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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

SAINT

B ones had started to reduce Jacob’s medication the night before. He was still being given some strong pain relief, which I was glad of, seeing as they’d only recently sewn his chest back up, but the meds he was filled with shouldn’t have stopped him from opening his eyes.

So, now it was a waiting game.

Hendrix had cleared the waiting area, so the only people around were Kathy and Doug, Hendrix and Anna, Diablo, and, of course, Bones. Freya had a shift at the hospital, so she couldn’t be there, and the Wyoming chapter had gone home the day before.

The only time I’d left Jacob’s side was to shower, which was awkward because I couldn’t get my bandages wet. Plus, it was hard to wash my hair when I couldn’t lift one arm, so I needed help.

Cue Talia.

My friend had been amazing throughout the ordeal.

She’d dealt with the record label, the press, and even the cops.

Sam’s dad had threatened legal action against Diablo and was using his connections to put pressure on the local PD to prosecute.

It was a joke how he was so concerned about his son now he was dead, but never gave a shit when Sam was alive.

We’d talked before about how Sam was paraded as an accessory and then expected to keep his mouth shut and stay out of his dad’s way behind the scenes.

Boomer even told us about a conversation he had with Sam the year before.

They were drunk when Sam confessed that he’d been groomed by his dad’s second wife.

The woman seduced him and took his virginity when he was fourteen years old, and they subsequently carried on an affair.

Eventually, Sam’s dad found out, but instead of doing the right thing and prosecuting her and getting Sam some counseling, he used it as an excuse to divorce her and blackmail her into relinquishing her rights to alimony.

It worked out perfectly for him because he’d already met wife number three, so it paved the way for him to get rid of the woman he was with, and do it cheaply, too.

It was no wonder Sam lost his mind; he’d been sexually abused and neglected emotionally all his life.

He obviously had major hang ups and abandonment issues and lost his shit.

Don’t get me wrong, it was no excuse for shooting people, but I got how he ended up in that place mentally, even if I didn’t agree with his actions.

After an afternoon on the phone and a lot of shouting and foot stomping, Talia triumphantly told D he had nothing to worry about. She’d threatened Sam’s dad with going public with all his bullshit and the asshole backed down immediately.

God forbid his adoring fans saw him for who he was.

But still, at least Diablo could rest easy in the knowledge that he wasn’t about to get sued by a team of lawyers with unlimited resources and a taste for vengeance, thank God .

The band had decided to take a hiatus before we recorded the second album.

I wanted to be there to help Jacob with his recovery, and I also wanted us to start our lives together.

Almost losing him had taught me what was important, and as much as I loved my band and my music, it didn’t mean anything without my big, bad biker by my side.

I loved playing, and I loved performing, but I hated the dark side of show business.

The paparazzi, the toxic online culture, and constantly having to defend myself against people I didn’t even know was exhausting, and I wanted a break from it.

Even if I never released another song, I could still live comfortably off the money I’d already earned and my royalties for the next ten lifetimes. My future kids were set for life, so money wasn’t a worry at all. However, I wouldn’t stay away for long.

I couldn’t.

Music was my first love, the thing that brought me my first taste of freedom when I was a young, repressed girl with dreams of breaking free from her stilted life, so I could never give it up completely.

Bones had removed Jacob’s breathing tube that morning. He still had the drain coming from his chest and was hooked up to a heart monitor, but I was relieved to see some color back in his cheeks and even more relieved that he was breathing unaided.

He wasn’t out of the woods completely, and Bones had warned us that he may develop complications or an infection, but he was off the critical list for now.

The road ahead wouldn’t be easy but I didn’t give the first fuck.

As long as I had Jacob with me, I’d find a way to cope. We had the best care and the best people to help him with his recovery. Hendrix had told me about all the rehabilitation facilities the club had access to, so I knew Jacob was in good hands.

I sat on the bed beside Jacob, legs crossed with my back to his feet, staring at his face with our fingers entwined. When he woke up, I was determined to be there for him in case he was confused.

“It could take hours,” Kathy murmured from the chair next to the bed.

“It won’t,” I assured her, my heart beating steadily and my tummy tugging toward my man. “I can feel him.”

“Did you feel Jake move?” Doug asked from his place at his wife’s side.

“No.” I smiled. “I can feel his heart.”

And it was strange because I could, and not just then either.

I’d felt flashes of him since the night before, when Bones had reduced his medication.

Jacob was fighting to come back to me. I could sense his internal struggle, and it was beautiful because it showed me he was still in there and everything would be okay.

My breath whooshed out of me when his finger suddenly twitched.

I smiled and breathed, “Baby. I’m here.”

Jacob’s eyelids didn’t open, but they began to move, like he was suddenly in REM sleep and his mind was coming back to life.

Like he was coming back to life.

Keeping my gaze on my man, I murmured, “Doug. Could you get Bones? Tell him it won’t be long.”

I heard Kathy let out a quiet sob, and then the door clicked as Doug left the room.

Something burned in my chest, but it wasn’t unpleasant, more like the hot summer sun burning life into the earth. It felt good and natural and right. Maybe it was my soul waking up because it had its mate back at last .

Jacob’s finger twitched again, and I laughed when I saw his eyelids flutter.

“Come on, baby,” I whispered. “Open your eyes. Let me see those icy blues. I’ve missed them so much.”

A tiny grunt escaped his throat, and his eyelids fluttered again, but that time they fluttered open, and stayed open, and he stared at the ceiling.

“Welcome home, baby,” I murmured.

Jacob’s dazed gaze lowered, and our eyes locked.

My heart soared.

“I love you,” I told him huskily through the tears burning my throat.

Love you , he mouthed, his lips hardly moving.

Something clicked together inside me, and my world tilted back into place.

My man was even more beautiful than before, but maybe being robbed of him had made me see deeper. Jacob had died for me; how could that not be an extraordinary thing? People claimed that they’d die for the person they loved all the time, but when it came down to it, would they?

Jacob did, and it filled me with awe for him because it was proof—not of his feelings—I never doubted those—but it proved the type of man he was.

Being without him felt like I’d been plunged into darkness, but now the long night was over and the first ray of light shone on me.

And we all knew that where there was light, there was hope.

Lighter days were coming.

The door clicked open again, but my gaze remained on Jacob’s.

“Well, well, well,” Bones drawled. “It’s about time.” I felt his presence beside the bed, and he murmured, “Can you move aside for a minute, Saint. I need to check his vitals.”

Jacob’s fingers lightly squeezed mine, and his eyes flared slightly .

“No,” I said, smiling, “I’m not moving. Check his vitals another way.”

Jacob’s lips twitched, and his eyes crinkled with a small smile.

Bones chuckled and somehow worked his way around me, taking Jacob’s blood pressure and listening to his heart, and all the while, our gazes never left each other.

I had my big, bad biker back.

And I’d never let him go.