The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

Lark was waiting with her parents and Fallon as the hospital legal team reviewed the documents they managed to secure from the local courts.

It had been fifteen hours since Gracie was shot. Her condition remained critical, but she was stable. She wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse. The issue remained there was a bullet lodged in her chest, pressed against her heart and if they removed it, she could bleed out in seconds. They all spent time at her bedside but about fifteen minutes ago, the nurses came in and asked them to go back to the waiting room.

Grady now held power of attorney over her and was fighting to save her life. One of the topics of conversation was if there was damage to Gracie's heart which was irreparable, was there another heart they could transplant?

Lark was certain she heard Santiago and Heriberto talking to Riggs about the illegal market and she was valiantly trying to ignore the conversation. She knew even after only a few days of knowing her sister, if Gracie was given a heart someone waited years for, the woman would be quite upset. Lark didn't want to consider any other version of the illegal market, such as taking the heart from someone who didn't die in normal circumstances.

However, she also knew her father wasn't above trying anything and everything and with Olivier bankrolling the entire operation she was certain there wasn't a thing money couldn't buy, including a potential new heart for Gracie.

She was hoping it wouldn't come to this. The darkness of Ollie's boyfriend and new family was worrying but the fact they would do anything for the people Ollie loved was weighing heavy in their favor with her parents.

"Mr. Hoffman," a man in scrubs came into the room excitedly. "One of the surgeons we consulted reached out to a friend of his in the field. We consulted the best and they found someone who is willing to attempt the surgery. We didn't have any way to reach him but one of our contacts, knew a guy who knew a guy who knew this doctor. Stop reading the wrong and incomplete storyline, jo b ni b.com has the correct and complete book. Seriously, if I was going through a rolodex of the best surgeons in the world who I would dream of contacting, it would be this guy. He specializes in high-risk surgeries and the like. We didn't have access to him, but this other surgeon's friend did. Anyway, he was, if you can believe it, attending a rodeo here in Houston."

Grady stumbled as he leaned against the back of a chair. "What?"

"Yeah. He's from Europe and I swear to god it's kismet. He looked at the notes and the CT Scans and the x-rays and everything and he's on his way here. He's agreed to operate on your daughter. By the time we get through your paperwork, he'll be scrubbing in." The doctor was almost bouncing in his shoes. "Gracie will be in the operating room in minutes."

"I don't think so," a woman's hoarse voice broke into the conversation.

Lark turned to look at the woman coming in and immediately knew this was Charlotte, but she was struggling to understand how it was this woman was related to Gracie and more importantly what her father ever saw in her. Her hair was blonde and stringy, greasy even. Her skin appeared as if she'd spent way too much time in the sunshine but not in a healthy glow kind of way. It was leathery, wrinkled and the deep lines around her mouth made Lark immediately think of someone who chained smoked. Her eyes were also the most vacant, emotionless Lark ever encountered. It was like the woman was a shell. Charlotte opened her mouth to reveal rotting front teeth, "nobody is operating on Gracie unless I know who they are, what their credentials are and most importantly, who is paying for it. Why does she even need surgery anyway?"

Out of nowhere, Everly reached out and smacked the woman hard on the face causing the frail woman to hit the floor with a thud.

"Your daughter is hanging by a thread, and you didn't even ask how she was. You barged in here and began demanding s**t like you're important. You can f**k off. Gracie is a Hoffman. She is one of ours. You don't get a say."

"A Hoffman?" the woman in shock, holding her cheek and was on the floor staring up at Everly. "Who the hell are you?" "I'm the woman who is going to make sure your daughter knows what a real mother does for her daughter." She looked over her shoulder, "Grady, love, go with the doctors and get the paperwork done. Lark and I can ensure this nutjob is brought up to date and aware she has no say. We have copies of the power of attorney documents for Gracie as well as the DNA evidence."

The woman looked at Grady and then her eyes widened, "Grady? Holy s**t you went bald."

Lark would have laughed if she wasn't seething with rage. "Dad, go. We got this."

The woman looked at Lark and shook her head as if confused, "Gracie?"

"No. Lark. My name is Lark. Gracie is my sister you hid from us for nearly thirty years and who is on life support down the hall waiting life saving surgery. Dad found her now and he's not giving up without a fight. None of us are."

"How did you find out? Grady, wait!" Charlotte called after him as he quickly followed the doctors. "I don't give permission for you to operate!"

"We don't need it from you," Lark cut her off and stood over her. She noted Ollie coming back into the room and caught her eye. She remembered the way her friends were teasing her about how cold she could be, and she knew in this moment she wouldn't be making an exception. She squatted down and looked the woman in the eye. "You screwed over so many people with your lies. Sawyer let us know how you lied. He might have been a shitty friend, but he was an incredible father to Gracie. She had someone in her corner who loved her more than anything in the world and when he found out she wasn't biologically his, he did what was right and he got her biological family involved. We are her family. You are nothing. You are less than nothing. Women like you make me sick. The only time you think of Gracie is when you need cash." "Sawyer reached out to Grady and Grady answered?"

Charlotte appeared incapable of hearing the insults and was focused only on the idea of Grady and Sawyer. She still wasn't asking about Gracie, and it was pissing Lark off.

"Yeah," Lark lied. "They reconnected and got close again. They laughed a lot about your pathetic ass over drinks." Charlotte gasped and Lark was glad to see the comment struck a nerve. She sneered bitterly at the woman.

"Lark." Everly tried to hide a laugh behind a cough. "Take a breath sweetie."

"She hasn't even asked about her," Lark twisted on her heel to look away.

"Who? Gracie?" Charlotte asked, "what are those doctors going to do to her. I want to talk to them." "Charlotte. Grady has power of attorney over all medical conditions for Gracie. You don't get a say in her surgery." "Where is Sawyer? Why isn't he making decisions? I tried calling his cell but there was no answer."

They all exchanged a look and realized nobody informed her yet. "Sawyer has passed away," Everly softened her tone. "What? How?" Charlotte was on her knees in front of Everly now. "No. When?" "Late last night. They did all they could, but he didn't make it." Lark waited for emotions to finally hit the woman in front of her but there were none other than, if she were honest, perhaps a flicker of anger which quickly passed. How could this woman be angry Sawyer was dead?

"What happened?" She bit her bottom lip contemplatively.

"A psychopath shot him and Gracie."

"Why? Did he piss off one of his clients? He crossed too many people, didn't he?"

"Does it matter?" Ollie questioned quickly. "The why of it doesn't matter. What matters is Sawyer died and Gracie is on life support."

"Life support? They said she was in critical condition. I thought maybe she was in a car accident and bumped her head or something but life support?" Charlotte pursed her lips. "Huh."

"I f*****g can't with her," Fallon threw her hands up in the air and walked away flinging herself into a chair. "She needs surgery." Everly tried again to make Charlotte understand.

"If they can even do it," Ollie butted in.

"They found a surgeon," Lark caught Ollie up to speed. "It's like in a movie, Ollie. This world-renowned surgeon is in Houston on vacation and one of his friends reached out to him to discuss Gracie's circumstances and he said he would do the surgery. Apparently, this is his thing. High-risk surgeries." "Who is going to pay for it?" Charlotte asked boldly interrupting. "Sawyer's deposit for my alimony hasn't come in yet. I mean, I don't even know who paid for my plane ticket, but I can't afford to pay the bill for some fancy surgeon."

"We paid for your flight in case you needed to say goodbye, but we will cover all of her medical bills," Everly shook her head. "We notified the police in Orlando your daughter was in critical condition and asked you to be sent here. They told you she was not in a good way. We paid for your flight here in case you needed to say goodbye."

"You haven't even asked to see her yet." Lark growled. "We've told you she's on life support and you didn't even ask to see her."

Charlotte made wide eyes, "you're a bitchy one aren't you."

"You have no idea,” Lark held her gaze. "My Daddy taught me everything I know about being a lawyer and more importantly what it means to be family."

Charlotte gave a bitter laugh, "wow, now I see the Hoffman resemblance."

Lark walked right up to her, "yeah, you do."

"Lark, back it up," Grady's voice came into the room again. "Gracie is on her way to surgery. I've signed everything off. All we can do is pray and hope." He shot Charlotte a side eye and then looked at Everly, "the surgeon is giving her chances at twenty percent but he's willing to try."

Everly sat down on the chair in disbelief, "only twenty?"

"It's better than the zero the other surgeon said," Grady hugged her and kissed her forehead. "All we can do is pray." "Grady?" Charlotte reached out and touched his arm tentatively, "can we talk? All of these women are being mean to me, and I only want to know how my baby girl is. They won't tell me anything." As all the women in the room exchanged stunned expressions of disbelief, Charlotte allowed a tear to roll down her cheek.