Cruel Infatuation (Underground Kings 3)

I have my family. I have a purpose in this life now. And no one will fuck my second chance up at happiness.

I slide the ring on her slender finger, and something inside me settles. I’m one step closer to making her officially mine. “You look good with my ring on you.”

She throws her arms around me, and a round of claps come from behind her. Everyone is there, including Doctor Gladstone who has a grim expression on his face, but he’s still clapping. Dillon isn’t in the crowd of people. I search high and low for my little man, but he isn’t there. I place Finley on the ground and take her hand in mine as we stalk toward them. Quinn, Gabriella, Sebastian, Heaven, Owen, and Jaxon, they all have bright smiles on their faces.

My happiness is short-lived by Doctor Gladstone’s expression, though. The claps slow down, and I feel everyone’s curious eyes on us, probably wondering if I’m going to punch him in the face again. I pull Finley’s phone out of my pocket and slam it against Sebastian chest. “Check to see if you can find a location on the Trevor guy. He’s blackmailing her. I want him found immediately.”

Sebastian nods and doesn’t say anything else before flipping the phone on and walking down the hall. He freezes a few feet away, and he probably sees the alarming dick pictures. He isn’t surprised for long. He vanishes around the corner, and Gabriella is hot on his heels.

“What is it?”

“We should—”

“Tell me,” I growl in the doctor’s face.

“His red blood cell count is next to nothing. He needs that bone marrow transplant. Now. Or the three months I gave him turn to the end of this month.”

“The end…” I stagger on my feet. “You said six months, then three and now you’re saying I might have three weeks left with him?” I grab him by his coat and toss him to the floor.

“Stop,” Finley says, grabbing my fist before I slam it against the doctor’s face.

“We need to find Kendall.”

“We will. Everything is going to be okay,” Finley reassures, and this time I explode.

“Stop saying that! Everyone stop. It isn’t going to be okay. Nothing is okay. The only one with realistic expectations is the doctor. And while his truth fucking hurts, at least he isn’t blind by some fucked up delusion that everything is going to work out.” I step over the doctor and look over my shoulder. “I need a minute alone.” I head straight for my son’s door and open it to find him hooked up to fluids and laying in bed. I have to disinfect before I can enter the bubble surrounding the main part of his room. I wash my hands and put on a mask before entering the plastic barricading him from me.

So much for the beautiful child playing this morning. Now, he looks like he’s on the edge of fucking death.

“Hey, buddy,” I say, and he blinks his sleepy eyes at me.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“How are y

ou feeling?” I sit down and put my arm around him.

He wheezes. “I’m tired.”

I close my eyes and hold the tears back. I won’t cry in front of him, not when he’s feeling at his weakest. He’s tired.

Tired of living.

Tired of being sick.

“I know, buddy. Just a little bit longer. We are trying to find you a bone marrow donor.”

“I know. I know all about it.”

I hold him a bit tighter and fall into a comfortable quiet with him.

“I love you. Thank you for being here for me.”

“I’ll always be here for you. You hear me? Always. You aren’t going anywhere. I’m going to look under every rock for that donor. You’re going to be fine, okay? Just fine.”

“It’s okay, Daddy. You have to be okay. I got the one thing I wanted before.”

Before.