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I notice the top buttons of his shirt. They’re loose, insinuating that he left his tie behind, and his jacket looks worn out. I realize he’s probably been sweating and pacing the waiting room from the moment I was brought in. I’m his only child, his only family, and he almost lost me today.
Whatever is going through this man’s head, I need to be patient. He is processing some intense emotions.
“I don’t think anybody knew they were coming,” I say to him. “I was upstairs, talking to the guys when the prospects spotted them and alerted the club. By the time I got downstairs, determined to get out of there before anything started, it was too late. Bullets were already flying.”
“Paddy took a bullet for you,” Dad sighs. “He’s going to be okay, though. I saw him before I came to see you.”
“Where is he?” I ask.
“I talked the doctors into putting him and the other members in a private room at the other end of the hall. You should keep your distance, though. If the Devils are going to retaliate tonight, they’ll likely come here. They’re brazen and then some,” he says.
“What about the cops, the sheriff? Why isn’t anyone doing anything?”
Dad shrugs, briefly gazing out the window. “Rumor has it there’s a whole RICO operation being mounted against the Devils across federal agencies. The trouble is, they don’t have enough inside intel. The clubs keep their cards close to their chests and I know they wouldn’t cooperate unless they had to—unless the Feds had some kind of bargaining chip.”
“Ah, right, biker’s honor and whatever,” I scoff. “Meanwhile, their people are getting gunned down in broad daylight.”
“I spoke to Orion about this as well. I hope I got through to him. They need to do something,” Dad replies. “I don’t necessarily agree with collaborating with the Feds, but desperate times call for desperate measures. They need to do something before it gets worse.”
“Worse than having the clubhouse shot to smithereens?”
Dad pauses and gives me a long, intense look. “Nadia, I need you to be straight with me. For once in your life. It’s not a game anymore. This is beyond serious. You’re in the hospital, for God’s sake.”
“I’m okay. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You’re more like your mother than I care to admit,” he scoffs.
The doctor comes in, and my joints stiffen at the sight of him. He’s in his mid-forties, with salt-and-pepper hair and kind eyes. He smiles at me before looking at my dad. “And how is Miss Kessler doing? Feeling better after that IV?”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” I say. “I’m fine, right?”
Please don’t say anything else.
I keep looking at him, a tense smile begging him to keep his mouth shut. I can barely breathe at this point.
“Yes, the baby too,” he says.
Well, shit.
Dad exhales sharply, staring at the doctor in disbelief. “Baby?”
“Don’t get mad—” I try to keep it light, but he immediately cuts me off, his face red with anger and his eyes wide with shock.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Nadia?”
“Ah, I see I’ve stepped in something here,” the doctor casually remarks.
The cat’s out of the bag. I might as well brace for the fallout. I’ve already gone over every possible scenario in my head anyway. Over the past couple of months, I have imagined every worst-case scenario, every possible insult, and every potential outcome to my unexpected condition. In the following few minutes, one of these instances will come true.
“I take it you weren’t aware of your daughter’s condition,” the doctor says, looking at Dad.
“I’m twenty-two, Doc. I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” Dad shoots back. “Who’s the father?”
“Oh, you don’t want to ask me that, trust me,” I reply bluntly. I think part of me secretly enjoys his current discomfort. Maybe it’s payback for the way he left me to take care of Mom when she got sick and for the way he kept his distance while she was waiting for him to come to see her one last time I look at the doctor. “So, we’re fine, you say.”
Dad steps in. “Hold on, Nadia. As long as you’re living under my roof, as long as you are my daughter and sole heir, I have every right to know these things. What the hell happened?”
