by Ana Night
Joker crossed his arms. “It was hard to miss the two guys in cuffs.”
“I’m sure it was. Fortunately, I was there to see the whole thing. The two men were in an SUV and they rammed into Mr. Wolff’s car. Then they got out of their own with guns raised. I can almost guarantee you they were planning on finishing the job,” Ford said.
Joker clenched his jaw. “Those bastards better pray they don’t make bail.”
Ford cleared his throat and said, “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“What happens now?” Zayne asked.
“There’ll be a detective assigned to the case, but they’re slammed at the moment, so it might be a while before one gets here.” Ford pulled out his phone and showed Joker a picture of one man then another. “Do you recognize these men?”
Joker shook his head. “No. They’re the ones who tried to kill Gabe, aren’t they?”
“Yes. Their names are Philip Border and Matthew Ardova. Do you have any idea why they would try to kill Gabe?”
“No. But we’re Kings. A lot of people would like to see us dead.”
“I figured as much,” Ford said. He put his phone away. “If you remember anything, Nash has my number.”
“Sure. Thank you, officer.”
Ford gave him a nod and turned a stern look Nash’s way. Nash pulled a face before following Ford out of the waiting room.
He glanced at Zayne and asked, “Is he gonna be all right?”
Zayne tore his gaze away from the now closed door Nash and Ford had walked out of.
“Nash or Gabe?”
Joker tilted his head to the side and arched a brow at Zayne.
Zayne sighed. “Nash will be fine. Ford’s a friend.”
Joker nodded and slid into a chair. Zayne sat down next to him, his presence the only thing that kept him calm. He didn’t know how long they sat there. It could’ve been seconds. It could’ve been hours. Time seemed to have stopped. It was like his world didn’t turn right when Gabe wasn’t with him.
Polly and King came walking through the door, heading directly for them. Joker pushed out of his chair, wholly unprepared for the hug Polly gave him.
“Have you heard anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Fucking Wade,” King grumbled.
“I should never have brought him to see Sean. This wouldn’t have happened. All because you lost your fucking temper,” Joker sneered at King.
“You’re not seriously blaming me for this, are you?”
“You put him in danger. You put him on Wade’s radar. Not once, but twice. You sent him in alone last time. No backup. You’re fucking lucky he had Emery with him and that they didn’t get caught.”
“Fuck you,” King snapped. “Don’t put this on me. You were supposed to protect him. Like you promised me you would.”
Polly got between them just as Joker took a step towards King, his hands balled into fists.
“Stop this nonsense. No more blaming each other. Can’t we just agree that this is on Wade? He’s the one who did this. Not one of you.”
“King’s the one who’s been sitting on his hands, hoping the whole thing would just magically go away,” Joker said. “Instead, Gabe’s the one who had to pay the fucking prize.”
“Go to hell, Joker. What the fuck does it even matter to you?” King yelled.
“It matters because I fucking love him.”
He knew he’d fucked up, then. The silence would’ve told him that if the deadly glare in King’s eyes didn’t. There was no mistaking the kind of love he meant.
“How long?” King asked, his voice deceptively calm.
“Since Washington.”
King took a step towards him but Polly’s hand around his arm held him back.
“You’ve been going behind my back? You’ve… My son, Joker. He’s my son. How could you?”
He never got to answer because a doctor walked through the door. He directed his attention to Polly and King.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wolff? Your son is conscious. He has a concussion and a few lacerations on his face and neck. He also had a dislocated shoulder which we’ve of course set. We’re going to keep him for observation. He got lucky. The seatbelt and airbag played a big role in that,” the doctor said.
“Can we see him?” Polly asked.
“Yes. I can take you now.”
Joker moved to follow but King stepped in his way.
“Family only,” King growled.
Joker stared at him, his stomach sinking at the implication.
Zayne stepped up next to Joker and said, “We’re all his family. Don’t you fucking forget that.”
“Family don’t lie to each other. They don’t keep secrets. Not like this,” King said and turned his gaze on Joker. “How many times have you lied to my face?”
He didn’t know how to answer that, so he didn’t. He took a step back, then turned on his heel and walked out of the room. He didn’t deserve to be there.
Gabe
His head was pounding, and the light was killing him. His shoulder still hurt, though not as much as before. When they’d set it he might’ve yelled a bit. It’d hurt like a bitch. He was sitting up in his bed now, drinking some of the water a nurse had placed in a plastic cup on his table. When the door swung open, he glanced up, fully expecting to see Joker walk in. Instead, it was his parents.
Polly Wolff wasn’t prone to tears, but one was rolling down her cheek as she hurried to his bedside. She took his hand and squeezed gently.
“I’m okay, mom.”
“You’d better be so I can kick your ass later,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
He felt a smile pull at his lips. He looked up at King and nearly winced when he saw the look in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he croaked out.
“Joker,” King said.
“What?” Gabe cried out and tried to get out of bed, but his mom shushed him and with a gentle hand on his chest, she pushed him back down.
King cursed, turning his back on Gabe. Polly sighed, making Gabe look at her with confusion.
“Mom. What’s going on?”
Polly ran her gaze over his face. “We know about you and Joker.”
That was probably the last thing he’d expected to come out of her mouth. He glanced up at his father.
“Pops. I can explain.”
King whirled around, anger blazing in his eyes. “You can explain why the one person I trusted the most went behind my back and lied to me time and time again for you?”
“Stop making this about you,” Gabe yelled.
He groaned when the headache spiked and rubbed his eyes. If it hadn’t already been a shit show, this certainly would’ve made it one.
“Can you not do this right now,” Polly hissed at her husband.
King glared at them both before storming out of the room.
“Mom?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Will you please go find Joker? He’s gonna be feeling like shit and it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t pushed so much. If I hadn’t—”
“Stop it. Joker’s a grown man. He makes his own choices and you are one of them,” Polly said and stood. “I’ll find him.”
Gabe swallowed hard. “Thank you. He’s probably outside smoking.”
“Of course, baby. You just try to get some rest now.”
He refrained from nodding, having already learned that lesson and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before he nodded off and then the sound of something scraping along the floor jerked him awake. He turned his head to see Joker sitting down in the chair next to his bed.
“Hi,” Gabe croaked.
Joker’s gaze shifted to Gabe’s and a tiny, relieved smile grazed his lips.
“Hi.”
Gabe lifted his hand and Joker didn’t hesitate to take it in his.
“You were in the ambulance with me, weren’t you?”
Joker nodded. “I was. I made it th
ere right after.”
Gabe frowned and moved his head but stopped when he winced in pain. “How did you know?”
“Sean called.”
Gabe opened his mouth, but Joker cut him off, saying, “It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you later. Just try to get some sleep.”
“You’ll have to wake me up every two hours,” Gabe said with a wry smile.
“I know. I already talked to a nurse.”
Gabe ran his eyes over Joker’s face for a moment. He didn’t look too good. Gabe pulled his hand out from under Joker’s and raised it to lay his palm against Joker’s cheek.
“Come here.”
Joker watched him skeptically but lowered his head to brush his lips over Gabe’s. The kiss was brief but sweet.
“I don’t care what Pops says or thinks. He’s not the boss of me,” Gabe said.
Joker huffed and said, “Except he kinda is. He was so damned angry, Gabe. He feels betrayed by me. Not that I blame him.”
“Then let him feel betrayed. Let him lick his wounds and when he’s ready and has a clear enough head to see what you mean to me, we’ll take it from there.”
“Go to sleep.”
“Fine,” Gabe said with a loud sigh.
Joker rolled his eyes at Gabe, making him chuckle and then groan as pain flared behind his eyes. Joker took Gabe’s hand, entwining their fingers. He fell asleep feeling completely safe.
Joker
He watched Gabe sleep for a while. He had a few bruises on the left side of his face and neck and his arm was in a sling. He slid his hand free from Gabe’s and reached out to run his fingertips down the unscathed side of Gabe’s face before he stood. He took one more glance at Gabe before turning. He only made it one step. Polly standing in the doorway, watching them, made him come to a halt.
Polly moved her gaze from Gabe to Joker. “Where are you off to?”
Joker clenched his jaw, giving Polly an apologetic look.
Polly sighed, nodding as she said, “Right. You can’t tell me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He stood completely still as Polly walked into the room. She stopped in front of him, her head tilted back so she could meet his eyes.
“You didn’t do this, Joker. I know you’d never hurt my son.”
Joker swallowed hard against the emotions clogging his throat. “How do you know that?”
“Easy. I see the way you look at him. Besides, you kinda blurted out the L-word,” Polly said with a teasing smile.
Joker felt a smile tug at his own lips and glanced down. “That was the first time I’ve said it.”
Polly nodded. “I figured as much.”
“I don’t know how—” He cut himself off, shaking his head.
“You’ll figure it out. Together.” Polly cupped Joker’s face in her smaller hands. “I know what kind of man you are, Joker, and I couldn’t wish for anyone better to love my son.”
He had no idea how to respond to that. The whole mothering thing was new to him, but she did succeed in making him feel more worthy of Gabe.
Polly pushed up on her toes to plant a kiss on Joker’s cheek. When she pulled back, she patted him on his chest and said, “Now, go get our boy some justice.”
Joker gave her a sharp nod and as she walked around him to take his place at Gabe’s bedside, he turned his gaze on Gabe, anger boiling up inside him at the damage and pain Wade had caused. He walked out of the room and made his way to the parking lot. He looked for his bike then cursed when he realized he’d left it at the crash site and Zayne had picked it up.
He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed Zayne’s number.
“Hey. How is he?” Zayne asked.
Joker had to take a deep breath before he could answer.
“He’s sleeping right now, but he’s all right.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that,” Zayne said and then hesitated before asking, “How are things with King?”
Joker groaned and turned his gaze on the ground. “I think he might want to kill me. It’ll have to wait till after I’m done with Wade, though.”
“You’re going after him? Now?”
He scoffed and said, “Did you expect me not to?”
“No. I just thought you might want to fix things between you and King first.”
“King doesn’t want to talk to me, so he’ll have to wait,” Joker said.
Zayne cursed under his breath. “Fine. Let’s go then.”
“Zayne…”
“No. Don’t even try it. You would do it for me and this asshole needs to go down. I already sent Reaper and Scar your way so you can take their cage to the club.”
“I’ll see you there,” he said and hung up.
He didn’t have to wait long before a pickup truck pulled up in front of him. Reaper and Scar got out and walked up to Joker. He was glad Reaper was the one who was gonna be there to protect Gabe and Scar wouldn’t let Gabe do anything stupid.
“Joker,” Reaper said. “How’s he doing?”
“He’s still breathing.”
Reaper arched a brow at him, making him say, “The doctor said he’d be fine.”
“Good. We’ll keep him safe, Joker,” Reaper said.
“We won’t let anything happen to him,” Scar added.
“Thank you.”
He walked around the car and got behind the wheel. With a last glance up at the hospital building and a silent wish for Gabe’s safety and recovery, he drove off.
Chapter Seventeen
Gabe
HUSHED VOICES woke him up and he groaned when the headache hit him. He recognized his mom’s voice and when he managed to open his eyes, she was right there in front of him.
“How do you feel, sweetie?”
He tried to open his mouth but found it completely dry. Next thing he knew his mom was holding a cup with a straw in front of him. He took a careful sip, glad that it was juice that hit his tongue and not water. The taste in his mouth was awful.
When he’d finished the juice, he put his left arm behind himself to try and lift himself into a more upright position. He vaguely remembered being woken up several times doing the night. He didn’t know how long he’d slept or what time it was.
He glanced around carefully so as not to provoke the concussion. He saw his father standing by the door, his arms crossed and a displeased look covering his face. He turned his gaze back on his mom.
“Where’s Joker?” he asked, his voice sounding rough from sleep.
When she glanced over her shoulder at her husband instead of answering, Gabe’s whole body tensed.
“What?”
King sighed loudly and stepped closer to Gabe’s bed. He didn’t look the least bit happy.
“Joker’s gone after Wade.”
Gabe stared at his father, sure he’d heard wrong.
“He’s gone after him alone?” Gabe exclaimed and pushed his blanket to the side. “Mom, get my clothes.”
Hands on his thighs stopped him and he glanced up at his mom.
“Sweetheart. You’re not going anywhere in your condition.”
“Like hell, I’m not. If he’s out there alone—”
“He’s with Saint,” King interjected.
Gabe glared at his father and sank back into the bed. “Well, fuck. Lead with that next time.”
“I’m not so sure there’ll be a next time.”
“What do you mean? They’ve gone after him for me. That’s what any brother or sister would do. No one fucks with the Kings,” Gabe said.
“Except that’s not why he’s doing it,” King said through clenched teeth.
“Seriously? You’re pissed he’s doing it for me and not the club?”
King scoffed. “He should’ve stayed the fuck away from you.”
“Fuck. You. You said it yourself. He’s the one you trust the most. Why can’t you trust him with me?”
“Because he went behind my back,” King yelled.
“Of
course we did. You would’ve torn us apart if we’d told you.”
“Boys,” Polly scolded, giving them both her best behave-or-I’ll-kick-your-asses look.
Gabe grunted and crossed his arms, glancing away from his father. How did he explain it so King understood there was no going back, no regrets, and absolutely no way he was giving up Joker?
“I love him,” he said in a soft voice. He turned his gaze on King. “I love him, Pops.”
“I don’t care. It’s over between you two. End it or Joker’s out of the club,” King said.
Before Gabe could yell or get out of his bed, Polly whirled around and slapped King.
“How dare you,” Polly snarled. She glared at her husband. “After everything we’ve been through. After all we’ve done to ensure Gabriel has a safe place to belong to. Where’s the man who fought tooth and nail to prove himself to my father? We kept our relationship a secret for over a year because of my father. Because we knew he’d try to destroy you. Don’t become him.”
King didn’t say a word, he just glanced down as if in shame. He mumbled something that sounded a lot like an apology though Gabe doubted it was for him. Without another word, King turned on his heels and left the room, the door closing after him with a soft click. Gabe stared after him for a while, certain they would be fighting about this for a long time. King would find out just how stubborn his son was.
Gabe glanced at him mom whose gaze was still on the door.
“Mom?”
She turned back to him. “The doctor said you could get discharged today.”
“Good. Then I can go after Joker.”
“No. You need rest and Joker don’t need you to worry about right now.”
The door opened and Scar popped her head inside, a warm smile on her face.
“Hey, brother. It’s good to see you up. I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s a detective here to see you.”
Gabe sighed. “Fine. Send him in.”
Might as well get it over with.
Joker
He was sitting at a table, looking down at the floorplans Sean had drawn for them. If he was to make a guess, he’d say Sean’s drawing was an exact replica of the real thing. He was a forger, after all, and the place was his. He knew where every nook and cranny were.