Page 96 of Blackout

Chapter Thirty-four

BLACKIE

My phone vibrated as I approached the ICU, causing me to stop mid-stride. Retrieving it from my kutte, I glance at the single word message from Bianci.

Incoming.

Noting Ritzer has perfect timing, I pocket the phone and push the bell for the unit. The buzzer sounds and the double doors unlock, granting me access. With a quick stop at the nurse’s station, I find out which room is Reina’s and make my way towards it.

I stop in front of the glass window and watch as Jack leans over his wife’s bedside. I’ve seen Jack at his lowest. I’ve seen him hurt. Hell, I’ve seen him cry. But I’ve never seen him look so lost…. so, fucking desperate.

Knocking on the window, I make my presence known. It takes him a minute before he reluctantly steps away from his wife and joins me. Keeping my gaze steady on Reina through the glass, I take in all the machines she’s hooked up to and the bandages covering her head.

“Any change?” I ask.

“No,” he replies, rubbing a hand over his tired face. “How’s Danny?”

According to the last call we made to Maria, Danny was still upset. He had woken up twice during the night, hysterical crying, asking for his mom. The plan was for Lacey to go grab him from Wolf’s, but she wanted to see Jack first. She was worried about his mental state and called his doctor, hoping Dr. Spiegel would trek it to the hospital and check in on him. Exhaustion finally kicked in and she fell asleep waiting for the doctor to return her phone call.

Choosing my words carefully, I fill him in and once I finish, he looks at me thoughtfully.

“She shouldn’t be here. She needs to rest.”

I tried to get Lacey to go home after I retained Schwartz. I didn’t want her around here when the shit hit the fan. She wasn’t going to leave her father in his time of need no matter what I said.

“I told her that, but you know her.”

“She’s stubborn as shit,” he grunts.

“I wonder where she gets it from,” I tease.

I don’t remember a time when I ever hesitated with my words when it came to Jack. Most of the time he knows what I’m going to say before I say it. Just like I always know what he’s thinking. But right now, I think we’re both off our game. I can’t figure him out and he looks too worn, too fucking tired to care about what I’m about to tell him.

“Holden called,” I begin, before rambling a bunch of nonsense neither of us really care about. Like, how many calls he’s missed, or that Grace showed up with Schwartz. I tell him about Reina and Grace conspiring to get a health care proxy drawn up and he gets angry for a minute before he realizes how desperate Reina was and how well she hid it.

His gaze wanders back to his wife and I watch as his eyes fill with tears.

“I retained Schwartz,” I say, causing him to glare at me.

“What the hell for?”

Pushing back my hair, I inform him that Nico couldn’t identify the ink. While we were all huddled in the cafeteria, before the doctors interrupted us, Needles suggested he show Nico some signature ink belonging to the cartel. Since Nico is the only one who got a good look at the men parked in front of Jack’s house, we had hoped he’d be able to match the tats. It was a stretch, but it was also the only thing Wolf was offering to do in regard to entertaining Jack’s theory.

When Nico couldn’t identify shit, that only pushed me closer to retaining Schwartz.

“I’m going to be straight with you, I’m not so sure Wolf is buying the cartel scenario.”

“I don’t give a shit what—”

“Let me talk,” I grind out, growing antsy, knowing fucking Ritzer is probably on his way to cuff me as we speak. “He’s trying to run a tight ship, keep the club clean. I respect that, but you and I know it’s a fucking pipe dream. There is always going to be something, someone, another fucking club looking to piss on our territory.”

“The nature of the beast,” he retorts.

“Yeah, well the beast ain’t ours to tame anymore,” I argue, stroking the worn leather of my vest where my rank once was displayed.

“What are you getting at?”

For years I’ve given this man my loyalty, trust, and respect and in turn, he’s given me his. Every loss and every win, we mourned and celebrated together. We fought alone and sometimes with an army, but we never gave up on one another. Now is no different.

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