Page 18 of Riding the Edge

Chapter Five

There was no change in Nico and the joy of knowing he survived surgery had long faded and been replaced with more worry. Twenty-four hours later, he was still on the vent and had yet to wake up. The doctors assured us this was normal and reiterated the fact that his body had suffered a great trauma. However, that didn’t stop Patty from having a meltdown. The woman barely left his side which meant I was a permanent fixture floating around the hallways of the hospital. At least, I didn’t smell like gasoline anymore. I don’t know if the nurses took pity on me or if they couldn’t bear to smell me anymore. Whatever the case, after Enzo returned with a change of clothes, they let me use one of the showers.

Now dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, I feel slightly human as I make my way towards the cafeteria. Rounding the corner, I lift my head and am surprised to find Pipe and Jack walking straight towards me. Both of them look as worn and ragged as I feel and are dressed in the same clothes I saw them wearing last. As I watch them advance toward me, I can’t help but think back to the early years, when the three of us were inseparable. A time when there was no question whether any of us would bleed for the other and the streets of Brooklyn were ours.

“Brother,” Jack calls.

It was the word that bound us together and made us family. A word that assured every man with a patch they weren’t alone in this cold world. A word married to a code of respect.

“How’s your boy?” Pipe asks as they come to stand before me.

“Alive,” I say simply. Crossing my arms against my chest, I divert my eyes to Jack. For years I’ve stared into those dark irises trying to make sense of the crazy inside his head and now, I can give a fuck less if his maker is singing to him. It’s high time me and that bitch get acquainted. Call me bitter, but having your ass tied to a chair by a man and a club you’ve given years of your life to, will do that to you. It will destroy what took years to build and leave you hungry for retribution.

Studying me, Jack places a hand on Pipe’s shoulder.

“Give us a minute,” he tells him.

Hesitantly, Pipe stares between the two of us before giving Jack a tight nod.

“Nico allowed visitors?”

“No,” I snap. “He’s in intensive care.”

“What’s going on here?” Pipe questions angrily. “You got something you need to get off your chest?”

The balls on this cocksucker. He stood there quietly while this deranged motherfucker wreaked havoc on our brotherhood, forgetting how many times I saved his ass in juvie or that I’m the motherfucker who gave him a fucking place in this club.

“I said, give us a minute,” Jack growls.

“Careful, now,” I warn. “You should do as he says, or he might tie you up. There ain’t no gasoline around here but I wouldn’t put it past him to piss on you.”

“Watch your step, Wolf,” Pipe sneers, biting the inside of his cheek as he levels me with a glare.

“You seem to forget your hand in this fucking mess.”

The only sin I’ve committed was keeping my word to a brother who I thought was true. If either of them were in my shoes, if they were sitting there with Cain as he drew his final breath, they would’ve promised to look out for his boy too. Maybe I was wrong for keeping Linc’s identity a secret. I’ll admit that much but, I had no fucking idea Cain was a treacherous bastard who played us dirty. I exhausted every waking minute trying to uncover what he had done and when I did when I learned he had sold our souls to that grimy motherfucker, Yankovich, I cautiously tried to figure a way to tell Jack the truth. I yielded to his illness just as I always did because I knew he was living on borrowed time. This poor bastard was going to lose his battle with manic depression and I never wanted it to be done on my watch. Yet, here I am, pleading my case to a bunch of men who swore to bust through locked doors for me and mine. If that don’t make me a fool, I don’t know what does.

Tossing a look to Jack, Pipe turns and disappears down the hallway.

And then there were two.

Silently, I lean against the wall and watch him pace in front of me. Finally, after several minutes, he lifts his dark eyes to mine.

“Got your niece back,” he starts. “Yankovich’s brother, Igor, was the one who broke into your house, shot your son and took Kelly.

With Nico being in such critical condition, the last twenty-four hours have been a blur and I’m ashamed to admit, Kelly didn’t cross my mind as much as she should have. Swiping my hand over my beard, I look away. Knowing everything Yankovich has done in the past, dread churns in my gut as I fear what he might’ve done to Kelly.

“She’s in a hospital in Purchase, New York,” he reveals. “Turns out, Bas and Needles were right about that cunt hiding out in his mansion. When we got there, we busted through the gates and Pipe lit that shit ablaze with his bombs. Yankovich had Kelly naked and bound to a diving board—”

“Naked,” I croak.

“He didn’t rape her,” he replies instantly. “But the motherfucker knew she couldn’t swim and threw her into the water. Linc dove in after her…”

I stop listening after that and get lost in my own head. I wasn’t aware Kelly couldn’t swim. To think this cocksucker had been watching all of us for years, learning all our weakness and planning our demise, makes my blood boil.

“Where is Yankovich now?” I ask, interrupting Jack.

“Him, his brother and all their soldiers are on ice in the morgue,” he replies. “The state took the wife or whatever she is and the two kids.”

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