by S. Nelson
Tears streamed down my face before I even knew what was happening, our conversation suddenly becoming too much to handle on my own. Dr. Weber passed me a box of tissues before patting my hand once more and walking around his desk to sit in his chair.
“Is there someone I can call for you? Stone, perhaps?” His question hit a nerve with me, only because I’d foolishly hidden this appointment from him. Now, not only did I have to process everything the good doctor told me, but I had to relive it again once I told Stone everything.
“No, I’m okay. It’s just . . . I didn’t expect to get this kind of news, you know? I was hoping to leave here with a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
“While it’s not the news either of us was expecting, it’s not the worst either. Please focus on that fact while we forge ahead with what we’re going to do in the upcoming future.” His kind eyes tried to calm me, but he wasn’t the one with cancer destroying him from the inside.
Nodding, I withdrew another tissue from the box before placing it back on his desk. Taking another minute to compose myself, I finally stood and exhaled a lungful of air. “Thank you, Dr. Weber. I’ll be in touch in a few days to discuss more of this in detail. I just need some time.”
“I understand.” Rising, he walked me to the door, his hand resting on my back and offering me his silent support. “Please call me anytime, day or night, if you need to talk. I’m always here for you, Adelaide.” His kind words made me cry again, wiping away the tears as I exited his office.
My head hung low while I walked down the hallway toward the elevators. The last thing I wanted to do was make eye contact with anyone, prompting people to ask me if I was okay. The truth was . . . I wasn’t.
Rounding a small corner to reach the bank of elevators, my head still down, I bumped into a large frame, my hands coming up to instantly brace myself.
“Addy,” a deep voice called out. It was mere seconds before I realized who it was.
My father.
“Dad? What are you doing here?” He ignored my question, instead focusing on my red, puffy eyes and the tears still dancing down my cheeks.
“What’s wrong, honey? Is the baby okay?” His worried tone forced me to answer.
“No, nothing is wrong with your grandson,” I promised, trying my best to smile, but the gesture was moot. My lips simply wouldn’t turn up, my sadness forcing them into more of a frown than anything.
Grabbing my hand, he pulled me toward the elevator, pushing the button before I could protest. Neither of us spoke another word as my father led me from the hospital and toward the parking garage.
“You’re coming with me, so don’t argue. I know something’s wrong and if you won’t tell me here, you will tell me when we get to my house.” I remained silent, realizing I desperately needed to speak with him. Not only about the blowup that happened between him and Stone when we went to visit, but about the cancer as well.
I’d spoken to my father a few times since the huge argument, but all our conversations were short and curt. Our love for each other was strong, and I knew we would resolve our issues in time. I guessed my unfortunate turn of events was going to be the deciding factor to ending the uneasiness between us once and for all. Once I told him I was sick, he was going to forget about everything else, realizing it simply wasn’t important. The last thing I wanted to do was worry him, however, so the entire ride to his house I kept quiet while deciding the best way to break the news.
His devastation was going to push the reality of my situation to the forefront, and there would be no chance of escape after the words fell from my lips.
Two hours and many tears later, my father and I had finally finished discussing my cancer, his fears, and my hopes for what the future held. He wasn’t an overly emotional man, but when it came to his family he didn’t care who saw the cracks in his demeanor. Whether he was freaking out and threatening the father of my unborn child, or sobbing like a baby at the thought of losing his daughter to the very same disease which claimed his wife, he laid everything out on the table.
Brian Reins was a man I would forever look up to, seek his approval and look to for guidance while I threaded through this journey I called life.
Since my car was still in the parking garage at the hospital, my father gave me a ride to pick it up. I had to admit, being forced to finally let him in on the one thing I’d kept him shielded from was a huge weight lifted. The secrecy had been killing me, even though I was doing what I thought was best. Turned out, telling him helped me more than I could have ever imagined.
Once we’d arrived, he walked me to the driver’s side, pulled me close, and gave me an extra-long hug, his love wrapping around me to keep me safe.
After he left, I sat in my car for a bit before I turned the engine over, finally checking my phone only to see that I had eight missed calls from Stone. Slapping my hand to my forehead, I’d totally blanked on calling him over the last few hours. He was probably worried sick something had happened to me.
He answered on the second ring, shouting into the phone so quick I hardly made out anything he’d said.
“Addy! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you okay? Where are you?” He fired question after question at me, never once taking a breath to allow me to answer. His ramblings went on for another twenty seconds, and even though he would have normally irritated me with his over-protectiveness, for some reason I found his paranoia comforting.
I needed to be reminded that I had someone who cared for me. Someone who loved me so much he was worried all the time whenever he wasn’t with me. Had I not been sick or pregnant, I would have never tolerated such behavior, but I completely understood it right then.
Finally, after he finished his interrogation of sorts, a brief moment of silence fell between us, the only time I was going to get to speak.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called you, but I had a quick meeting with Dr. Weber then I ran into my father, which is where I’ve been for the past couple hours.”
Not wasting one more precious second he asked, “Where are you now? Are you heading home?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll meet you there. And Addy?”
“Yeah?”
“Go straight home. We need to talk.”
Oh, God. Now I know why men never liked to hear those four words. That particular phrase had my mind running wild, all sorts of scenarios running through my already muddled mind. It wasn’t until I pulled up in front of our house and saw him standing on the porch that I began to calm down. Seeing his intensity when I walked closer pricked my awareness that whatever he wanted to talk to me about was serious.
And I had a feeling it had nothing at all to do with what I’d been hiding from him all day.
Stone
Finally seeing the one person I wanted to lay eyes on all day long made me both furious and relieved. How many times had I asked her to check in with me when she was out of my sight? I knew I should have never let her flit about town by herself. Well, lesson learned. It was never gonna happen again.
I knew my reaction was because I’d been scared, even more so after Marek declared a lockdown at the club. Something popped off with the Reapers and until we figured out just what that was, we were to bring everyone to the clubhouse where they would all be safe.
Only thing was I hadn’t been able to get in touch with Addy.
Walking down to meet her in the driveway, I latched on to her arm and helped her up the steps, guiding her through the door and toward the stairs so she could pack a few things.
“What are you doing?” she asked as I hurriedly ushered her up the staircase and toward our bedroom. “Stone, stop pushing me and tell me what’s going on.” She suddenly stopped walking, turned to face me, and wouldn’t budge unless I told her what she wanted to hear.
No use beating around the bush.
“There’s a lockdown. I need you to grab some things, because you’ll be staying at the clubhouse for a couple days.” Turning her back around
, I made sure she walked the rest of the way down the hallway, gently shoving her inside our room and toward the closet.
“I don’t understand,” she said, all while she did as she was told and packed some clothes from both our dressers. Stopping off in the bathroom, she swiped a few necessities into her toiletry bag, coming to stand in front of me when she was finally finished.
Surprisingly, the whole event only took her ten minutes.
“I can’t explain everything. All you need to know is that we need to leave. Now,” I urged, taking the bag from her and leading her from the bedroom.
Our entire ride to the compound was in silence. I detected from her body language there was something amiss between the two of us. She was hiding something from me, but then again, so was I. Although my secret had to do with the club and was essentially none of her concern. I didn’t need her worrying about me any more than I was sure she already did.
She rarely asked me about any of the goings-on inside my club, but I saw the curiosity in her eyes whenever I gave her a blanket statement of having business to attend to. Hopefully soon, though, I would be able to give her all the information she wanted. Once we were done with the Reapers altogether.
Which meant after we wiped out Psych and anyone else we felt was a threat. Initially, we were going to allow the severing between the cartel and the Reapers take its toll and wait until our rival club disintegrated amongst themselves. But now with the news that Yanez was going behind Carrillo’s back, we knew that option was no longer viable.
We had to obtain the go-ahead to take out Yanez, a permission Marek was desperately waiting for, then take out Psych, disposing of him once and for all. There was no concern whatsoever of Rabid, Psych’s VP, taking over simply because the man wasn’t that smart. Always been a follower. Never a leader.
After the iron gates opened for us, I drove forward and found my parking space. The lot was practically full, men milling around with weapons in their hands, and on their hips. It was the last image I wanted Addy to have, but there was nothing I could do.
Walking around to her side of the truck, I opened her door before she had the opportunity to do so and escorted her from the vehicle, grabbing her bags from the backseat before guiding her toward the entrance to the clubhouse.
“Are you hungry? You want me to grab you something from the kitchen before you get settled in?”
Shaking her head, she walked ahead of me toward the room which was reserved specifically for me. Most of the men, minus the prospects, had a designated room inside the clubhouse, which made times like this a bit more comfortable. Each family could set up camp in their own area; even though it might be a tight fit, it was hopefully only going to be for a few days.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, Addy stared up at me, watching every move I made before parting her lips to speak. “Stone, why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“Because it’s not your concern.”
“Not my concern?” Her voice rose in octave. “Are you kidding me? You whisk me away from our house as soon as I get home and tell me I have to stay here for a few days. But you won’t tell me why?” She rose from the bed and started unpacking our things, mumbling to herself as she did so.
I should have been concerned with finding out if Marek knew anything more about the threat to our club, but all I could do was watch every movement Addy made. I couldn’t help it; I was mesmerized by the woman. Her long hair fell toward her face when she bent over, so she tucked the errant strands behind her ear so she could finish what she was doing. She was wearing one of her stretchy jersey dresses, her tits practically spilling over the top they were so plump. When she bent over again, I caught a peek of her white cotton panties. Gone were the thongs she used to wear, explaining they were much too uncomfortable the bigger she got, but I had no complaints. While she grumbled about her underwear hardly fitting over her ass, I loved the sight of her cheeks protruding beyond the confines of the soft material.
Her annoyances became my pleasure.
Striding up behind her, I pushed her hair to the side and whispered in her ear. “Don’t you dare bend over in front of anyone else, because I can see your panties.” The rasp in my voice made her breath hitch. Or was it because my cock was hard and pressed against the seam of her ass?
“Stop trying to distract me,” she mumbled, a slight trace of humor in her voice when she responded. Once she finished unpacking our clothes and toiletries, she sat back on the edge of the bed, reaching for my hand to come and sit beside her. There was no hesitation on my part, parking my ass on the bed next to her right away.
Staring into her eyes for the briefest of moments, I knew she wanted to divulge something but was holding back. “What are you not telling me?” I prompted, hoping she wasn’t gonna procrastinate before telling me whatever was on her mind.
She fidgeted next to me, her uneasiness blanketing her and giving everything away. Well, almost everything.
“I . . . I went to see Dr. Weber today.”
“Did you have an appointment?”
“Yes.” She bit her bottom lip in nervousness before breaking eye contact.
“Look at me,” I demanded, turning her head when she refused. “Why didn’t you tell me about this appointment? What were you meeting with him for?”
Silence.
We stared at each other for what felt like forever, but in reality it was only seconds. Five very long seconds, to be precise.
Just when I thought she wasn’t gonna say anything, she clutched the hem of her grey dress and bunched the material in her hands. “I met with him so he could give me the results. You know, to see if the treatments worked or not.”
A lone tear slipped from her eye and slid down her cheek. My heart practically burst out of my chest waiting for her to speak the words I knew I never wanted to hear.
My tone belied what I was feeling inside. “And?”
“He said the cancer is still there, although it’s not as prevalent as before. But he won’t know more until he takes a biopsy.
“And when is he doing this?”
“After I have the baby.” Her answers were short and to the point, something which unnerved me for some reason. Maybe it was because she’d had time to process everything, whereas I was just hearing all of this for the very first time—a trend with her which I hated immensely.
Rising from the bed, I paced in front of her for a few minutes, digesting everything she’d told me. I tried to find the right words to comfort her, but I failed, instead allowing my worry to cloak me like some kind of shield. A mask of paranoia I’d become defenseless against.
Halting my steps, I faced her when I asked, “You said you ran into your father, right?” She quickly nodded. “Did you finally tell him? About the cancer?” She nodded again, and for some reason I found comfort in her answer. At least someone else knew and could share my fear, even if that same person despised me.
I went back to pacing but was interrupted when Addy rose to her feet and walked toward me, pushing herself against me until my arms wrapped around her. She was trying to ease my trepidation with her body . . . and it worked. For the most part.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispered, cradling herself into the crux of my arms. “I promise.”
I knew she couldn’t promise me any such thing, but I chose to believe her.
What other choice did I have?
Adelaide
Tension was high between everyone inside the clubhouse. The women did their part in trying to keep everyone calm, cooking and serving the men and children as best they could. To do their part, the men tried their best to keep all talk of business contained behind Chambers, but the frustrations of the members spilled over into the common area, their offhanded comments heard by not only myself but some of the other women as well.
There was talk of retaliation against the KC, Ryder drunkenly spilling some of the secrets the more he drank. I wanted so desperately to know what was going on, but based on the bits of
information I’d already heard, I decided I wanted to remain in the dark when it came to the threat against us.
I had too many things to worry about as it was; I certainly didn’t need to add any more to my list.
Eyeing Tripp standing in the corner near the kitchen, I walked toward him with purpose, reaching him before he even saw me coming. My abrupt presence startled him but he quickly recovered, leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Adelaide, so nice to see you again. How are you feeling?” he asked, glancing down at my protruding belly.
“As good as can be expected,” I answered, giving him a genuine smile.
“How are you feeling?” I asked in return, moving out of the way of racing children so I didn’t get run over.
“I’m back to normal, I suppose. In fact, I was gonna take off in a few days, but Marek asked me to stay on and oversee the two clubs.” A remote look drifted over his face for a brief moment. Before I could even think to question it, though, it was gone.
“Well, I’m glad to hear you’ll be sticking around. I think I’d miss you,” I teased, reaching out to touch his shoulder. There was something about Tripp which drew me to him, my protective side emerging whenever he was near. Maybe it was simply the caregiver part of me recognizing something was amiss in his life, offering my support even when he hadn’t asked for it.
“I won’t miss this,” an all too familiar voice rumbled from behind me, grabbing my waist and pulling me into him so my back rested against his chest. “You need to find a woman of your own, Tripp, and stop hittin’ on mine.”