Chapter 6 Confession 16 #2
Mickey was there first, the other Ravens following, all of them dragging Alexander back and seeing what couldn’t be hidden any longer.
Alexander was pale. So fucking pale. The careful mask he’d put on to hide his pain was gone.
It was like that one punch broke him down.
He was trying to pull himself together, but it was too late, panic bleeding in his eyes as Ravens helped him to his feet.
He looked to me, but there was no way out.
I could see it on every Raven’s face as they stared at the blood on the ground.
“One punch wouldn’t do that, man,” Matthias said gruffly.
Heath pressed the back of her hand to Alexander’s forehead. He tried to rip away but the others held him in place. “You’re burning up,” she said hoarsely. “Are you sick?”
“Stomach flu,” he pushed out.
“Alexander,” I said and shook my head.
He gritted his teeth and glared at me. “Arden.”
“I knew you two were hiding something,” Monty argued, pointing between us. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked.
Creed was quiet during the exchange. Rafe still looked seconds from pulverizing Alexander, but Thorne and Kane held him back. Thorne signed the exchange so far, and Rafe repeated part of it back. Sick? he signed, his brows drawn in confusion.
My eyes burned when Rafe looked at me. Something about my face must’ve given away how badly I was hurting, because his confusion and anger were traded for dark realization. In that moment, he saw how much I cared about Alexander, and he saw that I was in the middle of another hell.
“Cancer,” Alexander finally gritted out. “I was waiting until we had Florence to tell you all.”
The room fell silent. So many emotions passed across the Ravens. Monty’s chin trembled as she managed, “How long?”
Alexander stared at the ground, his head bowed as he breathed, “A few months now. Maybe less.”
Heath covered her mouth.
“Maybe less?” Monty asked, the first tears falling. “You’re going to die in less than a few months, and you’re just now telling us?”
Alexander’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “I just wanted to do it all at once, with everyone. I don’t know, I—”
“You told Arden,” Mickey argued, his anger clear. “Arden, Alex. She’s been here for a fucking second and you told her before us, your family.”
Heath turned a furious glare toward me. “How dare you keep this from us? After everything we’ve done to welcome you?”
“This is not Arden’s fault,” Alexander insisted, shaking his head. “The only reason she knew before any of you was because of the marriage. I needed her to understand why I did it.”
“And why was that?” Thorne growled, surprising me. He usually wasn’t one to buy into confrontation, especially if it wasn’t directly about him. He stepped around Rafe and Kane and pointed at me, his stern gaze on Alexander. “Why the hell is she forcefully married to a dying man?”
Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Oh my god,” Monty exclaimed. She shook her head and took several steps back. “Oh my god.”
“What?” Mickey pushed.
But it was Heath who answered, her cheeks wet. “Being married to him means being entitled to his fortune, Delgado. He’s setting Arden up to take over the Ravens.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous,” Matthias said. “She can barely keep her shit together, and you’re handing her our entire operations?”
“She’s been fucking you since the start, hasn’t she?” Monty hissed. “I bet marriage wasn’t even your idea.”
My fists curled.
“Enough,” Alexander spat. Some of the color had come back into his face, his eyes lit with rage. “Only a certain kind of person can handle all of you, don’t you realize that? I have bent over backwards and sold my soul a thousand times over to make sure none of you are ever assets again.”
“You didn’t even ask us,” Mickey ground out. “Do you think we’re that weak? That you’re that great that we couldn’t possibly fill your shoes?”
“It’s not like that. At all.” Alexander waved them off with an exhausted sigh, moving to one of the booths and leaning against it. Everyone pressed in around him, their voices overlapping as questions and accusations flew left and right.
My teeth gritted. “Leave him alone!” I yelled over them all.
The Ravens turned to me, Creed off to the side.
They’d been signing among themselves angrily, but they stopped at the sound of my voice.
“This isn’t the time,” I said, glaring at all of them.
“Florence is trapped, enduring abuse that no person should ever have to face, and you all are attacking a man with fucking cancer because you’re not getting his money? ”
“This isn’t about money,” Heath seethed. “This is about trust, about finding out a member of our family is dying.”
A groan sounded near the booth.
“Alex?” I heard Monty say, the two of them tucked behind the group somewhere. “Alexander!”
Ravens parted, Alexander slumped down in the booth, his eyes squeezed shut and his sickly pallor back. “I’m fine,” he rasped. “It will pass—” He flung forward, hitching at the waist as he vomited again, so much more blood leaving him than before.
“He needs a hospital,” Mickey rushed.
“No,” Alexander growled.
“Brother, I swear to you, we will get Florence out, but you have to go to the hospital. Now,” Mickey continued. He snapped his fingers at Monty. “Call an ambulance, bella.”
Monty fumbled with her phone, tears streaming down her face.
“Halden is expecting me,” Alexander argued.
“One of us will go with her,” Matthias said. “We’re capable, despite your assumption that we’re not.”
Alexander shuddered, a wave of pain passing over him, shutting everyone up. “I have to do this for her,” he begged. It didn’t seem like he was begging us but more so himself. His voice broke around the words, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.
My eyes burned as I gently wiped it away with my thumb. “You have my word,” I whispered. “The only way this day ends is with Halden on fire and your sister safe.” My chin trembled. “Just promise me you’ll be alive to see her return.”
He nodded. “Remember Arden, Creed is a unit. So are the Ravens. Dispatch accordingly.” He coughed but shook his head, gripping the edge of the table. “Take a Raven, not a Creed, to the meeting. You should be fine with glasses and gloves, but the guys are too recognizable still.”
“I’ll go,” Mickey said, his expression still hurt but his tone soothing as he rubbed Alexander’s back. “I can handle it.”
“They’re expecting me, so I need to send word that my cousin is coming in my place.” Alexander looked up toward Monty. “Please.”
She was furious and bitter but she dipped her chin in agreement. “I’ll get Mickey in there.”
“Cousins now?” Mickey asked. He hesitated and moved away. “Guess I better change and come up with your Italian lineage.”
“I’ll help you,” Heath said and followed him back into the townhouse.
Monty rushed to the restaurant doors when the ambulance pulled up, and I held my breath as Alexander was gently placed on a stretcher.
The minute he was, it was like the fight left him.
He passed out, his lids fluttering shut as the paramedics escorted him to the hospital.
I sniffed and wiped tears from my cheeks, turning to Creed.
“Do you know your jobs?” My voice wobbled, my entire being shaking.
That could’ve been it. Alexander might've been—
“You sure do know how to pick ‘em, Miss Creed,” Thorne said, forcing a small grin. “Would it kill you to choose a man—no offense, Rafe, seeing as this includes myself—without decades of trauma, a vendetta, or death wish?”
An exasperated laugh left me, and I clutched my stomach, shaking my head. “Not in this lifetime, it seems.”
“I think it makes a whole lot of sense actually,” Kane said. He walked to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side. “Our flame attracting so many death moths. It’s kinda poetic of you.”
I bite my tongue against a sob. “That’s me. A magnet for death.”
Kane holds me tighter. “That’s not how I meant it, sweetheart.”
“Then what?” I whispered hoarsely.
Thorne draped his arm over his brother’s, trapping me between them. “It means we’re fucking grateful to you for letting us bask in your warmth. Most of us moths never get the chance.”
I looked to Rafe, finding him still standing away from us, and my heart broke. Alexander and I aren’t together in that way. I swear. I’m sorry.
But he closed the distance and stopped me, wrapping his hands around mine.
Carefully, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss between my brows.
Then he pulled back with a sad smile. You’ve nothing to apologize for.
I’d say I’d kill him for the marriage, but it seems Mother Nature already got the message.
A laugh strangled me, Thorne and Kane chuckling too. That’s not funny, Rafe, I tried.
He shrugged a shoulder. It made you smile.
“Alright,” I said, drying my eyes and stepping out of our huddle to face the Ravens. I sniffed and straightened, rolling my shoulders back. None of them looked happy that I was leading, but too fucking bad.
I had a devil to burn, and no one was going to take that from me.