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She doesn’t speak again, and it’s not long before her soft snores fill the silence in the room. Resting my head on the back of the chair, I settle in and think of anything but my dad and where he currently is. I’m not ready for life to change completely again, so I shoot a prayer up to Indie that if she has any pull up there with the good guys, that she helps me out this once.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sparky
“You should go back to the club.”
I tear my eyes away from Cas to Alannah, who’s sitting on the other side of his bed, her red, puffy eyes full of fear I rarely see coming from her.
“I’m not leaving him.”
He’s hooked up to so many machines, and the main one continually beeping has me wanting to rip my ears off. Every second, another beep. It never stops because he hasn’t fucking woken up yet.
“You’re his VP. It’s your duty to step in when he can’t. The brothers will need updating, and you still need to deal with Tal.”
Leaning forward, I rest my forearms on my thighs and hang my head in my hands, running them over my scalp.
I’m a Lost Soul, right down to my bones, but I can’t think about the club without Cas. What would that even look like? It would go on, sure, but it would never be the same. Not for me or any of the brothers.
“He made his plan known on the way here. He wants Leo taking his place.”
“Leo will only take his place when he’s gone, and he’s not dead, Sparks. Your patch means you step in when he can’t, and at the moment, he can’t.”
“I know what my fucking patch means, Barbs,” I snap. “But I also know the club should be ready to accept Leo as their president. The sooner the better.”
She shoots forward, her eyes full of fire.
“You’re acting like he’s already dead,” she spits out. “He just needs time. Time you will give him by stepping up. The brothers know as well as you and I do that Leo isn’t ready. He’s better than he was, but he’s not in the right headspace to lead.”
“I have to disagree—I think he is ready. It’ll be an adjustment, but he’ll be cautious, like Cas. After everything that happened with India, he’ll take his time making decisions. As sad as it was losing her, it’ll make him a better president.”
“Regardless, Cas’s patch isn’t up for grabs. Not until he’s in the ground.”
She’s loyal to her husband, and I get that, but she knows this club as well as I do. She knows I’m talking sense, though she doesn’t want to admit it because it would mean she’s accepting Cas isn’t going to wake up.
“Cas is strong. I’d feel it if he were leaving, but I’m not worried. This isn’t his time.”
Denial is a bitch, and she’s in deep. Not that I blame her. I’m just being realistic.
“His last words to me were how much he loved you, that you were the one who gave him a purpose. How proud of his sons he was, and that he didn’t want the club to suffer.”
Narrowing her eyes into slits, her top lip curls.
“Then go and sort it out, and do what he wished. I mean it, Sparky. He’s not dying today, and if you believe he is, then you can leave. Find Luca on your way out and go.”
There’s no talking to her. When I rise from the chair, her eyes widen.
“You really think this is it for him, don’t you?” she murmurs.
“I’ll go find Luca.”
Leaving the room, the beeping fades as I walk through the quiet corridors. Stopping, I turn to the wall and smash my fist into it, punching until my knuckles split open, leaving bloodied smears on the pristine white drywall.
“No,” Slade breathes. “He isn’t…”
Clamping his hand down on my shoulder, he spins me around, forcing me to look at him.
“Brother?”
