I turn to look at Bates briefly before looking back at the road.
“Fuck,” Bates groans. “That’s bullshit. I never fucked her, or anyone for that matter, ungloved until Reign.”
“Yeah, well, she claims it’s yours and she’s willing to do a DNA test. Apparently, that’s why she was so keen to get you to make her your old lady.”
“I’m not buying this bullshit.” Bates snorts, but I don’t miss the way his hands fist at his sides.
“Only one way to find out. She dropped that on me a second before I spotted Reign. From the look on Reign’s face, I thought she had overheard us talking. Now I know it’s because of her brother but I swear I took one look at her pale face and went on the attack. I didn’t want her to leave us, not because there might now be a baby involved, which is more than she signed up for.”
“She can’t leave,” Bates grits out.
“I’m not saying she will, I just don’t know. I reacted without thought. I was waiting for Kitty to throw it in her face, but thankfully, she didn’t.”
“We have to tell her. Even if this is all Lexi being a conniving bitch, Reign still needs to know,” I tell them. The truck is quiet now except for the low hum of the radio.
“It can wait until after we get home. She has enough on her plate. She doesn’t need to be dealing with this on top of everything else too.” Bates sighs.
It’s shitty, but he’s right. Her focus needs to be on her brother right now.
“Are we heading to the clubhouse first or the hospital?” Priest eventually asks after a half-hour of silence, each of us likely wondering why it feels like everything is about to blow up in our faces.
“Hospital first. Reign said it wasn’t looking good. I didn’t have a chance to ask much more than that. To be honest, I don’t think she knows anything more than that. She just wants to be there in case she has to say goodbye.”
He sighs. “Fuck.”
Yeah, that about sums up tonight.
By the time we pull up outside the hospital, the sky is awash with pinks and purples as night turns into day.
Priest nudges Reign awake as I park. She opens her eyes in confusion for a moment before reality comes crashing back down. She hurries to unbuckle her belt before reaching to yank open the car door.
“Wait,” Bates yells, making her freeze. He grabs his cut and climbs out, first slipping it on as she waits. We all follow suit before I open Reign’s door and she climbs out, moving around to Bates’s side. He takes her hand, pushing her toward the entrance as I lock up. With Priest beside me, we follow behind, staying out of the way as Reign stops at the reception desk to talk to a harried-looking receptionist who points us in the right direction.
We bypass the packed elevators and climb the stairs to the third floor, spilling out from the stairwell into a dimly lit waiting room.
I’m about to ask if we’re in the right place when I see a bunch of men who can’t be anything other than Reign’s brothers. They all have the exact coloring, dark hair, and dark eyes. It’s clear the brothers all work out from the size of them. Team that with their height, and I can see precisely why dating would have been impossible for Reign. Hell, the shortest of the bunch still looks like he’s about 6’1”. They all look like giants compared to Reign, especially next to the big bastard that spots her first.
She lets go of Bates’s hand and runs full out, straight into his arms. He picks her up and holds her tightly to him, his eyes squeezed shut as he soaks her in before passing her off to the brother beside him. The two of them stand out from the rest due to their military uniforms, so I’m guessing these two must be Kayden and Alex.
Tate walks over to us as Reign hugs her family.
“How is he?” I ask him quietly.
“Actually, not as bad as they initially thought. He made it through the night and even woke up for a little while.”
My shoulders sag in relief for a man I’ve never met, knowing the loss of him would have devastated Reign.
“I told her not to come,” he admits, turning to look at her as she hugs the shorter one of the bunch.