“Maybe this will make things better between you.”
“Exactly,” I snap. “She’ll feel sorry for me and come back. I don’t want that. Anna’s too kind and caring to walk away. She’ll stay out of pity.”
Raven rolls her eyes. “Sleep, Pres. Worry about the rest later.”
Chapter Eight
ANNA
I’ve tried calling his phone a million times, but he won’t answer. I’d gone to the hospital to see one of my former foster mums. I’d found out she’d gotten cancer and promised to pop in and see her. I wasn’t expecting to see Riggs there, and I left in shock. But it’s been three days and I’ve not seen him to ask what the hell is going on. That’s why I’ve asked Eva to come over and watch the girls for me. I’m on a mission and I’m going to find out everything, once and for all.
I get to the club and Cree is outside smoking a cigarette. “Anna,” he says, sounding surprised. “I thought you were seeing Eva at your place tonight?”
“Don’t worry, Cree. She’s exactly where she said she’d be. She’s watching the kids for me. I’ve come to see Riggs.”
He winces. “Probably not a good idea. He’s been drinking today.”
“I can handle him,” I say, heading inside.
Riggs is sitting on the couch with a club girl resting on his lap, placing kisses along his jaw. I watch them for a minute, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. I won’t give them a show—I’m not that sort of girl. Instead, I stand in front of them. The girl panics, jumping up from his lap and rushing off. It isn’t her fault, he’s the President, and she can’t say no to him if she wants to carry on staying at the club. I place my hands on my hips and Riggs stares up at me with a stupid smirk on his face. “Here she is,” he grins. “Come to ruin the party, my love?”
I call over to Lake and Chains. “Get him up,” I order. They exchange a wary look.
“Do as she says,” comes Frankie’s voice, and I suppress the urge to smile as they move to Riggs, taking an arm each and lifting him from the couch.
“Upstairs,” I say.
I lead the way to our bedroom. It’s a mess. I push the bathroom door open and turn on the shower. “In there,” I say, and they push him under the spray of water fully clothed. He splutters, trying to suck in some air but getting a mouthful of water instead. “I need coffee and water,” I say and Lake rushes off. After a few minutes, Chains helps Riggs from the shower and guides him to a chair by the window. “I’ll take it from here,” I say and he gives me a relieved smile. “Ask Lake to leave the coffee outside the door.”
I wait for Chains to leave, then I slowly unfasten the buttons on Riggs’ shirt. He’s half asleep and doesn’t stir as I undress him. I go to tug his wet jeans down his legs, and that’s when I see the large red mark on his abdomen. I’m at eye level, so there’s no avoiding it. I gently run a finger over the area, as he flinches slightly but doesn’t fuss. I finish getting him out of the wet clothes and pull on a fresh pair of boxer shorts. “This is what I mean,” he slurs. “You’ll become a fucking nurse to me.” I help him over to the bed and he half sits up against the headboard.
“Tell me everything,” I say, fetching the coffee and water from outside the room. He takes the coffee with shaky hands. “From the beginning,” I add.
“I’m one of the statistics,” he mutters. “You know, only four in ten men get prostate cancer in their thirties? Most men get it in their sixties, but no, not me.”
I suck in a breath and climb onto the bed, facing him. I tuck my legs underneath myself and resist the urge to throw my arms around him. “I was pissing all the goddamn time. I’d piss and need another in ten minutes. It drove me nuts, and I remember Raven asking me about it. She was in The Windsor with us and I went to the toilet three times in twenty minutes. She said she knew a guy who was like that and he’d been diagnosed with cancer. I laughed. As if that could happen to me. I have a wife and kids to look after, a club to run, it wasn’t gonna be me. But she nagged me, said I needed to get checked out or she’d tell you and Mum.” He pauses, drinking the rest of his coffee and setting the cup down on the bedside table.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper.
“Cos you announced you were fucking pregnant the very same day I got my test results. My head was fucked. I’d been with a doctor telling me I might have to have a fucking colostomy bag for life, that I’d probably never get a fucking erection on my own again let alone have any more kids, and then you stood beside me, smiling and laughing, and told the club we were having a kid. And I just went into shock.”
Tears silently fall down my cheeks. “I didn’t know,” I mumble.
“Part of me didn’t wanna take your smile away, you were so happy. Then I ended up doing exactly that by pushing you away. When I left, before you had Willow, I told the club I was hitting the road for a while. I was actually having an operation to see if they could remove any of the cancer. They got most of it, but they’ve been giving me proton therapy to target
