Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maddox
The whiskey burns going down my throat, but I welcome the sting. My gaze wanders to the clock. Another hour has gone by with no word on Della. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive. I’ve been sitting in this chair for hours, conjuring up every possible scenario, one more traumatic than the other.
I used find Granddaddy sitting in this very chair late at night, and I’d wonder what kept him up at night. Was it the animals or the heavy weight of responsibility? But now, I gotta wonder if he ever sat in this chair, wondering how he made a mess of things. If he did, how did he correct it?
I take another sip, letting the amber liquid swirl in the crystal tumbler.
Amelia hasn’t said more than ten words since we got back from the hospital. Judy tried her best at dinner, but none of us could eat. The empty chair where Della should have been was too much for any of us to bear.
The stairs creak, but I don’t turn around. Amelia steps into the living room and heads straight to the liquor cabinet. She pours herself two fingers of whiskey, and I watch as she knocks it back in one go.
For a long while, she just stands there. I don’t dare push for more than her presence. We’re both broken in different ways tonight.
She pours herself another, then walks over and sits beside me. Silence envelopes us as we nurse our drinks. Then her head finds my chest. I know I don’t deserve her comfort, but I’m too selfish to pull away so I drape my around her shoulders, my fingers toying with the ends of her hair.
“I’m sorry I lost it today,” she whispers. “I know none of this is your fault.”
I stare into my glass. “Yes, it is.” Every fucking bad thing that’s happened lately is a product of my choices.
“No.” She shifts to look at me, eyes fierce even in the darkness. “You’re no more to blame than I am. We may not know Russell’s involvement in this, but he wouldn’t be involved at all if it weren’t for me.”
I open my mouth to tell her how wrong she is—that none of this is on her—when my phone vibrates against my thigh. Shadow’s name flashes on the screen.
“Tell me,” I answer, already fearing the worst.
“I found Della. It’s bad. Really bad. Taking her to the hospital now.”
My blood freezes. “How bad?”
“Don’t make me answer that,” he croaks, and that’s really all the answer I need.
I disconnect the call and turn to Amelia.
“They found Della. She’s alive, but critical. I have to go to the hospital.”
I stand, and Amelia follows, her face pale in the darkness. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No,” I reply. “Dylan needs you here. The house is surrounded by my men. You’re safe.”
She searches my face, then nods slowly. Her hand comes up to my cheek, warm against my skin. “Be careful,” she whispers, then rises on her toes to press her lips to mine. The kiss is brief but carries the weight of everything we’re too afraid to speak aloud.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting in this stiff hospital chair. Three hours? Four? The fluorescent lights overhead buzz with a constant hum that matches the tension in the room. The waiting area is filled with leather cuts bearing the Fallen Demons patch, and me.
Lucifer sits to my right, his massive frame making the chair look like it belongs inside a preschool.
He briefed me as soon as I got here. Apparently, Russell never gave up where they were keeping Della.
The only thing he said was that Landry Oil was behind both attacks.
Revenge for selling Meadows Ranch to the MC.
The news burned my ass because I underestimated the oil tycoon, and the two most important women in my life paid the price.
I don’t know where we go from here, but Lucifer assures me that he has neutralized the threat.
When I pressed him for more information, he told me that out of respect for our partnership he couldn’t divulge that information.
He didn’t want me to be an accessory to his crimes, and I really have no choice but to respect that.
That doesn’t mean I won’t be taking the proper precautions going forward. As soon as I know Della is okay, I’m hiring a private security firm for the ranch. I can’t put electric fences around the property because of the animals, but I’ll find other ways to protect the people I love.
My gaze cuts across the waiting room to where Shadow sits by himself, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at nothing. His knuckles are raw and bloody.
I push out of the plastic chair and make my way toward him, taking the seat next to him.
“Della’s going to pull through,” I tell him, my voice raspy. “She’s a Meadows. She’s strong. A lot stronger than I give her credit for.”
“She’s gonna be a King.” He turns his gaze to me. “She makes it out of this, I’m marrying her.”
A couple of weeks ago, those words would’ve surprised me.
Not just because I couldn’t picture Shadow settling down with anyone, let alone my sister—but mainly I was a jaded man.
But I get it now. Time doesn’t stand still when you find the one you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with.
It keeps pushing forward, and you realize that the days you have left on this earth are best spent with that person as your partner.
So you take the plunge. You put a ring on her finger, and you wake up every day thankful that she chose you.
Amelia’s faces flashes in my mind, and before I can stop myself from going down that path, I imagine myself standing under the trellis by my grandma’s garden, Amelia walking toward me dressed all in white., her arm looped around Dylan’s.
“Think she’ll say yes?” The question comes out horse, and as it leaves my lips, I’m not sure what I’m asking Shadow.
“Doesn’t matter,” he grunts. “I’ll convince her one way or another.”
I shake my head, dismissing the image I’ve conjured, and focus my attention back to Shadow.
“Don’t think you’ll have to do much of that, brother. You ask her, she’s gonna say yes.”
Suddenly a doctor appears, and we both pop out of our seats.
“Meadows’ family?”
“That’s us,” I say, stepping forward. “I’m Della’s brother, and this is her fiancé.”
The doctor goes on to tell us that Della made it through surgery but coded on the table. They had to remove her spleen, and she needed a blood transfusion. Yet despite all that, he expected her to make a recovery, so long as there were no unexpected complications in the next forty-eight hours.
Relief floods me fast. It feels like I’ve been holding my breath since I first discovered Della was missing, and I can finally breathe.
“We’re going to keep her in the ICU for the night. Only one person can visit at a time. I’ll let you decide who that is, but I should warn you she’s not yet awake.”
My gaze locks with Shadow’s. “You should go first. I’ll wait here.”
He nods, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks, man.”
I spend the next couple hours alternating between pacing the hallway and thumbing through months-old magazines. Lucifer had to leave to handle club business but promised to return. The other Fallen Demons filter in and out, asking if I need anything.
When Shadow finally appears in the doorway, I jolt upright. His expression is softer than before, though exhaustion clouds his face.
“She’s awake,” he says, his voice rough. “Asking for you.”
I stand so fast my vision blurs for a second. “How is she?”
“Go see for yourself. Room 312.”
The walk down the sterile corridor feels never-ending. When I push open the door to Della’s room, my stomach drops. Nothing could have prepared me for how small she looks in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines and monitors that beep steadily.
Bruises mar her face, and a line of stitches runs along her cheekbone. Her normally vibrant complexion is ashen, making the bruises stand out even more.
But her eyes are open, and when they find mine, I feel something cracks inside my chest.
“Hey, big brother,” she whispers, her voice raspy.
I cross the room in three strides, pulling up the chair next to her bed. “Hey yourself.”
Taking her hand—careful of the IV—I’m struck by how fragile her fingers feel in mine.
“You scared the hell out of me, Dell. Don’t ever do that again.”
A ghost of a smile touches her lips. “Not planning on it.”
“I’m so damn grateful you’re alive. When I thought I might lose you...” I can’t finish the sentence.
She squeezes my hand weakly. “Maddox, there’s something I have to tell you. Something I overheard while I was being held captive.”
The seriousness in her tone makes me sit straighter. “What is it?”
Della takes a painful breath. “It’s about Mom.” Her eyes well with tears. “Mom’s death wasn’t an accident, Maddox.”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush. “What are you talking about?”
“Dad made a deal to sell the ranch to Landry Oil right before she died,” she continues, her voice strengthening with each word. “Granddaddy found out. He killed the deal and fired Dad.”
My mind reels, trying to process what she’s saying. “And Landry Oil—”
“They retaliated,” she confirms. “Cut the brakes on the car, but Mom was never meant to get behind the wheel. It was Dad they wanted.” A tear slips down her bruised cheek. “Mom was just an innocent casualty.”
My pulse thrums in my ears, and my chest tightens. None of this can be true. It’s the meds talking.
“How do you know this is true?”
“The men who took me... they were talking about history repeating itself. One of them mentioned how they messed up thirteen years ago by targeting the wrong Meadows.” She swallows hard. “I don’t know why Granddaddy kept it to himself, but now he’s gone, and we’ll never know.”
Her grip on my hand tightens as I try to digest all she’s revealed.
“But one thing I know for certain is that you and I can never let anyone take the ranch. Our mother died for that land.” Her eyes, so much like our mother’s, burn into mine. “Promise me we’ll always protect it.”
I’m silent for a long moment, the weight of this revelation settling on my shoulders. Everything I thought I knew about our family history has just been rewritten.
“I promise,” I rasp. “No one will ever take Meadows Ranch from us.”
“Fallen Meadows Ranch,” she corrects.
“Right.”
How could I forget?
I squeeze her fingers gently and release a ragged breath.
“Rest now. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“You don’t have to stay—”
“Try and make me leave,” I challenge, managing a small smile.
As Della drifts back to sleep, I sit there holding her hand, my mind working overtime. The pieces start falling into place—Granddaddy’s overprotectiveness of the ranch, his falling out with my father, his insistence that Della and I keep the property and continue building our family’s legacy.
He didn’t want us to let go of what our mother died for.