I made my way in there and found her mom, Jill, and her brothers, my club brothers, Scooby and Scrappy, looking way too fuckin’ sad for my liking.
Carina was standing by the window, obviously forcing a smile as she caught my eye.
“You got a headache again?” I asked.
She held her hand out to me. “Come here, honey.”
God, I loved this woman. She was everything to me. Long dark hair and the prettiest hazel eyes on the planet. She was sweet and quiet, with a strength of character I’d never seen.
“What’s goin’ on?” I asked, taking her hand.
“I’m just going to spit it out.” She squeezed my hand and turned watery eyes to me. “I have a brain tumor.”
A sudden buzzing in my head made me dizzy and I sat down heavily in the chair beside me. “What?”
“We’re going to fight it,” Scooby growled. “This is not a death wish.”
“No, of course not,” Carina said. “But we all need to be realistic. I love all of you more than life itself, you know that. I will do everything I can to stick around.”
“Boys, let’s give them some privacy,” Jill said, and ushered Scooby and Scrappy out of the room.
I pulled Carina onto my lap. “What does this mean?”
“It means I’m going to have to have surgery and chemo and my hair’s going to fall out. I may or may not lose some brain function, memory, that sort of thing. It’s not going to be pretty, Ridge. If you want to walk away, I won’t hold it against you.”
I scowled at her. “When I put that ring on your finger, I meant forever, Rinny.”
“Engagements were meant to be broken, honey.”
“Not ours,” I growled. “We can get married tomorrow.”
She smiled. “I want a big wedding, so let’s wait a little while and see how this all plays out. Are you sure you want to stick around?”
“Jesus, woman, I can’t believe you’re asking me that,” I hissed. “I love you. Nothing will ever change that. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
“Correct answer, fiancé.” She grinned, leaning down to kiss me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I cupped her cheek. “Promise me you’re gonna be okay.”
“I promise.”
I awoke with a start. Carina wasn’t okay. She’d died less than one year later, then Scrappy followed a month ago. Nothing would ever be okay again.
Now, Indigo had brought some bitch into the fold who was seriously fuckin’ with my head and I was over it. I needed to figure out how to exorcise the fuckin’ demons in my head or I was gonna be in a world of hurt.
“Fuck,” I hissed.
Dragging myself out of bed, I stripped the sweat-soaked sheets off the bed and threw them in the corner.
For now, I’d start with a shower.
* * *
Bellamy
“You have established this guy is not a threat anymore,” I said to my best friend, Indigo. “You’ve assured me he’s in custody with the appropriate authorities, so why can’t I leave?”
Indigo was married to a big, burly biker, and I was currently ‘locked down’ at their big, burly biker lair. I’d discovered I’d had a stalker and I’d discovered said stalker when he’d tried to break into my home. It had been scary, but one of Jekyll’s biker brothers had come to the rescue. Actually, it was two of them, but only one of them made me want to drop my panties.