Risqué Business (Club Risqué #8)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

D esi was silent throughout the drive to the small private clinic where her gynaecologist was waiting for them since Joel had at least had the presence of mind to call ahead. She sat and stared at the landscape rushing past the window, her eyes dry and her expression stark.

He had no idea what to say to her.

Everything was a whirlwind when they arrived. A porter met them with a gurney, and his wife was hurriedly wheeled away. Joel stayed with her, gripping his hand, desperate to maintain a connection with her, even though he knew she’d withdrawn into herself.

God, he wished he could do more. What was the point of having money if he couldn’t protect her from things like this?

The best healthcare money can buy. You can give her that.

He knew it was true, but right now, in this harrowing moment, it did little to reassure him.

“I’m sorry sir. You can’t come any further.” A no-nonsense nurse stopped him in his tracks as they came to a set of double doors.

And that was it. The porter pushed her through, and Joel didn’t even get the chance to kiss his wife goodbye before they whisked Desi away. “I’ll be right here,” he called after her, hoping she would at least hear him. “I love you. Stay strong, baby.”

The words were met by still more silence.

Joel didn’t know how long he stood on the other side of those doors. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. Time lost all meaning as the chasm between him and the other half of himself grew wider.

His whole life, he’d had a go-get ‘em, take no prisoners, dominant personality, but right now, all of it failed him, and he felt like a lost little boy who had lost his family.

Maybe he had.

No! He refused to think that way. Fuck! He needed to be strong. Desi needed him to be strong. Now was not the time to fall apart.

“Sir… sir?” Joel wasn’t sure how long the receptionist had been calling his name. He looked down to her small hand, where it rested on the sleeve of his jacket, and imagined it had been a while, though.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, not even knowing what he was apologising for.

“There’s a private waiting room through here, Mr Blackwood.” She gestured down another corridor, and as much as he wanted to stay right where he was, on the other side of those doors where they’d taken his wife, until she came back through them, Joel followed the woman.

He took a seat on one of the plush seats, then rose and fetched himself a coffee from the top of the range pod machine. Then he paced across the floor and back, checking his watch every so often.

The time seemed to crawl by, but even when the minutes finally stretched to an hour nobody came.

Walking to the window, Joel stared out over the pretty, manicured gardens, but they did nothing to calm him. He caught his reflection in the windowpane and dragged his fingers through his messy hair to try and tame it.

There was nothing to do but wait… and he had never felt so useless in his entire life.

There was no way to fix anything. No one to call and demand they sort everything out.

Joel was used to wielding power. In business. At the club. In various social settings.

It occurred to him that none of that was relevant in this scenario. He was merely an unimportant peripheral being buffeted by the whims of fate.

Nature was a great leveller.

Finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he pulled out his phone and stared at it for a while. He and Desi may not have announced her pregnancy yet, but he really needed his friends right now.