Sitting on the chair beside his bed, I watch my father sleeping. It’s after 2 a.m. and he hasn’t woken since I arrived eight hours ago. The doctors tell me he’ll wake up again as soon as the drugs they gave him wear off.
I listen to the beeping of the machines all around me and all I can think about is her and how I’ve abandoned her when she needed me the most. I tried to call her a couple of hours ago and her phone went straight to voicemail. How have I fucked everything up so quickly?
I shouldn’t have left without forcing her to speak to me. Does she think I chose my father over her and our son? Did I?
I feel guilty that it’s my fault that he almost died. I feel guilty that I assumed the worst of him and the thought that I might never get to tell him that makes me feel like I can’t breathe.
But nothing hurts me more than the look on her face when she told me to go. Having to walk out of that house and leave her behind almost killed me. I suppose she’s a Montoya first and my wife second and I’ll have to get used to that, because I can’t fucking live without her. Knowing that she doubts me makes me feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest, leaving a gaping black hole in its place.
As soon as my father is awake, I’m going to hear what he has to say about his attackers and then make my peace with him. Then I’m on the first plane back to LA to take my wife back. I’ll carry her out of that goddamn house if I have to.
I put my head in my hands and close my eyes. I miss her so much I swear I can even smell her damn perfume. I figure I must be dreaming when I feel her soft fingers in my hair.
“Hey,” she whispers and now I know for sure I’ve fallen asleep and I must be dreaming. But I look up and she’s standing right there. Right in front of me.
“Lucia?” I blink at her, still not sure that she’s not a figment of my imagination.
“I’m sorry I let you leave without me,” she whispers, a fat tear rolling down her face.
I spring from my chair and wrap her in my arms, pressing her soft body against mine. Fuck! She is real.
“I’m sorry I left you, baby,” I whisper in her ear. “It will never happen again. I promise.”
“I should never have doubted you, Jax. I know that you would never betray me like that.”
I close my eyes and squeeze her tighter as the relief washes over me. When I finally release her from my embrace, she’s smiling up at me. Suddenly the reality of her being here with me instead of safe in her father’s mansion hits me.
I frown at her. “Did you come here alone?”
She rolls her eyes and despite where we are, it makes me want to spank her ass. “No. I had my own personal security detail.” She indicates her head toward the door. Alejandro is standing there with a sleeping Matthias in his arms.
“Now that you’re with Jax, I’m going to get this guy to bed. Okay, mija?”
“Yes, Papi. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
“In the morning,” he replies with a nod of his head.
“All?” I say to her as he walks out of the room.
“My mom and the twins came too. As well as Hugo, Raoul and another eight of his men. It’s like a whole family trip,” she says as she bites on her lip. “I’m sorry. I did ask Molly and she said it would be okay for them to stay at the house.”
“Matthias and the twins at the house? Molly will be over the freaking moon,” I say with a laugh, thinking of my aunt and her fussing. “I’m surprised your dad left LA with everything that’s going on though.”
“Hmm. Well, when I reminded him that the only man who could get us out of this mess was in Dallas, and that said man could work his magic from anywhere in the world, he decided that this is where he should be right now too.”
“You’re incredible, have I ever told you that?”
Her cheeks flush pink. “No,” she whispers.
“I’m pretty sure I have, but I’m telling you again anyways.” I kiss her forehead and she leans into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and sending all kinds of signals to my groin area that I could do without right now.
“You’re more than incredible, Jax,” she whispers. “You and Matthias are everything to me. Wherever you are is where I am. You don’t get to rush off trying to save the world on your own anymore, even when I’m being an ass and tell you to leave. You got that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looks up at me and she looks so fucking beautiful that I can hardly believe that she’s mine. “I love you,” she whispers.
I don’t say the words back to her. I show her instead, sealing my lips over hers and sliding my tongue into her mouth. I kiss her like I might never get the chance to again, until she’s clawing at my back and whimpering into my mouth and I’m wondering whether there is a supply closet somewhere I could take her to.
“You two wanna get a room?” a voice croaks behind us.
I break our kiss and grin at her and she wipes her mouth. “We just got busted by your dad,” she giggles.
“Better than being busted by yours.” I wink at her before I spin around and see my father trying to reach for the water beside his bed.
“Here, let me get that,” I say as I hand him the plastic cup.
He accepts it gratefully and takes a few sips before handing it back.
“I wasn’t drinking, son,” he says as he looks up at me.
“I know.”
Tears fill his eyes and I have to look away, but Lucia is by my side, squeezing my hand reassuringly. “It’s so lovely to see you awake, Harvey,” she says with a huge smile. He grins back at her. I mean she’s pretty hard not to smile at.
“They told me it was you,” he coughs.
I sit beside his bed. “What exactly did they say?”
He licks his dry, cracked lips. “Jackson wants you gone, o-old man. He paid us good money to do the j-job.”
“What?” Lucia gasps, covering her mouth with her hand. I forgot she doesn’t know about this latest development. She was too pissed at me to allow me to tell her.
Fuckers! “I didn’t…” I shake my head.
“I know that, son,” he laughs and coughs at the same time. “If that were true, you’re man enough to do it yourself.”
“I can’t believe somebody would say… that it was you?” Lucia looks between me and my father and then her eyes settle on my face. “Why?”
“To get me thrown in jail? To cause a bigger rift between me and my family here. I don’t know yet, angel, but I’m damn sure going to find out.” I turn back to my father. “Can you describe them? How many of them were there?”
His eyelids flutter closed and he takes a deep breath.
“Jax, he’s exhausted,” Lucia whispers.
“Yeah, I know,” I agree with a sigh.
“You want me to give you two some time alone?”
I shake my head. “No. You can hear this too.”
I have so many questions about what happened that night, but his eyelids are already drooping again. I know that if he knew who did this, he would tell me straight away. That doesn’t mean he can’t point me in the right direction, but I guess I can wait a few more hours.
I take a deep breath before I speak. “I did think you were drinking,” I admit. “It was the first thing I thought when they told me you’d been at that bar.”
“I know.”
“I know why you were really there though. To buy that crib?”
“Yeah,” he nods as his eyes flutter closed. “Was gonna fix it up real nice for them babies of yours.”
“I’ll find you another one to fix up if you’d like?”
“Uh-huh,” he murmurs.
“Maybe one day you can rock your grand-babies to sleep in it too?”
His eyes are closed and he doesn’t speak, but a single tear rolls down his cheek. My hand is on his bed and he reaches for it, curling his fingers around mine. I don’t think I’ve allowed him to touch me since I was a little kid, but I hold his hand in mine until he drifts back off to sleep.
“Did you mean what you said in there?” Lucia asks as we walk down the hallway to the parking lot. My father is asleep and we’ll call back to see him in the morning. “About your dad and our babies?”
“Yes,” I say, lifting her hand to my lips and kissing her knuckles.
“You’ll really let him be a part of our lives, Jax?” she asks, her eyes shining with happiness.
“Yes. As long as he stays sober and that’s okay with you.”
She throws her arms around my neck. “It’s better than okay,” she squeals, peppering my jaw with kisses and earning us a stern glare from one of the passing nurses.
Which reminds me of our other problem. The fact that someone has videos of my wife being fucked makes my blood boil. But, just for tonight I want to forget about all of our problems. She’s right here in my arms and she’s mine.
I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder caveman style before I slap her ass, making the disapproving nurse’s eyes almost roll out of her head.
