Page 26 of Victorious: Part I

I swallow hard, watching Alpha’s jaw tighten. Seeing Lock come at him like this—but Alpha lets him continue, “Because I trust Livvy. Because I adore her. And because I know she put her faith in you, Alpha, I’m going to do the same. We both fell for her. So make sure you do the right thing here.” His eyes close and then open. “You make whoever did this pay. I don’t want to know the details. I just want to know that when it’s done, justice was carried out, for Livvy.”

My eyes begin to well, and I can’t fight how my lips turn up in the corner when I watch Lock fight for Livvy.

This man will be really good for her.

Alpha glares at Lock, trying to figure something out, and then slowly, he brings his hand up. Lock stares at it and then slides his hand into Alpha’s, the two men shaking once. “You have my word.”

Lock gently taps Alpha on the back, his eyes shifting to Livvy in the bed inside the room. Lock nods once. “I’ll give you guys some time. I’ll be by in a little while to check on her.”

Alpha dips his head in acknowledgment. “Thank you. For being there for her. For making her happy. To be fair, though, she never told us about you and her.”

Lock weakly smiles, letting out a soft exhale. “I know. That’s my fault. Having the president of a biker club as an ex-husband was a little emasculating. I save lives. You, on the other hand—” Lock immediately stops talking, his eyes widening as he realizes what he was going to say.

Alpha grips his shoulder, forcing a weak smile. “I get it! I’m the bad guy. But there’s a reason our marriage didn’t work, Rhodes. Livvy never wanted thebad guy.Not really.” He glances inside Livvy’s room, seeing her lying in her bed and machines all around her. Then he looks back at Lock. “Nah, Livvy was never cut out for this life I pulled her into. She gave me something so fucking precious in our daughter, Poppy. But Livvy was always going to be better off with a good guy. Someone like you, Rhodes. You shouldneverhave hidden that happiness from us. No matter how long it’s been going on for.”

Lock glances over at Livvy, a longing expression crossing his features, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he tries to remain stoic in front of us. “We celebrated our one-year anniversary the night before last.”

My entire body slumps as I gnaw on my bottom lip. “Jesus, Lock. I’m so, so sorry,” I whisper.

Alpha scrunches his face as if this news equally shocks and saddens him. “I-I honestly had no idea.”

Lock tilts his head toward Livvy’s room. “You should sit with her. Talk to her. Let her know you’re here. It’ll be a comfort for her.”

Alpha grips Lock’s arm before he turns to leave. “You should be here too.”

Lock exhales and hesitates, his eyes transfixed on Livvy. “I want to. More than anything. But there are other patients out there who need me too. And I know Livvy. She wouldn’t want me in here sitting beside her and neglecting patients. Even though every fucking part of me is desperate to stay. She’d hate me for it.”

Alpha snorts out a laugh. “Damn, you reallyarea good guy.”

Lock sighs. “Sometimes it’s hard being the good guy, especially in moments like these.” His eyes linger on Livvy for a few moments longer. His bottom lip trembles, and then his eyes meet mine. “I’m going to send someone to come take a look over you too. We don’t need that shoulder getting an infection,” he states, takes one last look at Livvy, then turns and heads back out down the corridor.

I reach out, placing my hand on Alpha’s back to support him while the three of us make our way toward Livvy’s room. It’s dim, the only light coming from various monitors that beep and flash in rhythm with Livvy’s failing body. She looks impossibly small amid the tangle of tubes and wires, her skin almost translucent against the pristine white sheets.

Poppy freezes in the doorway, a small sound of distress escaping her lips. Alpha gently urges her forward, his own movements wooden, as if his body is operating on autopilot while his mind refuses to process what’s happening.

I hang back slightly, giving them space as they approach the bed. Livvy’s eyes flutter open at their presence, focusing with effort.

My breath catches seeing her awake.

Thank God!

A slow smile crosses Livvy’s lips when she spots Poppy across the room. “My beautiful girl,” she whispers, attempting to raise her uninjured hand. “Come here.”

Poppy hesitantly moves to the bedside, taking her mother’s hand carefully as if afraid she might shatter it with her touch. “Mom-my,” she chokes out, her voice breaking on that single word, tears streaming freely now. “Please don’t leave me. Not again. I just got you back. We became a family.” The raw desperation in her voice fills the sterile room, making the machines’ steady beeping seem obscene in contrast to her pain.

Livvy’s breathing is slow, and her movements match her breathing as she carefully reaches up and caresses Poppy’s face. “You know… I never told you, but when you came back to us, and I saw what you had become, how much you’d grown,” Livvy’s eyes meet mine, even just for a brief moment, then they dart back to her daughter’s. “I’m so proud of you, Poppy,” Livvy tells her, each word visibly costing her strength she doesn’t have to spare. “So proud of the strong, brave young lady you’ve become. My little bird who flew back to me.” Her fingers tremble as she brushes Poppy’s hair from her tear-streaked face. “I love you more than anything in this world. More than my own life.”

Alpha stands frozen at the foot of the bed, his knuckles white where they grip the railing. The stoic club president is gone, replaced by a man watching his world collapse in slow motion for a second time.

Livvy’s gaze shifts to him. “Stone,” she says softly, her eyes filling with tears as she takes in the devastation on his face. “I’m sorry.”

He moves then, coming to stand beside Poppy. “Don’t,” he says roughly. “Don’t you dare apologize. This is on me. I should h-have…” His voice breaks, and he pauses, taking a moment to compose himself. “I should have protected you. You didn’t want to be a part of this life, and my shit dragged you back into it.”

Livvy clenches her eyes shut tight. “You always protected me,” she whispers. “Even after everything. You never stopped being my protector.” She struggles to catch her breath, and each word is clearly an effort. “Some things you just don’t see coming.”

Alpha’s hands ball into fists by his side. “That’s my point, Liv. My job as President is to be three steps ahead of our enemies so I can protect my club. Protect its members. Protect myfuckingfamily. This shit shouldn’t be happening, not to you. Not toyou,Livvy. You got out, you shouldn’t fucking be in that motherfucking bed injured right now!”He spins, grabbing the nearest thing, which happens to be a bunch of flowers that I can only assume the staff has brought in, and he hurtles them across the room, letting out an almighty groan as he does.

The flowers burst apart when they launch through the air, then smash with a thud into the window. Water splashes against the windowpane, then drops into a messy puddle on the floor. Poppy jumps with the sudden aggressive outburst as I hang my head with guilt flowing through me.

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