Bourbon Street Royalty: Jaded Series, Book Two (7 page)

Baby Jade braced herself against the counter as her knees went weak. She had no idea that her mother was having such a difficult time. How could she not know?

Ang must have noticed the vacant look on her face. She patted Baby’s hand. “Hon, she’ll be ok. You know she goes through these phases.”

“Yeah, but this one’s lasting longer than the others,” Baby stammered.

“This one will pass. It would help if we knew what got her so upset so we could be proactive, but it all came together. It always does. It’s getting a little more difficult to get her to calm down, but we eventually get there. You have to trust us.”

Baby twisted her lips into a side grin. “I don’t really have much of a choice. Can I see her?”

“Let me find out, hon.”

Baby’s stomach knotted. She didn’t know if it was due to the thought of seeing her mother, or the thought of being told that her mother didn’t want to see her again. She paced the front entrance, clicking her boots against the loud marble. She stopped and steadied herself when she saw Ang marching down the long hallway.

She knew the outcome by observing the look of pity on Ang’s face. Before the woman could even break the news, Baby went on the defense.

She waved and shook her head. “It’s ok. I just remembered that I have somewhere to be anyway. I’ll see you next time, Ang,” Baby said as she bolted out the front door. She jogged away from the building, surprised to feel the damp tears on her face.

She slowed her pace. With her heart racing and her insides quivering. She knew the feeling all too well. Cravings were creeping deep in her gut. Her mouth watered just thinking about getting her hands on a bump of coke. Hell, she’d settle for some pills, anything to take the edge off.

Baby Jade walked toward the hospital. It was getting late and she needed to check on Lolli before her shift at the club. Her body was hypersensitive, with her heart hammering against her chest. She was willing herself to fight the urge. She could have all the drugs she wanted simply by making one phone call.

As Baby rounded the corner to the hospital, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. All of the air left her lungs, leaving her breathless. She heard the familiar roar of the motorcycle before she saw it. She couldn’t make out the face of the driver, but she knew.

Her gut screamed at her. The legs. His posture. The way his inked up arms gripped the bike.

Lucky.

CHAPTER TEN

Lucky

Lucky pulled up to the Gauthier manor just in time to see Carrie’s Bentley driving away. Even the sight of her car made him cringe. Rage pulsed through his veins, and now it was deeper than ever. When he was younger, he stood by as that bitch decimated him by aborting his baby. Now he was older. Wiser. Harder. Lucky wouldn’t idly stand by while she tried to destroy him and everyone he cared about, not again.

He and his mother had butted heads too many times to count, but she didn’t deserve this. Hell, even if she did, he couldn’t step aside and let it happen.

Lucky knew there wasn’t a shot in hell of being in Baby Jade’s life again, but he still loved her just the same. He would do everything in his power to protect her. Everything.

He found Tilly Gauthier in her late husband’s office rummaging through drawers and files. She tossed papers on the floor as she appeared to be frantically searching for something.

“Mother, what’re you doing?”

The tall, frail woman jumped. Her hand flew to her chest. “Oh, James! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

He noticed the way her delicate chest heaved. “Mother, you don’t look good. Maybe you should sit down.”

She shook her head, wildly, muttering under her breath. “No, I have to find it. I know it’s here somewhere.”

Just as she bent down to grab another stack of files, Tilly clutched her hand to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and cried out.

“Mother!”

Lucky leaned over her crumpled body. He checked her wrist for a pulse. It was weak, but thumping. “Mother, hold on. I’m getting help.”

Lucky scrambled for the phone on his father’s desk. He called 911 and yelled for the house manager. “Joyce!” He bent over to feel for his mother’s breath. Nothing.

Dressed in a crisp, black pantsuit, Joyce ran through the house until she found Lucky on the floor beside his mother. He had started performing CPR and the fragile woman’s body snapped with every compression.

“Oh my God! I’ll call for an ambulance!” Joyce’s trembling hand reached for the phone.

“Already. Did.” Lucky huffed between breaths. “Should be here. Check.”

Joyce flew from the room.

“Mother, dammit! Fight!” The room was spinning. Lucky fought back tears as he continued trying to revive his lifeless mother’s body. His muscles clenched, causing his stomach to twist. His own chest ached.

The paramedics rushed into the house, and Joyce led them to the office. Lucky refused to move until one of the men made eye contact and took him by the shoulders.

“Step aside son. You did good, but we have to be able to get in there.”

Lucky’s body moved as if it were on automatic pilot. He fell backward and collapsed onto the floor. Joyce moved to his side and placed her arms around him. The elderly woman had been on staff since before he was born. She was the one who cared for him when he was sick and soothed him back to sleep when he had a nightmare. He knew her better than he knew his own parents and vice versa.

“We’ve got a pulse.” As the words left the man’s mouth, he started her on oxygen. They hoisted Tilly onto a stretcher. Lucky and Joyce followed them to the ambulance.

“Who’s coming?” The driver asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“You ride with Mother. I’m gonna take my bike. I’ll meet you up there.” Lucky had already hopped onto his motorcycle and had it in gear before the paramedic helped Joyce into the back of the ambulance.

As the doors closed, he could make out the old woman’s face. Distorted with fear. Tears spilled down her face as she spotted Lucky through the tiny back window.

He winked and nodded, trying to comfort her. He tried to put himself in her place. The Gauthiers were all she knew. She didn’t have a family of her own. She devoted all of her time to running Gauthier manor. Having just lost Colby, the thought of losing Tilly was probably unbearable.

He couldn’t handle the thought of losing his mother either, but he couldn’t think of himself. It was the same way with his father. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on forced grief or self-pity.

He followed the ambulance, gliding through traffic with cars parting like the red sea.

As they wheeled his mother down the hall, the paramedic spouted off words and phrases to the nurses and doctors who were all rushing to her side. He tasted the vomit in his throat but swallowed back the rising bile.

“This is as far as you can go.” A nurse planted herself in his path just outside a heavy set of metal doors. “There’s a waiting room just around the corner, and someone will update you as soon as possible.”

Before he had a chance to respond, the nurse was gone.

Lucky swallowed again, his insides trembling. He looked around and spotted Joyce standing in the middle of the hallway, ashen and swaying back and forth.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her to a chair.

“It’s gonna be ok, Joyce. I promise.”

Staring ahead, she nodded.

He didn’t believe the words any more than she did.

Lucky hadn’t been in this hospital since he stood at Baby Jade’s side. He watched her drift in and out of consciousness, weeping. Begging to hold her baby. Even after she had been told the baby was gone, she had pleaded with the nurse.

He couldn’t handle seeing her in pain, sobbing and screaming until she collapsed in Ma’Linn’s arms. It felt as if someone had slashed open his gut and was ripping out his insides. He thought it couldn’t get any worse, but he was wrong. Baby’s words, blaming him for the loss of their child was too much. He couldn’t stay around one second longer.

Now, standing in the same hospital where everything he had ever loved was destroyed, the pain welled up inside of him, leaving Lucky queasy. He ran his hand over his beard, smoothing it down on the sides. A mindless action that had turned into a habit.

He glanced at Joyce, who was flipping through a car magazine. The wait was agonizing.

“I’m gonna get some coffee. Want some?” He asked.

She shook her head, but never looked up.

He walked down the narrow, white hallway, wishing he could be somewhere else, anywhere else. Spotting a small coffee machine in the corner of the cafeteria, Lucky weaved in and out of the bright orange tables. Thinking about Baby and his mother had his head beyond fucked up. That’s why he didn’t notice her right away.

He poured himself a large cup of steaming coffee and snapped the lid in place. When he turned to leave, Lucky recognized a mass of black curls. He halted, frozen in place, observing Baby Jade. She sat at one of the square tables, deep in conversation with the same man he saw outside of her apartment.

He watched the way the man hung on her every word. Baby appeared tired, yet beautiful. Everything about her made his body spring to life. Even as she talked to the man, Lucky couldn’t help but think about his body wrapped around hers. He studied her expressions, searching to make sense of her relationship with the stranger, but all he could make out was concern.

There was something wrong.

As Lucky tried to decide whether he should say something or sneak out undetected, Baby stood. She grabbed a coffee cup from the table and turned towards the coffee machine. She must have spotted him, because the cup fell to the floor, spilling the liquid contents across the tile.

Before either of them had a chance to speak, the man barreled around the side of the table and snaked an arm around her waist. He said something to Baby, but Lucky couldn’t make out the words. He watched her nod but never broke the stare.

She threw her hand up to signal to the man that she was ok, and then she moved in Lucky’s direction.

He surveyed her body and the way it glided towards him. His mouth went dry, and he tried to swallow as his heart pounded in his chest.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” She planted both hands on her slim hips.

His mouth was like a fucking desert. Lucky took a small sip of his coffee, scorching the roof of his mouth. “Yeah, I’m a little surprised myself.” His eyes scanned her body. “You look good.”

Baby folded her arms across her chest and looked down, shuffling her feet. “Hmm, thanks. I didn’t know you were back.”

“Well, it’s a big city.” He didn’t know why he was being so defensive, but he didn’t like the idea of not knowing what he was walking into as he watched her friend slowly approaching behind Baby Jade.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Her face warped.

The pain in her eyes was like a knife right in the fucking chest. The man stopped just inches away from Baby, twisting the knife deeper. Lucky didn’t like the look on his face, clearly trying to size him up and mark his territory at the same time. He wasn’t in the mood for a pissing contest.

She peered up at him through her long, thick lashes. Her eyes were hard and distant. In only a matter of months, it felt as if he didn’t know her at all.

“What are you doing at the hospital? Everything ok?” She asked. The man shoved his hands into his pockets and widened his stance.

Lucky fought the urge to punch him in his smug face. “Yeah, my mom’s here. Speaking of which, I’d better go check on her.”

“Oh, ok. Hope everything works out.” She backed up, right into the man’s chest. He placed his hands on her shoulders, making Lucky ball his fists.

“Yeah, me too.” He ground his teeth. “Looks like everything’s working out for you. That was quick.”

He took a step, but Baby swiftly planted herself in his path. “Are you fucking kidding me? You take off in the middle of the night, show up out of nowhere, and then decide to act like a Neanderthal pounding on his chest?”

The man moved to Baby’s side.

“What the fuck? Since when do you need a damn bodyguard?” Lucky’s muscles flexed as he pumped his fists open and closed.

The man took another step, his nostrils flaring, but Baby placed her palm on his chest.

He looked down at Baby Jade and yielded. “I’m not gonna do this, not here, for her,” the man said.

“Let’s go.” She looped her arm through his and looked back at Lucky. “Hope your mother is ok.”

Like a crippling punch to the gut, he expelled a large breath as he watched her walk away.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Baby Jade

Baby rushed out of the hospital with Drew closely behind, attempting to keep up. Her head was spinning, and she thought her wobbly legs would give out before she made it out of the front entrance. Grasping the large concrete column, Baby pressed her eyes closed. The stench of cigarettes and fast food from the street made her stomach pitch.

Drew’s hand on her shoulder, made her jump as she tried to steady her breathing.