Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“We have an inside problem,” Jesup admitted. I glared at him. Jesus Christ, that would have been nice to know before I brought my woman and my child all the fucking way down here.
“Fredrick—you should remember him Adelaide—was doing some shit on the side, and he was telling a rival crew what moves Tristan was making. Tristan confronted him about it, and Fredrick shot him, and then he took off. I found Tristan behind the clubhouse. Almost found him too late.”
I tightened my arm around Adelaide’s shoulders as she stiffened, her hands tightening around her phone. I leaned over and brushed my lips with hers. “Live for me,” I whispered. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Hold him with you,” I coaxed.
“The hospital was able to bring him back,” Jesup continued, “but he’s on life support, and they don’t think he’s ever going to come back from it. According to the doctors, he’s completely unresponsive, Adelaide.”
Axel reached up and touched Adelaide’s face, and she burst into tears. I pulled her and Axel onto my lap, holding them both to me as she cried. She wound her arms around my neck, her tears wetting my shirt. Everyone was silent as they watched the once angry, almost emotionless woman sob in my arms.
A couple of moments later, she looked up at me through red, puffy, tear-filled eyes, making my heart twist at the sight of her looking so shattered.
“I want him found, and I want him dead,” she snapped, her voice raspy.
“We’re doing what we can, Adelaide—” Jesup started.
“No,” she cut off Jesup. She looked back up at me, and I knew what she was going to say before she said it.
“You want me to do it,” I stated more than asked, but she nodded her head in response anyway. I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Anything for you, Darlin’,” I swore.
And I meant it.
If she wanted me to kill the son of a bitch who almost took Tristan out of her life, then I would.
She leaned her head back into the crook of my neck as she lifted Axel from her legs. My eyes met Jesup’s over his head.
“You realize this is our club’s problem, right? Not yours,” he reminded me, but he wasn’t rude about it. Merely stating a fact.
I shrugged. “What Adelaide wants, she gets. And be prepared because Joey will be looking for him, too,” I warned him.
He nodded once in understanding.
Chapter Twenty
Adelaide
Iheld Axel tight to my chest as I walked into Tristan’s hospital room, swallowing past the lump in my throat at the sight of his pale features. He was connected to an oxygen machine, a heart monitor, an IV drip, and multiple other cords.
I strode over to his bed, running my eyes over his features. He looked weak, not at all like the strong, dominating man I had known for most of my life.
“Darlin’…” River drawled softly as he stepped into the room. I slowly ripped my eyes from the pale, weak man lying in the hospital bed to look over at River. “The doctor asked me to come to tell you that he needs to run some more brain scans on Tristan.”
My bottom lip trembled as I fought hard to keep myself composed. Turning my head, I stared back down at Tristan’s still form. “Adelaide?” River softly called. He stepped closer to me, shadowing me. My fingers shook as I adjusted Axel to one arm and reached out to run my fingers down Tristan’s face. His skin was warm, but with how dead he looked, he might as well have been cold and lifeless.
“Why him?” I asked, my voice breaking.
River gently grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him, pulling me into his arms as I clutched Axel tighter against my chest. Tears streamed down my face as River held me in his arms, giving me as much of his strength as he could.
“I don’t know why it had to be him, darlin’,” River said quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Tristan is strong. I think you should give him a chance of surviving before you make any kind of decision on pulling the plug on him.”
Jesup had informed me of the decision the doctor had put into his hands. I hated that Jesup was now putting it into mine. I would never be able to pull the plug on Tristan. I was selfish enough that I would keep him in that hospital bed and unresponsive for the rest of my life if it was what kept him here on Earth with me.
I looked up at River through my tears, only to find him already looking down at me with understanding, blue eyes, but they were also clouded with the pain of seeing me falling apart. “You really think he’ll pull through?” I asked him, my voice breaking.