Ripper glanced behind him.
“This is not something you should do today,” Devil said.
“Yes, it is. When Judi wakes up, I’m not leaving her side. Whoever did this needs to be caught today. I’m not handing him over to the law. I’m going to kill him.”
“Get the boys,” Devil said, agreeing with him. “We’ll meet at the apartment block where we first met Judi.”
They all left him stood outside of Judi’s room.
Letting out a breath, he closed his eyes as he tried to think past the pain of what had happened to Judi. She was under the Chaos Bleeds’ protection. Not only was she the princess of the club, his adopted daughter, but she was also an old lady and the men loved her.
When he could stand it no more he walked inside the room.
Judi’s face was badly bruised, and she had a white bandage all over her head. Lexie held her hand, and he saw Judi’s hand had another bandage. Her leg was covered in a cast. He recalled the doctor say her leg had been broken. When he asked how that was possible, the doctor explained that with enough force on the body the bone could break easily.
“Devil, she’s hurting,” Lexie said.
“She can’t feel it.” He moved behind his woman, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I promise the doctor promised that.”
“I’m not talking about now. I’m talking about during the attack. She fought back, Devil. She fought back harder than ever before. No one should have had to go through this.” Lexie glanced over her should at him. “What are you going to do?”
“The boys are rounding up some men. We’re going to take care of this, and I promise you, nothing else will happen.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Get in touch with Phoebe. Tell her to get our kids and herself to the clubhouse. I’ll put a guard on Judi’s door. I doubt Ripper’s going to leave her side without a fight.”
“He’s left her side now.”
“Only to get a little payback. Before the end of this day, he’ll be back and waiting for her to wake up.”
Lexie covered his hand with her own. “This is a nightmare. Do you have a clue who did this?” she asked.
“I don’t know who did it, but I’m not going to stop until I find out the truth. You’ve got my word on that, Lexie.” He leaned down to brush a kiss against her cheek. “I’m going to retaliate for your sister, and I’m going to make sure whoever did this will not be walking around by the end of the day.”
He saw she closed her eyes as he kissed her cheek.
“What about Gonzalez?” she asked.
“I’ll talk to Tiny. I think we’re going to be heading back to Fort Wills before long. It’s time to put an end to this.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too, baby. You don’t need to tell me what you’re thinking or feeling just to get me moving.” He tried to tease her.
“I’m not. I know this time it’s worse than ever before.”
“I’m going to send one of the boys to you here.” Devil kissed her cheek and reluctantly walked out of the room. He looked back at her, to see Lexie grasping Judi’s hand and praying.
She shouldn’t be praying.
Without giving it anymore thought, he left the hospital and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. Dialing Tiny’s number, he waited for the other man to answer.
“What the f**k do you want now?” Tiny asked.
“Gonzalez paid me a visit today.”
“Is he dead?”
“No. I couldn’t kill him. He brought a friend who would have killed Lexie. I love my woman a lot more alive than with a bullet through her head.”
Tiny cursed. “I don’t know about you, Devil, but I’m getting tired of men trying to use our women against us.”
“I hear you. Kayla, Lexie’s sister, was used as a test for Everett. Gonzalez wanted to know if the guy would do whatever he asked. He got his answer.”
“Eva wants to know how Lexie is holding up.”
Devil sighed. “That’s what I’ve got to tell you. Someone went after Judi. She’s been beaten up pretty bad and is surviving in a medically induced coma. We’re waiting to see how she is when she wakes up.”
It was taking every ounce of strength to keep in his anger. No one went after his family, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he was becoming.
“Fuck, I’m sorry.”
“I want to organize the wedding. I want Gonzalez vulnerable, and I want to kill whoever is working for him.” Devil stopped, moving the cell phone to his other ear. “The faster we put this f**ker in the ground, the happier I’ll be.”
“He’s coming after all of our family. That leaves a couple of thoughts, he lied, which we know he did, or he’s getting desperate. We know he’s lost what his father created back in Europe.”
Devil listened as Tiny started to list everything Gonzalez had left behind. “He wants Piston County, Fort Wills, and Vegas, and I bet he plans to expand his business there. Who needs a base in Europe if he controls most of the states here?”
“I got a call from Ned last night,” Tiny said. “He didn’t know about the hit on Eva, but he caught one of Gonzalez’s men. A pimp and drug dealer who Whizz couldn’t get in touch with. He was paid to start looking at the competition in Vegas. Slowly, he was going to build up a portfolio for Gonzalez to come and use people against them. Ned hasn’t been attacked in some time, and he’s found a way past the system to get us some men. Whizz has taken all the men Gonzalez pitted against us. The cops and men in Fort Wills are no longer answering Gonzalez’s calls. We’re ahead at the moment, but we don’t know if he’s got more people up his sleeves.”
“What are you trying to say?” Devil asked, straddling his bike. He saw one of his men, Butler, he believed, drive into the hospital. A few months ago Butler had been one of the brothers who spent a great deal of time at the bottom of a bottle and some coke rather than face whatever problems he had. When Devil ordered rehab, Butler was one of the first men to take the rehab and get better.
Butler pulled in front of him.
“I’m saying that I’m in talks with Ned. We’re going to get a few of his men here within the week. The more men we have wanting to get rid of Gonzalez the better we’ll be.”
“Okay, we’ll deal with it in a week. That what we agreeing on, one week?”