The Langfield Brothers: Box Set

56. Gavin

FIFTY-SIX

GAVIN

Heart galloping at a million miles a minute, I race through the glass doors of the hospital with Ford on my heels. I spot Daniel first. He’s huddled with Paul and their mother, Kyla.

“Where is she?” My desperation leaves no room for pleasantries.

When Kyla looks up, her face streaked with black tears, my stomach bottoms out.

Daniel points to the double doors behind him. “They took her through there. I got here right as the ambulance did.”

“How?” I grit out, my mind still spinning out.

“I’m her emergency contact,” he explains.

Chest tight, I force myself to breathe in deep. “Have they said anything? Who can we talk to?”

Kyla puts herself between Daniel and me and glares. “Why the hell are you so interested? Feeling a little guilty for letting her drive that fucking toy car of yours? The kid hasn’t driven in years, and you send her on her way in a death trap?”

My heart cracks in two. Dammit. I should have hired a driver for her. Hell, I should have driven her myself.

“What did they say when you spoke to them?” Ford interjects, stepping closer, though he still keeps his distance from me.

I don’t even care at this point. Nothing matters but her. I just need to know how she is. What we’re dealing with here.

Paul is the one to speak up this time. “She was unconscious. They’re running tests to see if there’s brain damage.”

A stab of pain sends me doubling over, making it impossible to breathe.

“Breathe.” Suddenly, Lake is at my side, rubbing circles against my back as she talks me through the panic.

“Why is he freaking out?” Kyla asks, though her voice sounds distant.

I pull myself upright even as the world around me fades in and out.

“Now’s not the time, Mom.” I think it’s Daniel who says that, though the voice is distorted, like it’s being piped through a tube.

My vision blurs. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sick.

A bottle of water appears in front of me, and Ford, I think, says, “Drink this.”

My hands shake so badly I can’t unscrew the cap. He yanks it back, opens it, and hands it to me again. As I take it, water sloshes over my hand and onto the floor.

Lake’s hand settles over mine, and her blue eyes bore into me from under the ball cap she has pulled low. “She’s going to be okay,” she says, her tone soft, soothing. “You need to breathe and take a sip of water. She’s going to need you when she wakes up. She’s going to want you beside her, holding her hand. Okay?”

I suck in another unsteady breath and nod.

Ford hisses in a breath. “You knew?”

Lake gives her head a slight shake. “Not now.”

Ford rests a hand on her shoulder and steps up beside her.

She turns, her mouth turned down and her eyes swimming with sadness. “She loves him. She needs him.”

“Knew what?” Kyla hisses. She steps out of Daniel’s embrace and pushes toward me. “What is she talking about?” She throws a thumb in Lake’s direction, refusing to look at her.

“Now’s not the time, Mom,” Daniel says, grasping her arm gently.

Ford eyes him, his chest heaving. “You knew too?”

Red-faced, Kyla squeezes her fists at her sides and shouts, “Knew what?”

The group goes silent. Daniel and Lake blink at me. Ford is still glaring.

Eyes closed, I take in one breath, then another, and when I open them again, the world comes mostly into focus. “That I’m dating your daughter,” I croak out. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Like hell she is,” Kyla screeches. “You’re old enough to be her father.”

I straighten and look at Millie’s mother, then her father. “I love your daughter. She’s the love of my life. So please, I can’t do this right now. I need to know that she’s okay. Then you can tell me what an awful choice I am for her. I’ll never be good enough for her, but I love her anyway. And—” The words catch in my throat, and tears spring to my eyes. “And I can’t lose her.” When the weight of those words hit me, I double over again, hands on my knees, and give into the sobs that rack my body.

I can’t fucking lose her. I just got her back.

“Of course,” Ford mutters. “We’ll talk about this later. We need to focus on Millie right now.”

“Let me see if I can get an update,” Lake offers. She squeezes my shoulder and heads for the front desk, tugging on her ball cap, probably hoping to stay incognito.

“I’m not surprised the two of you don’t have a problem with this,” Kyla scoffs.

“Enough, Mom,” Paul grits out. His tone is serious enough to have me straightening again. “Enough. Millie is lying somewhere in this hospital, fucking broken, and according to Lake, she loves him. She’d want him here.”

“Since when do we care what Lake says?” Kyla shrieks.

Paul groans and hangs his head. “Enough of that too.”

Ford, Daniel, and I all stare at Paul in shock.

“Seriously. Lay off Lake. I was the asshole,” he says, hitching a thumb at his chest. “Not her. She fell in love. I’m happy.” He flings his hand toward his dad. “They’re happy. The only unhappy one is you, and quite frankly, none of these relationships involve you.”

“You’re my son, and she’s my daughter. Of course they involve me.”

Daniel steps in front of his mother and faces her full-on. “Then be her mother and let the one person she’ll want holding her hand into the room so when she wakes up, she’s comforted.”

I close my eyes and focus on my heartbeat. I’m so fucking scared, and I’m not above dropping to my knees and begging Kyla to let me in to see Millie. I need to know she’s okay.

Please let her be okay.

“You should go home and shower. Don’t you have a game to get to?” Ford’s voice is scratchy, muffled too. Could be that I’m so delirious. Twenty-four hours ago, I got the call from Daniel, and Millie is still unconscious.

I scoot closer to the edge of my chair and silently will my girl to open her fucking eyes.

Beckett’s in the corner, talking quietly to Lake. The coffees he brought are on the table next to Millie’s bed, getting cold. I can’t let go of her hand long enough to pick one up. I haven’t left this seat since I was finally allowed in the room. The others have taken turns sitting where Ford is now. Daniel is currently pacing the hall while Kyla and Paul grab food from the café downstairs.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Ford clears his throat. “I can call you when she wakes?—”

My spine snaps straight, and I shoot figurative daggers over the top of Millie’s bed and straight at her father. “When she wakes up, I’ll be sitting here, whether you fucking like it or not.”

“I wasn’t—” Ford hangs his head.

Standing, I sweep Millie’s curls away from her face and press my lips to hers. “You’re gonna wake up, right, Peaches? Vivi and I need you.” My voice cracks, right along with my heart. It’s already been pulverized. I didn’t think it could break more, but every hour she doesn’t wake up sends another fissure through it. “I need you, Millie. Please.” I bury my face in the pillow beside her head and let another round of tears fall.

My world stops again when there’s a brush against my cheek, and then a muffled voice more beautiful than anything I’ve ever heard says, “Vivi. Where’s Vivi?”

“Doc!” Ford leaps to his feet. “We need a doctor!”

Lake hustles from the room, and Beckett puts his phone to his ear. I ignore it all, too lost in golden eyes zeroed in on me. The most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Peaches,” I whisper.

She licks her lips and winces, a flash of pain crossing her face. “Vivi,” she croaks.

I press my finger to her lips. “Save your words, baby. Vivi is fine. She’s at home with Brooks and Sara.”

“I hear our patient is awake.” The doctor strides into the room, pulling her stethoscope from around her neck. “Can I have a listen?”

A hand squeezes my shoulder. “You gotta let her go. Give the doctor some room,” Beckett says.

I blink a few times, kiss Millie one more time, and then let go of her hand, allowing the doctor to check her. My hand tingles, and the cool air against my palm feels foreign as I flex it.

“You gave your family quite the scare. Fortunately, nothing is broken. You just hit your head on the window pretty hard. Can you tell me your name?”

Even with the blue-black bruise and the knot on her head, Millie, awake and somewhat alert, is the most beautiful sight. Her voice is husky and weak, but she has no trouble answering each question the doctor asks.

“Do you remember what happened?” Ford asks, settling back in his spot next to her.

Millie scans the room slowly before focusing on me again. “No. How’s your car?”

“Who the fuck cares?” I grit out.

Millie clasps her hands over the blanket pulled up to her chest. “Did I total it? Oh shit. I’m sorry, Gav.”

I push past the doctor and take her hand again. “I couldn’t care less about the car. I just need you and Vivi.”

Millie blinks, and her bottom lip quivers. “What about her mother?”

I can’t help the scowl. “What about her?”

“Beckett said?—”

My gaze swings to my brother. “Beckett said what?” My voice is deadly.

Millie squeezes my hand, drawing my attention back to her. “He said he found her mother.”

My stomach lurches, and I claw at my chest, though it doesn’t ease the piercing pain. I turn to Beckett, my gaze lethal. “You did what?”

My brother sighs, his shoulders sagging. “I didn’t want to do this here. Maybe we should let the doctor finish her exam.”

“I need to know,” Millie rasps, her eyes welling as she sets them on Beckett. “I know I’m not who you would want in Vivi’s life, but I love her. If her mother is going to have a relationship with her, then I need to know that she loves her too.”

Jaw clenched so hard my teeth ache, I hover over Millie so I’m all she can see. “You are her mother. No one else.” Angry, I straighten and turn, but I don’t let her go. “Beckett, you had no fucking right.”

“If you’d give me a second to explain?—”

“I don’t care what you have to say.” Chest heaving, I fight the urge to stalk across the room and knock him the fuck out. “Get out. I’m done.”

“She’s not your daughter either.” Beckett’s words are a physical blow that almost takes me down.

“The fuck she’s not.”

My brother must have a death wish, because he steps closer, but he holds up his hands, placating. “She’s Sebastian’s. He’s the coach the woman left the note for. She assumed he still lived there.”

I shake my head as the room closes in on me. This can’t be happening. Not like this. Not now. Vivi needs me. And I need her.

Fuck, I figured she was Seb’s, but that scum doesn’t deserve her. I can’t lose her. She’s my daughter. My baby. And I’m the only father she knows.

“You said it yourself,” Beckett says, his voice eerily calm. “You had no memory of sleeping with anyone after meeting Millie. You’ve been infatuated with her since the first night. You gave up the drunken hookups. The playboy ways. It didn’t make sense. We were together constantly that entire year after Ford’s wedding.”

Ford lets out a heavy sigh.

Beckett winces. “I’m sorry. But it’s true. He was in love with Millie. From the beginning, this didn’t feel right. So I did some digging.”

“You had no right,” I grit out, hands trembling and knees threatening to give out. “You think I didn’t know we don’t share DNA? You think I can’t do simple math? Of course I fucking knew.” I suck in one breath, then another. “But Vivi,” I say, slamming my fist against my chest, “is mine.” I pound on my chest again for emphasis. “ My daughter. ” Then I look toward the woman I love with all my heart, hoping like hell she’ll forgive me for hiding this from her. “And Millie is going to be my wife.”

Across from me, Ford’s mouth pops open, but I ignore him. I cup Millie’s tearstained cheeks. “I know this isn’t ideal, and I know it’s not what you signed up for, Peaches.” With my thumbs, I wipe the tears as they fall down her face. “And, fuck , this is not how I planned to ask, but you and Vivi, you both stole my heart. I know it hurt to think I’d had a child with someone else. I’m sorry I let you believe that.” I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss to her knuckles. “I’ve known since day one that another man fathered her, but that’s just science. What’s real—what’s true—is this. Us. You, me, and Vivi were always meant to be a family,” I choke out. “Please be my wife and help me fight to keep our daughter.”