Burned (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(4)

Soon.





I stare at the receiver in my hand. The motherf*cker hung up on me. He wouldn’t even really listen to me. Who the hell does that? Even with them thinking Beth was dead, shouldn’t he have at least heard me out? I rub the back of my neck as tension threatens to paralyze me.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with my sister or my niece. They tried to explain it to me, but it was all Greek. Something about the baby’s blood vessels and the umbilical cord… I don’t know. I couldn’t stop crying. I just know they took her straight back in for an emergency caesarian and wouldn’t let me anywhere near her. I tried to do the one thing I knew she wanted, but apparently Skull or whoever the hell I was talking to is a moron. How do I break it to my sister that even though she wanted her husband—the father of her child—to be here with her, that’s not going to happen?

I really should’ve went with plan A and cut off his balls.

“Miss Lawson?” A man in blue scrubs comes out of the main surgery doors using the name that my sister and I assumed last month when we made it to the states and started searching for Beth’s husband.

“Yes?” I ask, terrified to hear what he’s going to say.

“It was touch-and-go for a little while, but I’m happy to tell you that the mother and child are doing well. If Dr. Crowell hadn’t found you when he did, it could have been a whole different story. The baby will have to be monitored for a few extra days, but everything should be fine.”

“Oh, thank you, doctor,” I tell him, grasping his hand with tears running down my face. “Thank you so much. Can I see her? Can I see my sister?”

“The nurses are busy cleaning her up and making sure she’s okay. She’ll be in room 313 if you’d like to wait for her up there.”

I thank him, then he spends the next ten minutes telling me exactly how I will need to watch over my sister in the coming days. I assure him that I can, but inside, I’m in a panic. What if I screw up? What if I do something wrong? The last thing I want to do is hurt my sister. The mere thought makes me cringe. I do my best to shake it off and bring my attention back to the doctor.

“Thank you again, Doctor.”

“My pleasure,” he says. I watch him leave and think about everything that’s happened tonight. I’m worried how Beth will take it when I tell her that Skull wouldn’t even talk to her. It’s going to crush her—and that’s the last thing I want. I don’t want to hurt my sister, but I know the first thing she will ask me about when she comes to is Skull.

And what do I say?



*



I’m asking myself the same questions an hour later. That’s how long it takes for the nurses to bring Bethie. I was starting to panic, afraid something had happened while she was in recovery. Apparently, they’re just really packed solid and running behind.

“You look good, little mommy,” I whisper to her as they transfer her on the bed, pulling the covers up around her.

“That’s strange because I feel like hell,” she answers, her voice tired and a little shaky. She keeps her eyes on me the entire time the nurses move her around to get her settled. They finally leave us after giving her more medication and checking her IV.

“Did you get ahold of Skull?” she asks right away.

Didn’t I say that would be her first question? It makes me want to kill him all over again.

“Bethie… I tried. He didn’t believe me. He wouldn’t even listen…”

“We have to make him listen. He has to meet Gabby. When he sees her and knows I still love him, it will all be okay. With Redmond and our grandfather gone now, it’s just—”

“It’s just the family wanting us dead for killing grandfather,” I cut her off. “Don’t forget that, Bethie. We can’t let ourselves forget that.”

“So, we’re supposed to live the rest of our lives in hiding? We’re never supposed to have a life? What has all this been for, Katie? Why did we even hire that private detective to find Skull? Why did we go to so much trouble if I’m never supposed to have him? If we’re never going to be a family? He deserves to know Gabby. He deserves to know that I’m alive. I can’t just leave it alone, Katie… I can’t. Not now when my grandfather is gone.”

“You’re going to name her Gabby?” I ask suddenly. I change the subject because I can tell Bethie’s upset and that can’t be good for her.

“Gabriella,” she answers. “It was Skull’s mother’s name. He would want our child to carry her name.”

Something about the way she talks about him and their child makes my throat tighten up. I’ve never had that. Hell, I’ve never seen anyone have a relationship where it felt like they needed the other person to breathe. She makes it seem that way every time she talks of Skull. I have to do everything in my power to make sure she gets back to him…

“Excuse me,” comes a lady’s voice at the door. “There was a package delivered downstairs for a Beth Donahue? It was addressed to a Beth Donahue, patient in the maternity wing. You’re the only Beth we could find. It’s from an Andre Cruz?” She’s a doctor, or a resident… something. She has the coat on. As she walks towards me, I can see blonde hair pushed up under one of those surgical bonnets. Her nameplate reads: T. Torres. “Would that be you? He was a big guy wearing a leather vest.”