No Place to Run (KGI #2)(12)

She clutched her belly when she realized she still hadn’t felt her baby move. Tears scalded her cheeks, and she sniffed loudly, but she couldn’t manage to get air through her nose.

Through the haze and confusion she remembered the one thing she had to do above all else.

“Sam,” she croaked out. “I have to get to Sam. They’ll kill him.”

She sank lower in the bed as the room dimmed around her.

“I’m here, Sophie.”

“Sam?” No, it was that guy who looked like him. She shook her head. “No, Sam K-kelly. Have to get to, Sam. Important. They’ll kill me too. My baby.”

Her teeth clanked together until her jaw ached.

Why couldn’t she pull herself together? Why did she feel so disjointed and murky? The room spun crazily around her, like she was stuck on some Ferris wheel from hell. Her stomach knotted and boiled. The god-awful pain was making her nauseous, and the last thing she wanted to do was puke.

Nothing made sense. She’d heard herself babble on, but she couldn’t even remember about what.

Sam. That came back to her. It was her one constant.

She tried to say his name again, but found her lips stiff and uncooperative. Her lashes drifted over her eyes, and she tried to rub at them so she could see.

Darkness crowded in until the room was so dim she couldn’t even make out the men. It hurt to fight the growing dark. And so she gave up.

Sam watched as she drifted into unconsciousness again. He glanced up at Garrett and Donovan to see them both staring holes through him.

“What the ever loving hell?” Garrett finally said.

Sam dragged a hand through his hair and cupped the back of his neck. “Christ, I don’t know.”

“Who is she?” Donovan demanded.

Before he could answer, Garrett’s eyes narrowed and he stared between Sophie and Sam.

“It’s the chick you were involved with in Mexico isn’t it?”

Sam ignored Garrett and raised the covers higher over Sophie so she’d be warmer, but he was careful to leave her arm uncovered. The blood still seeping from the wound disturbed him. Hell, the whole thing disturbed him.

“What the hell did she mean by needing to warn you?” Donovan asked. “This stinks to high heaven, Sam. You should call Sean and an ambulance. Let him handle things.”

Sam shook his head. “We’re not calling the police. Not until I know what the hell went on here.”

His gaze dropped to her belly. He pushed aside the covers more, and he couldn’t help but slide his palm over the swell. Her skin was cold to touch, but the hard little ball of her stomach fascinated him.

“Oh hell,” Garrett muttered. “Oh hell no.”

“What?” Donovan demanded.

Sam knew. He swallowed and looked up at his brothers. “It could be mine. I won’t know until I can talk to her, but we were together five months ago. She sure looks like she’s about five months along.”

“Holy shit,” Donovan blew out.

“I’m with Van. This stinks like a roadkill skunk,” Garrett said grimly.

Sam gestured toward Sophie. “I need to bandage her while she’s unconscious. I need you to help me with her arm. If the bullet’s still in there, we aren’t going to have a choice but to get her to the hospital.”

He glanced at the wound. Bullet or no bullet, it needed stitches. He didn’t know how the hell he could keep her out of the hospital or why the hell he should.

Donovan eased onto the bed on the other side of Sophie, his expression grim.

“It looks like someone beat the hell out of her, tried to choke her, and then shot her. Not necessarily in that order.”

Anger tightened Sam’s jaw. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like. It’s a wonder she got away.”

“If she got away,” Garrett said sourly.

Sam shot him an irritated look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I find it pretty damn strange that she shows up half-drowned and beat up, with a bullet wound, and talking some shit like she has to warn you. Where the hell has she been for five months if you were so hot and heavy with her? She had to know you could protect her.”

“So what are you saying?” Sam asked calmly. “You think she beat herself up, shot herself, then threw herself in the lake when she’s pregnant as an elaborate scheme to get to me?”

Garrett had the grace to look a little abashed.

“Look, I know you’re a suspicious bastard. I’m having my share of what-the-f*ckitus at the moment myself, but until I hear what she has to say, I’m reserving judgment.”

“Good call,” Donovan murmured as he examined Sophie’s wound. “Looks like a through-and-through. No bone. Flesh wound. It’ll hurt like hell and will probably get infected after she spent so much time in the lake, but I don’t think it’s too serious. I’d be more worried about her pregnancy.”

Donovan’s statement hit Sam like a hammer. Yeah, he’d seen her belly. He’d even calmly and matter-of-factly told his brothers that the baby could be his. But not until now had he really let it sink in.

There was a baby. It might be his. He might be a father.

Holy shit.

Talk about coming from left field. This wasn’t something he’d contemplated in his wildest dreams. He’d left it to his brothers to settle down and have babies. He figured Ethan and Rachel would pop out a couple before he would ever consider settling down and providing grand-children for Mom and Dad.