Page 3 of New Beginnings
Some brothers had already gathered in the Emergency Room’s lobby whispering with grim expressions on their faces.
Word must have come from Laura, one of the brothers’ Old Lady who was an ER nurse. She helped the club out more than once with sewing up bullet holes or stab wounds andtended to broken bones on occasion. Whatever we needed when we couldn’t go to the hospital to keep the cops from getting involved in club business, Laura was there.
We spent the last week trying to finish the nursery and going through baby names. We settled on Amelia, after my cousin, if it was a girl, and Luca, if it was a boy. Siobhan, our oldest daughter, was just as excited as us for the new baby. It was all she babbled about and, like me, she couldn’t stop touching Dani’s rounded belly and talking to the little human inside.
Although, I told Dani it didn’t matter whether we had a boy or another girl, I wanted another girl. A mini version of her mama, attitude, and all. Siobhan was more like me—quiet and reserved. Dani was a firecracker, quick-tempered, and as feisty as they came. She was everything and more in my eyes.
“There’s no fucking way she should be in labor,” I mumbled as I rushed up to the receptionist area, ignoring my brothers as I passed.
I tapped the desk. However, the receptionist seemed more engrossed in her phone conversation than assisting me in locating Dani.
“I’m looking for my wife.”
She held up her finger while she kept gabbing on the phone to God knows who. But the way she smiled and laughed it was a personal call, not business.
Pure unadulterated rage surged through me. Her fucking phone call could wait. Her smiles and laughs could wait. I wanted to know where the hell my wife was.
I slammed my palm on the counter, the thud echoing in the busy lobby. It was like time stood still. She jumped, scowled at me, then leaned forward placing her hand over the receiver.
“Sir,” she whispered, her tone firm like she was talking to a child, “if you do not calm down, I will have to call security.”
“Hang the fucking phone up!”
I didn’t care who heard or watched the scene unfold. And I sure as hell didn’t care if she called security.
Fuck em.’
The room became deathly silent—the only noise coming from the small television hanging on the wall across from the chairs in the waiting room and the blood pounding in my ears.
“I want to know where my goddamn wife is! Now!”
I didn’t feel sorry for the terror in her eyes when they shifted to my cut as she scrambled to place the receiver down, ending her call without another word. I wanted to know where Dani was, and I wanted to know right this damn minute. I didn’t have the fucking time to wait for her to finish her damn phone call. My wife was somewhere in this goddamn hospital, and I needed to get to her now. I could feel it in my soul.
“Calm down, bro,” Caesar, my VP, whispered in my ear, squeezing my shoulder. “You don’t want to get thrown out of here before you find out what the hell is going on. They wouldn’t tell any of us shit.”
“Where’s Laura?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Maybe she can tell me something.”
He shrugged. “This cunt,” he tipped his chin towards the receptionist who looked like she pissed herself, “said she was too busy to talk to us right now.”
As I dropped my head, a heavy breath escaped my lips, and I could feel fear taking hold in the pit of my stomach, making bile slowly creep up my throat.
“Something’s wrong, Caesar.” I ran my hand through my hair, forcing the bile down. “Something’s fucking wrong with my wife.”
THE TRUTH
J.D. Stevens
“Prez!” Someone’s hand gripped my shoulder, shaking me. “Prez!”
Caesar?
As I forced myself awake from yet another hellish nightmare, I let out a groan. Slowly, I lifted my head from the hard, cold surface of the clubhouse desk. I hadn’t had a peaceful night’s sleep in two damn years. I must’ve dozed off while attempting to complete the paperwork that had accumulated on my desk. A result of dealing with Janet’s abduction and the disposal of Samuel Allen’s remains. I hadn’t got a lot of sleep in the past few weeks. Who the fuck am I kidding? I hadn’t got any sleep in two damn years.
I ran my hand through my hair, then pulled it at the roots, trying to erase the fogginess.
“What’s up Caesar?”
As I leaned back in my chair, I studied my VP’s face, detecting a flicker of concern in his eyes. Despite his valid concern, I chose not to dwell on it, as my sanity hung by a thread. I couldn’t dwell on my problems because if I did, I’d break.
