Rule was sitting with Rome and the brothers had their heads bent close together. They were talking in quiet tones as Cora sat next to them with a wiggling Remy on her lap. The baby was a handful, full of energy, babbling away between words and not quite words, and looked like she was ready to get up and go at just ten months. She was starting to walk just a little bit, so Rome kept telling Cora to let her down, but mama bear was adamant that the baby was not going to crawl around in whatever might be on the bar floor. Rome acted insulted, like the bar was spotless, but when he took little RJ from her mom he didn’t put her down either. He just bounced the little bundle up and down on his leg until she squealed in delight.

Rule shook his head, probably because it was his future playing right out in front of him, and got up to go collect his pregnant wife. She was still crying when he got to her, so he pulled her into a tight hug and rested his cheek on the top of her fair head. Jet didn’t say anything but silently left my side so he could collect his own crying lady and offer whatever comfort he could. Like I thought, tears of happiness and sorrow.

I put my beer back up to my lips and was going to make my way over to my own girl when I saw Saint suddenly pull away from the group with her phone to her ear. She had to leave early on more than one occasion because of work, so I hoped the hospital wasn’t calling to ruin her evening. She was talking rapidly and I saw her gaze shoot up to Nash where he was talking with Cora’s dad. He immediately stopped midsentence and found his way over to the pretty redhead’s side.

I frowned in concern as they both shared a frowning look as Saint continued to talk animatedly into the phone. I was going to go ask if everything was all right when a light hand touched my elbow. I looked down and smiled softly at Poppy. It had taken months to get her comfortable enough to even be alone in a room with me again, so the fact she was okay with person-on-person contact was a giant leap in the right direction.

“How’s it going?”

She nodded a little bit and forced a tight grin. “Every day gets a little bit better. It’s hard not to appreciate making it out alive in such a beautiful place filled with so many wonderful people.” She cleared her throat and reached out to squeeze my hand. “I never did tell you thank you. Thank you for bringing me home. Thank you for trying to take care of me. Thank you for welcoming us into your family. Thank you for loving my sister . . . just thank you for being great.”

I thought she would probably get uncomfortable if I tried to hug her, so I just brought her hand where it was resting on the top of mine up to my lips and gave it a light kiss.

“Anytime, Poppy. None that stuff makes me great, it just makes me a man trying to do right by someone he cares about.”

That heartbreaking smile was back on her face as she pulled away from me. “I think you are the only man in my entire life that has ever tried to do right by me.”

I was going to reply that she should only let people in her life that did right by her from here on out but got interrupted when Nash and Saint went rushing by shoving arms into coats and looking wild-eyed and slightly frantic.

“Whoa . . . you two okay?”

Saint didn’t stop. She was pulling her long hair out of the collar of her jacket and practically jogging to the front door of the bar.

Nash paused for a second and looked after his girl with darkening purple eyes.

“That was Saint’s boss at the ER. They just rolled in multiple injuries from a police shootout in Five Points. She knows that Saint and Royal are friends, so she called her to give her a heads-up that Royal and her partner were two of the officers they were bringing in. She couldn’t give her any more information, but Saint being Saint she isn’t going to wait around and find out how bad the situation is, she’s going to dive headfirst into it. We’re headed to the hospital now. Can you tell everyone why we’re bouncing early?”

I nodded solemnly and watched as he turned to race after his lady. Suddenly the beer in my hand didn’t seem as appetizing and the festive mood didn’t fit right. Royal had been lying low ever since she had put cuffs on Asa. I think she was worried about the reception she would receive from everyone for locking up one of ours.

I walked over to the bar so I could set the beer down and shrugged when Asa looked at it and then up at me.

“Not in the mood to drink all of a sudden.”

His amber eyes flashed in question. “What’s up?”

“Nash just said that a bunch of cops got hurt. He and Saint left to find out if Royal was one of them.”

His gaze narrowed just a fraction and he put his hands on the bar in front of him. “That’s a pretty girl with a shitty job. I hope she’s okay.” His drawl sounded a little more pronounced, a little thicker than it normally did, and I wondered if he was saying something I wasn’t entirely hearing.

“Me, too.”

I sighed as Salem suddenly appeared at my side. She settled her hip next to mine and wrapped her arm around my waist. Her head rested on my shoulder and her hair tickled my chin. She was so much more than my lady—she was my best friend, my muse, my lover, my future. Without her the road stretched dark and endless in front of me; with her the path I wanted to travel was crystal clear.

“You all right? I felt your mood crash from across the room.”

I tilted my head so I could rub my cheek against the crown of her head.

“Nash and Saint just left for the hospital because Royal may or may not be hurt.”

She was silent for a second and then pulled back so she was looking up at me. She put a hand on my chest and tapped her fingers against my heart.

“Let’s go.”

I lifted my eyebrows at her. “Really?”

She nodded at me and said, “Royal went out of her way to help us with the situation with Poppy, and Saint is going to need a friend if things are bad. Besides, Nash spent so time in a hospital with Phil I’m sure he could use a distraction from the bad memories if they are going to be there for awhile. That’s what we do, take care of one another.”

“I more than love you, Salem. Every day it feels like so much more than the day before.”

I agreed that we should go and asked Asa to let everyone know what was going on if they asked. I didn’t want to make an announcement because I knew if I did the entire bar would pack it in and head on over to the ER and today wasn’t a day for that. There was too many good-byes to say and too many firsts to enjoy.

I got Salem’s coat and told Jet what was going on. He gave me a tight one-arm hug that had more back pounding to it than actual embracing and told me my cowboy boots needed Texas dust back on them. I really was going to miss the tight-pants-wearing son of a bitch.