Page 85 of Blackout-

“Maybe not, I am crazy after all. Make sure you put that in your fucking paperwork. Now, get the fuck out of my face. You got something else to say, you can call my lawyer,” Jack sneers.

“If you don’t surrender as we agreed, you’ll be forcing me to take another route.”

“Why don’t you bend over and let me show you what route you can fucking take?” Jack fires back, spitting in Ritzer’s face for extra emphasis. Lowering my arm from Lacey’s shoulder, I move to grab Jack before he fucking throws his fist into this cocksucker’s face. Pipe is quicker than me, though, and pulls Jack away.

“Nobody is bending over and fucking anyone, right now,” Pipe hisses, clenching his teeth. “You need to take it easy before you fuck this all up,” he warns, glancing over at Lacey. “Lace, take your father to the cafeteria and get him a cup of coffee.”

Reaching for her father’s hand, Lacey goes to pull him away, but Jack digs his heels in and continues to glare at Ritzer.

“This doesn’t end well for you, Parrish. You better pray that wife of yours makes it. It would be a shame if you couldn’t attend her funeral because you were in prison.”

Before Jack can choke the motherfucker and tack assault as another charge on the growing list, I step between him and the district attorney. Lacey couldn’t move him, but I damn sure can. I push him out of the waiting room. In the hallway, out of everyone’s sight, I let him loose.

Bending he touches his palms to his knees and lets out an anguished scream that vibrates off the hospital walls. Startled, Lacey slinks away. Her back collides with my chest and I wrap an arm around her middle, keeping her close. Jack lifts his head and his bloodshot eyes meet mine.

“I can’t leave her,” he rasps, sounding every bit as broken as he looks, and I note there is desperation. Not just in his tone but also in those dark irises of his.

It’s a message.

A fucking plea.

From him to me.

Jack may not have surrendered to the law, but he still handed over his life and he handed it right to me.

I’ll never be the leader of the Satan’s Knights, but Jack made me the leader of the Parrish family—a role I’m not conditioned to accept and yet, as I stare at my predecessor, I know I have no choice.

I also know my new role begins and ends with me making the ultimate sacrifice.

My throat dries and my chest tightens as I look down at the beautiful woman, I’m holding against me. Part of me wishes she’d look at me and the other is relieved when she doesn’t.

I’m about to break her fucking heart.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Blackie

Lacey tookJack to the cafeteria like Pipe had suggested and once they were out of my sight, it was my turn to drop to my knees. Only instead of turning to another person for help, I was forced to rely on a higher power. Tearing my hands away from my face, I lifted my red-rimmed eyes to the heavens and summoned God. An odd occurrence for a man who always turned to hell when things got rough. I guess different times call for different measures.

The scene from the other night played vividly in my mind and all I heard was Lacey’s voice, begging me to choose her and the baby. I wanted to be that guy—God as my witness, there is nothing I wanted more than to be exactly what they both needed. But I wasn’t lying when I told her I don’t know how to erase everything I know and become something else.

I waited for God to guide me, to fucking send me some sort of sign—but the man upstairs left me hanging. I suppose I deserved that. After all, there’s gotta come a time in a man’s life when he stops looking for a way out or someone to hold his hand. A time when he figures shit out for himself.

Pulling myself together, I made my way to the cafeteria along with the rest of the club. There, Jack continued to rant, swearing on everything holy that Javier was the one behind Reina’s accident. In not so many words he declared war on the cartel—something Wolf didn’t support. Without the support of his club, Jack would be committing suicide and I’m not sure anyone else realized that.

He also expressed his concern for Danny and asked that Lacey and I have papers drawn up, appointing us as his legal guardians if something should happen to him. It was a lot of shit to take in and I think it’s safe to say we were all relieved when the doctors came in and interrupted him.

The doctors informed us that Reina had made it through surgery, but her injuries were extensive, and she had coded on the table. He went on to tell us that she was in a coma and the next forty-eight hours were critical. Jack insisted on seeing her and they took him to the intensive care unit. None of us were allowed in there with him and yet, nobody could bring themselves to leave.

But when Bianci called, I had no choice but to excuse myself.

“You want the good news or the bad news?”

These days it was all the same, so I didn’t even bother answering him. His good news was that he had gotten a hold of Schwartz and they were on their way to meet me at the hospital. The bad news was that they spotted Ritzer at the courthouse, filing an emergency motion and requesting a warrant formyarrest.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, they had Grace Pastore with them. I didn’t ask why she was there. I simply figured it had to do with whatever she and Reina were concocting. I asked her to go check on Lacey and maybe try to get her to eat something and led the two men to the hospital chapel.

I explained to Bianci there was a change in plans and revealed Jack’s suspicions on the Cartel playing a part in Reina’s accident. Everything we had discussed was no longer an option. Jack wasn’t going to prison and there was no way to offer the cartel to the D.A.

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