When I stood, taking Mac with me, she tilted her head back to ask, “If we have to leave anyway, why don’t I just go to the hospital? It’ll be easier.”

“Told you, baby, I don’t want you out of my sight.” My hand moved down to her stomach. “And this will be a fuck-ton faster.”

That did it.

With a nod, Mac headed for the door before pausing. Backtracking to me, she went up on her toes and pulled me down. “I can already see what is going on in your head. If you had kicked the door down when you came over earlier, he would’ve shot Squish. And me. He had a gun to my belly. You did the best thing.” She blinked up at me, tears pooling. “You’re my hero and my hero.”

I had no clue what that meant, but it didn’t matter. I fuckin’ loved the way it sounded, even if I didn’t believe it.

Wrapping an arm around her, I took my woman and my baby to get checked out.

* * *

“How’s she doing?” Judge asked quietly.

Sitting on a couch in the clubhouse, Mac was curled next to me, her head in my lap. She’d insisted we watched TV but had fallen asleep five minutes in. And had stayed asleep for hours. With everything she’d gone through the day before, she needed all the rest she could get.

Going to Dr. Huxley had been the right choice. It hadn’t mattered that I’d been the one to bring her in or that he knew O from the clinic. He’d taken one look at Mac and ordered me out to the hall so he could talk to her alone. More importantly to her, he’d believed her when she’d said I wasn’t the piece of shit who hurt her.

Squish was good. And, minus the bumps and bruises, Mac was good—physically, at least.

Mentally? I wasn’t sure. She’d been quiet. Withdrawn.

She may have been in my arms, but she was a damn lightyear away.

Which was why I told Judge, “As good as can be expected.”

He lifted his chin. “Stay as long as she needs.”

It wasn’t her that needed it.

It was me.

I couldn’t stand the thought of returning to my house yet. Knowing that I’d been sitting there while her ex had been right next door. Knowing that I could’ve done something.

Knowing that I’d believed that motherfucker for even a minute…

I didn’t try to push the guilt down. I let it grow. I fuckin’ choked on it. It didn’t matter how much Mac had tried to tell me it wasn’t my fault. Nothing would change till I found him.

But for the moment, focusing on Mac was my priority.