I walk beside her and now I know Annie’s still here, I ask, “When can Annie start her cancer treatment? Surely the sooner, the better?”
If I weren’t looking at her, waiting for her answer, I would’ve missed the slight confusion she wears and quickly masks with a smile that is too bright.
“You’ll have to speak with Annie.”
I nod but my head starts spinning. That look… the small voice in the back of my head is now screaming.
The nurse opens a door into a private room and Annie tiredly smiles at me as I walk around the bed to her side.
The nurse leaves us, and I lean over and press a kiss on the top of her head.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” she tells me.
“It’s okay. It’s over now. The nurse said she’ll be back, and she’ll take us to meet our son.”
Water fills her eyes. “I haven’t even seen him. This hasn’t been anything like I imagined…”
“Hey, hey. You’re still here, the baby is being looked after, I’m here. We’re good.” I take a deep breath and continue, “And now the baby is here, you can continue with treatment. When the doctor comes around, we’ll ask them about it.”
My suspicions are confirmed when a flash of unadulterated fear covers her beautiful face.
“I’ll talk to him. Don’t you worry about it.”
“I do worry about it. You needed the treatment months ago. We should be hounding the doc down right now.”
Her cheeks burn a furious red. “Shane, it’s my business. I just need some rest and then I’ll talk to someone. Please, stay with me while I sleep a little.”
I don’t know why but I smile and nod. “Okay.” Taking hold of her hand, I press a kiss on her warm palm and tell her, “Shut your eyes, I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
Relief whooshes from her in a long exhale and she closes her eyes. I have no idea what’s going on, but my gut is telling me I’m being played. My gut hasn’t driven me wrong before.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Leo
All brothers apart from Shane surround the table in the backroom. I spread a map of the country across the table and lean on top of it. The Lost Souls Motorcycle clubhouses are already marked.
“I want to know where every Hog fuck’s bases are.”
Dad is the only one to stand and he takes the marker pen and circles twelve locations across the country.
When Dad tosses the pen down, I pick it up and draw a line from each Hog’s base to the nearest Lost Souls base.
Looking to JJ, I instruct, “Get on the phone to these twelve chapters and tell them I want a meet with their presidents and VP’s.”
“Where?”
I point to a small town in the middle of the Hog fuckers’ territories. “Here, they have three days to be there.” Looking around the table at my brothers, I inform them, “Me and Jay will leave today. While we’re gone, you need anything you see my dad. You hold down what’s ours, by any means necessary.”
“What are ya thinkin’, Leo?” Sparky asks.
“We’re gonna blow shit up.”
It’s all he needs and the grin on his face tells me he doesn’t need any more answers.
I slam the gavel down and the back room empties. Dad stays behind and questions, “Jay’s got a leg wound, you should take someone else. Zach? He’s cool and calm but ruthless if needed.”
“Jay will be fine. If I expect high standards from the brothers, I need to set them.”
