Jade was lying on a stretcher, covered in a blanket. For the second time this month she looked frail and vulnerable, lying unconscious. The fucker had deprived her of the one thing she needed most—air. Hooked up to a portable oxygen tank, I couldn’t bear to look at her, and especially not at Ryder. He’d virtually pushed the medics off him and insisted they treat Jade first. Cobra had removed his skull headscarf and Mia had wrapped it tightly around Ryder’s leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
He grimaced as he moved closer to Jade, leaning over and whispering in her ear. A small smile touched her lips. It was a good sign. She’d definitely suffered from concussion, and I was worried sick about brain damage.
Thank fuck two minutes later another ambulance arrived. Funny that both Jade and Ryder insisted the other be treated first, Jade hardly able to speak because she was so weak. It was then that it hit me. She really did love the biker. And nothing I did or said would change that.
“What about me?” Marcus wailed, unhappy that he was being ignored while Ryder and Jade were treated first. Mia, bless her kind soul, had gone over to help him as soon as the medics took over from her caring for Jade. The asshole was only worried about his own survival.
A third ambulance arrived twenty minutes later to take care of the crazy lawyer, with a police escort. Charged with intent to murder, he’d be taken to the prison hospital and treated there. I pitied the poor fucker for a moment. His shining career was fucked forever. He was going nowhere but to prison, unless he had a smartass lawyer friend who could get him out. I wouldn’t be surprised. It happened every day.
I was tired to the bone. Tired of the eternal battle that was raging inside me. Tired of pretending I didn’t care what happened to anyone because I didn’t want to admit how much I loved them, and didn’t want to see them leave my life like Amy had.
And Knox? He surprised me. He was having a hard time from his president and club brothers about Jade. Yet, he hadn’t hesitated for a moment to save Jade’s life. The way he looked at her . . . I knew she was all that mattered to him.
Finally the ambulance was ready to take Jade and Ryder to the hospital. Before Ryder was lifted in, he stopped and turned to Cobra. “Brother. If you want my patch, I’ll have it on your desk as soon as I am discharged from hospital.”
Cobra sucked in a breath. It was evident he never expected Ryder to say those words to him.
Ryder continued. “Today, I learned the most valuable lesson of my life. Without love there is no point to living. If I don’t have Jade by my side, it’s all a waste of time. My Princess is the only woman for me. I love her with every breath in my being. So if I have to choose between the club and Jade, you leave me no choice.”
He turned toward me. He gestured between himself and Jade, making his intentions very clear. “Jade and I are a couple. We plan to get married. We plan on having a family. Deal with it.”
He got into the ambulance with the help of the paramedics and took Jade’s hand in his. Both Cobra and I were staring at them openly, at a loss for words. That didn’t stop Ryder from telling us straight. “And as soon as Jade’s out of hospital, we’re planning our wedding. For Jade and I, it can be no other way.”
He turned toward Cobra again. “You once said we were a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Guess you were right. Only difference is we refuse to die on one another. We will write our own ending to our story. It will be a fucking happily ever after—just like Jade wants.”
Jade’s eyes were brimming with tears as he leaned down to kiss her.
A knife twisted in my heart.
I wanted a love like that. I wanted an all-consuming, all-sacrificing, never-ending love that would stand the test of time and be stronger than all the obstacles thrown at it.
How could any person not want that?
I was no different. I craved eternal love.
I’d never felt so empty, so utterly fucking alone as in that moment.
Chapter Fifty-Two — Harrison
As soon as I got back to my apartment after saying goodnight to my father at the hospital, I got beneath the hottest shower I could tolerate. I needed to wash off all the day’s stress. More blood—this time my sister’s—had freaked me out. Again. And Dad . . . fuck, I’d never been that close to losing the old man. He was my hero, always had been . . . and it messed with my mind to watch the man I idolized go down and be so helpless. It was too much to handle.
I sighed heavily—it was no secret I got my workaholic tendencies from Dad. Owen Summers had set an unrelenting pace. Starting from scratch as a young man, he had built his empire through hard work and obstinance.