Ball & Chain(116)

Zane smiled. “That’ll just have to wait until after your little surgery, now won’t it?”

Nick rolled his eyes and took a sip of water. He was donating his liver to a father who had terrorized him all his life. He was a better person than Zane, that was for sure. Zane would’ve sat back and watched the man die.

“We’ll investigate from our end,” Ty said, sounding determined and a little scary. Zane liked it. “To get to de la Vega, we have to get to the mole. That’s our first move.”

They all nodded, glancing around at each other.

“Does that mean you’re coming back to the FBI?” Zane asked Ty.

Ty shook his head. “We both know I can’t. I think what you call me now would be the Wild Card.”

Zane met his lover’s eyes, thrilled to see the life back in them. Whatever had happened to Ty and Sidewinder out there, it had sapped the joy out of all of them, taken the very thing that made them capable of walking through Hell and doused it. But now, looking at these three men, with a purpose given to them once more, with a mission, Zane could see that fire returning.

De la Vega had poked the wrong hornet’s nest this time.



Nick fought to open his eyes when he heard voices. He finally managed to make his head fall to the side and peered through his eyelashes to see who was in the room. The motion must have drawn attention, because the voices stopped and the room fell silent.

Nick closed his eyes again.

A moment later a cool hand was on his forehead. “Nick?” the voice whispered. “Wake up, babe.” When Nick finally got both eyes open, Kelly was smiling down at him. He grazed his fingers along Nick’s cheek and bent to whisper in his ear. “Lots of people here to see you.”

A separator curtain screeched as it was pulled across the room to give them a little more privacy. He was still groggy as hell, and it took him a long time to focus, and an even longer time to understand what was going on. He’d given a piece of his liver, one he’d managed to keep healthy by some miracle, to his father. It hadn’t even really been a choice for him. As soon as the tests came back saying he was a good match, he knew he had to do it.

His father would live on, whether he deserved to or not. Nick’s conscience was clear, and the missing piece of his liver would eventually grow back. He hoped.

Almost a dozen people were crowded around, all holding some form of “special delivery” baby presents.

He started to laugh but had to stop when pain threatened. “Assholes.”

Ty and Zane were both there, as were Owen and Digger. Nick had known they would be, though, because they’d flown in last night to be with him before the operation. Digger stood at the foot of the bed, and Owen was sitting in the corner holding a huge teddy bear that hid most of his body. When he realized Nick was awake, he stood and placed the bear in the chair to move closer.

“How you feeling, O?” Digger asked.

“Like less of a man,” Nick said, drawing laughs from the others.

“You look it,” Digger told him, and held up a jar filled with liquid and some sort of . . . stuff.

Ty quickly grabbed the jar and hid it from sight. “Dude, no.”

“Gator livers!”

“No.”

“They’ll help his grow back faster!”

“Definitely no.”

Nick groaned and tossed his head to the side, trying to purge that visual from his mind before that visual purged his stomach.

“So gross,” Ty muttered, and he left the room with the jar under his arm.

The rest of them were still laughing when Ty returned, and Nick finally managed to look back to the foot of the bed without feeling the need to throw up.

Kat and Erin were standing there, both of them with bouquets filled out with baby’s breath, little pink daisies, and balloons. They giggled as they placed the dainty arrangements on the table near the wall. Even Nick’s oldest nephew, Patrick, had come with them. He was snickering gleefully when he handed Nick a card that everyone had signed. It read, “Congratulations on your special delivery.”

“What’d you guys do, send out a memo?” Nick asked, still trying to avoid laughing.

“It seemed appropriate,” Ty said. He held up a bouquet of cookies on sticks, all of them in the shape of baby bottles, shoes, and bonnets, then set it down on the table next to Nick. The vase read “For the Little One.”

Owen tapped Nick’s foot, then gestured between him and Kelly. “You two got some ’splainin’ to do, Lucy.”

Nick’s stomach dropped. “Who told you?”

“Doc couldn’t stop pacing in the waiting room. Finally, he just blurted out that he needed a hug because he loved you and he was freaking out.”