Lynch's Rule (Ruthless Sinners MC 9)

Dad’s eyes narrowed as he studied Conor’s leather Sinners jacket, and he didn’t sound at all pleased when he replied, “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

“Well, I am.”

The tension in the room was almost unbearable, so I wasn't surprised when Dr. Grant announced, "I need to finish my rounds. If you happen to change your mind about the surgery, and I hope you do, I’d be able to do it as early as tomorrow morning. Just notify the nurse, and we will take it from there."

"Okay, great. Thank you, Dr. Grant."

"My pleasure."

He gave Conor a slight nod, then stepped around him and headed out of the room. As soon as he closed the door, I asked Conor, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

"Oh, well..." was the only response I could muster.

Sensing my dilemma, Mom stepped over to Dad and said, "Why don't we give them a moment alone?"

"We need to talk about this surgery! She has to—"

"We’ll figure it out," Mom interrupted. "For now, let's just take a breather, and then we can come up with a plan."

"Fine." My father followed Mom towards the door but stopped when he approached Conor. "Talk some sense into her."

Conor nodded, then watched as my parents and Haleigh walked out of the room. When the door closed behind them, I expected him to come over to me.

He didn't.

He didn't move—nor did he speak.

Conor simply stood there and stared at me with a blank expression on his face. He had every right to be angry with me. I hadn't been honest with him.

"I'm sorry, Conor. I should've told you."

No response.

"I didn't know for sure what was going on with me. I mean, I had my suspicions and all that, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure that my symptoms were from the aneurysm."

Still no response—not even a bat of his eye.

"It's why I left on our first date. I knew I was setting myself up for a fall, and I was right. I've fallen in love with you, and now I'm going to lose you."

Again nothing.

"I know you want me to have the surgery, but I can't do it, Conor. I don't want to end up not being able to see or talk or spend the rest of my life having one seizure after the next. I'd rather take my chances with the stupid aneurysm."

His eyes dropped to the ground, but after a brief moment, they locked on mine once again. I thought for sure he would say something, but he remained silent, which frustrated the hell out of me.

"I didn't ask for this, but these are the cards I've been dealt, and it's up to me to decide how I play them."

Conor gave me a slight nod, and then without saying a single word, he turned and walked out of the room.

Damn.

I’d made a real mess of it this time.

LYNCH

I hadn't planned on walking out on Rae, but I had no choice.

I was at my breaking point.

I didn’t know what got to me more—the fact that Rae had an aneurysm she never told me about or didn't plan to have the surgery to fix it. I simply couldn't fathom it. I wanted to hear her out and try to sort through it, but the more she spoke, the more wound up I became. I didn't want to say anything I might regret, so I left and went to the waiting room to cool off.

I hadn't planned on being there long—just enough to wrap my head around things, but after almost four hours, I was still sitting in the same damn spot. Hell, I might've sat there all night if Viper and Hawk hadn't walked in.

When I saw them coming toward me, I immediately asked, "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Came to see about you and your girl."

"But you should be helping the guys track down Sophie and—"

"She's good," Viper interrupted. "Already back at the clubhouse with Jagger."

"What? You’ve got to be kidding me.” I glanced up at the clock to make sure I hadn't lost my mind. "I've only been gone a few hours."

"A few hours was all we needed," Viper answered as he sat down next to me. "As soon as Kordarius started talking, we were set."

“Well, fill me in. I want to know everything.”

“Not a lot to tell... Jagger left the prison and met us at the address Kordarius had given us, and we immediately surrounded the place.” I could almost imagine being there as Hawk explained, “I gotta tell ya, the place was a real dump. It was an old crack house with busted windows and doors that were barely hanging on the hinges. We could literally see Booker and Jenson sitting in the living room smoking a fucking joint and drinking a beer. Neither of them had the first clue that we were there.”