright, if you don’t need me, I will. If you change your mind, just give me a call.”

“Thanks, I will,” I assured him as I clapped him on the shoulder. He gave me a mock salute, then walked off whistling.

Not wanting to startle her, I knocked softly in case she was asleep and called out. “Hadley, baby, it’s me. Can I come in?”

The door was yanked open quicker than I expected, and she grabbed my arm, pulling on me. I went inside, and she slammed the door shut and then locked it.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked as I scanned the room for a threat. My hand was behind my back on the butt of my gun.

“Nothing other than I want you in here with me, and I don’t want anyone coming in and disturbing us. Did you get everyone settled?”

“I did. You’re both safe, I promise.”

“I know we are. What did you and Dad talk about out in the hall? He wouldn’t tell me. All he said was you’d explain.” She led me to sit on the bed with her. The mattress felt like heaven. All I wanted to do was lie on it and close my eyes, but I needed to ask her my question and then take a shower. I could smell her body wash and shampoo and saw her still-wet hair. She had it pulled up in a messy knot on the top of her head.

“It wasn’t anything bad. All I did was remind him we’re serious about each other and I asked him if he had any objections to me staying in here with you. He said as long as you didn’t, he was fine with it. So I’m asking, do you want me in here or in my old bedroom?”

She scooted closer and put her hand on my cheek. She stared intently into my eyes. “Honey, I wouldn’t be able to sleep if you weren’t in this bed with me. You better not dare think you can sleep in another room.”

I grinned. “Well, then, I’d better go get my bags and move my stuff over. Then I need a quick shower, and we can hit the sack.”

“I already had them brought in, and I put your clothes in the closet and dresser. Your other stuff is in the bathroom. I hope that’s alright. I left your weapons in their bag.”

“You’re an angel. Thank you. Now, let me take my shower. I want you snuggled up in the bed when I get done.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” she said before placing a soft kiss on my lips. I wanted to kiss her back much more aggressively, but if I did, I’d never get my shower, and I was sweaty from earlier. I left it to a gentle one and reluctantly broke it so I could go to the bathroom.

I didn’t dawdle. I got in and quickly shampooed my hair, then soaped my body. I made sure to thoroughly scrub. After I was out and dried off, a quick swipe of deodorant, finger combing my hair and teeth bruising, and I was done. The bedroom only had the lamp on my side of the bed left on. She was under the covers watching me. I didn’t like to wear anything to bed, so I was naked. She was watching me closely. I felt my cock twitch, but I kept it under control, barely.

As much as I always wanted her, tonight, she needed sleep more than sex. It could wait. Throwing back the covers, I got in and snapped off the light. Then I rolled toward her. Her mouth landed on mine, but it wasn’t a gentle kiss like the one before my shower. I returned it and fought my erection. When we came up for air, I told her.

“Babe, as much as I want you, we need rest. I swear, come morning, I’ll give you anything you want, but tonight, I need you to rest.”

She moaned, but thankfully, she didn’t test my resolve because if she had, I would’ve given in to her. I was worried about her otherwise, I would’ve made love to her. She snuggled close, and I held her close with one arm underneath her shoulders. Her head rested on my chest.

“Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, honey,” she said and ended it with a yawn. It was only a matter of a couple of minutes before I heard her breathing change, and I knew she was asleep. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for a variety of reasons.