Duncan (The Protectors #3)(36)

“Because we didn’t cover our tracks, so this place is crawling with media.” Sid answered, tossing back a bag of potato chips. “And it will be hard to keep her safe from Kenny.”

“You told them?” Duncan glanced at each of them. The angry frowns on their faces answered that question.

“He comes anywhere near her, we’ll know it.” Jared growled.

Sid watched a nurse walk by eyeing him. Knocking the crumbs off his shirt, he crumbled the empty bag. “So the pregnant one is good, as well as the little rug rat?”

Rolling his eyes, Duncan nodded. “They’re fine.”

“Good.” Sid grinned as the nurse passed again. “Hey Sloan, we got health insurance through the Council right?”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Sloan looked up from his phone with a growl.

“I think I need to get my blood pressure checked.” Sid wagged his eyebrows as he took off after the nurse, tossing his empty potato chip bag in the trash.

“I think I hate him,” Sloan sneered. “I really do.”

“Ah, he grows on ya.” Jared shook his head laughing at Sid.

“Okay, now that the scare is over with we need to plan a baby shower.” Nicole whipped out her phone.

All the Warriors threw up their hands in horror, even Sloan, different mutterings of protest coming from each of them.

“What?” Nicole stared at them.

“Me and Nicole can’t do this on our own on such short notice. The baby is coming soon. That doesn’t give us much time.” Tessa flipped her hands in the air. “Come on, guys.”

“Babe, we kill shit.” Jared talked to her on a serious level. “We don’t do baby showers. Nowhere in the Warrior’s oath does it say we do baby showers.”

“Oh, and it says you kill shit?” Tessa gave him a disbelieving snort.

“As a matter a fact, it does.” Jared tossed back at her.

“I’d like to see that oath.” Tessa’s glare was suspicious.

“Only Warriors can lay eyes on the oath.” Jared smiled knowing he had her.

“Uh, actually I’ve seen the oath and it doesn’t say that.” Jill stepped next to Tessa and Nicole. “Count me in girls. We don’t need their help. We got this. They’d just get in the way.”

Tessa elbowed Jared in the stomach when she walked by him, she and Nicole already making plans.

“You’ll pay for that in training,” Jared warned Jill with an evil glare.

She just shrugged her shoulders with a grin. “Sorry.”

Jared snorted at her as she followed Tessa and Nicole. Glancing around at Damon, Duncan and Sloan, he threw his hands in the air. “Thanks for jumping in and helping out guys.” Jared growled.

“Hey, you were doing fine,” Sloan replied, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah, until you crashed and burned,” Damon added with a rare grin. “Didn’t really want to go down with you.”

“Yeah, and I’ll remember that, pal.” Jared walked away, but realized he was heading toward the planning women. With a quick turn, he headed back past the Warriors who were all laughing at him. “Fuck you, guys.”

Duncan was paying half attention to what was going on. His focus was on what was going on in the room behind him. He tried to get a read on Slade, but he was closed off tight. He wouldn’t try to read Pam, didn’t even know if he could. He had tried to get into the nurse’s head, but all her thoughts were about how she was going to get the new doctor into her bed and he so wasn’t going there.

“How you holding up?” Sloan walked over.

“I’ll let you know after the doc comes out.” Duncan replied glancing at the door with a frown.

“He’s the best, Duncan,” Sloan reassured him. “I wouldn’t have brought him in if I didn’t believe that.”

“So is he a doctor or a Warrior?” Damon asked, hearing their conversation.

“He’s both, but he’s a Warrior first. I’ve known him for a long time. He will be an asset to the team.” Sloan patted Duncan on the back. “She is in the best hands.”

The door opened as Slade and the nurse came out. He gave her instructions before turning toward Duncan. “I need to talk to you alone.”

“Is she okay?” Duncan didn’t budge from his stance by the door.

“She’s getting dressed.” Slade looked around. “Come on.”

Duncan followed him to a private room that wasn’t being occupied. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Slade frowned as he closed the door. “Okay, I need to get this out of the way first. I hope to God you find the bastard who did this to her, and even though my priority is to save lives, there are some lives not worth saving. Kill the bastard or I will.”

“No worries there. He’s a walking dead man.” Duncan tried to remain calm, waiting to hear something he was sure he didn’t want to hear.

Slade took a second to compose himself, his black eyes going to gold in a flash. “She has been used, hard.” Slade growled knowing he didn’t have to explain what he meant. “She has a lot of damage that is not repairable. This birth, if natural, is going to be hard on her.”

Duncan looked away his face a mask of stone. “Does she know?”