Page 73 of Jett

“A cool cot? What does that mean? Go get her. Bring her to me and I’ll put her on my chest, and she can come back from this. I’ve seen babies come back from stillbirth.”

“No, she can’t. The placenta erupted inside you. She drowned long before we could get to her. The placenta likely ruptured during the attack. I’m so sorry.”

“No!” I sob, wrapping my arms around my empty abdomen.

“Would you like to hold her?”

I nod. I can barely see through my tears, but all I want is to look at her perfect little face. The nurse leaves the room and a few moments later, she returns cradling the tiniest little bundle. She hands me my baby, and I was right—she is the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen. With her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open, she appears to be sleeping. I stroke my finger down her cheek.

She’s cold. Too cold. Unnaturally so. I suck in a sharp breath.

“She’s cooler to the touch than usual because of the cooling cot. It helps ... preserve her just the way she was born.”

I take her gently with one arm and remove the blanket and beanie from her head. She has a shock of wheat-blonde hair, just like her daddy. She has his lashes, and lips too. I set her naked, frail little body against my chest. The cold is the most distressing part, as if she’d been left out in the snow when she should be warm, a healthy chubby weight against my breast. But she will never be warm again. She will never grow fat with the milk from my breast, or learn to walk, run, or ride a bike. She’ll never fall in love, have her heart broken, get married, or bear children of her own. She’ll never have any of those experiences because I failed in the one task I had. I failed to keep her safe. I failed to keep her alive.

JETT

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, my clubhouse is in a shambles. We’ve been here for the last three hours debating what the hell to do about these Arian arseholes. The Devils have been good to us, and they have our back, and we’re gonna need it to take on this group.

“So, we bide our time until they make the first move? Everyone okay with that?”

A chorus of approval fills the room. It’s strange having to defer to another club in my own house, but it feels good to know we have alliances. I bang the gavel and say, “Alright then, we wait. Church adjourned, men. Now go, drink, be fuckin’ merry and get your dick wet. We got some fine pussy in this clubhouse.”

“Prez?” Diesel says, pushing through the throng of bikers filing out of the room.

“What?”

He holds a phone above the crowd. “You’re gonna wanna take this.”

“Take a fucking message.”

“It’s about Raine, and the baby.”

My blood turns to ice. It’s too soon. It’s too fuckin’ soon. “Why the fuck didn’t you say so earlier?”

“You told me to hold all of your calls.”

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