After we polished off our dinner, we moved to the living room, where I flipped the channels until we found an old classic on TV—Singin’ in the Rain. It was just at the beginning, and since Cooper hadn’t seen it before, I explained to him what he’d missed before grabbing a blanket and snuggling in for the rest. He stayed on his side of the couch and I stayed on mine, but it felt good. Easy.
I smiled to myself, making a mental note to tell Gavin this when he got home, and then glanced at Cooper again.
Maybe this brotherly thing could actually work after all. In spite of all our history, it could be something good for both of us.
The music over the ending credits drifted into the background as the movie segued into another, and my eyes grew heavy.
“Come on, princess. Slumber party’s over. Time for bed.”
I jolted upright. Bed. God, why hadn’t I thought this through? Where was Cooper going to sleep? My guest room held a treadmill instead of a spare bed. And his six-foot-four-inch frame was way too much for my dainty couch.
I stood, turning to face him. “I’m sorry. I can grab you some pillows and blankets, but I—”
He shook his head. “I’ll figure it out.”
As I readied myself for bed, I tried not to worry. Cooper took one last look around my home, making sure everything was secure before coming to stand in the hallway outside my bedroom.
This was more than a favor. Him sleeping on the floor was the antithesis to the way he should have been treated. But Cooper, being Cooper, wouldn’t hear any of it. He tucked me into bed, sitting on the edge of it and patting my back dutifully.
“Good night, princess. Sleep well.”
“Night, Coop,” I murmured, my eyes already falling closed.
• • •
The next thing I knew, sunlight was shining brightly in my eyes. I stretched, yawning long and deep. Cracking my eyelids open, I spotted Cooper sitting in the armchair in the corner of my room, his large bare feet resting on my floral-pattered ottoman.
His lips curled into a lazy smile as he woke, and he ran a hand through his tousled hair. “Morning,” he croaked.
“Good morning,” I replied, stunned that he’d slept in the chair all night.
I glanced around, looking for my phone and finding it on my nightstand. “Shit,” I murmured. “I’m so late. My driver is going to be here any minute.”
“I’ll drive you this morning,” he said, rising to his feet and stretching.
I shook my head. “You’re already late for work as it is. I don’t want to get you into any trouble with your brothers.”
Cooper nodded appreciatively. “You’re catching on to us.”
“Already caught on,” I shot back with a wink.
I hurried to the bathroom and took the world’s fastest shower, then brushed my teeth before slipping into a pair of black pants and a red cable-knit sweater. Quickly, I shoved my hair into a bun on top of my head and jogged down the steps to find Cooper waiting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea for me.
I snagged the cup and thanked him, taking a long sip and closing my eyes while the warmth poured through my body. “Thank heaven for a good cup of tea.”
He nodded.
“Want coffee?” I offered.
He shook his head. “I’ll get some at the office. Ready to go?”
I nodded, and together we made our way out the door and down the steps to the street.
“Thanks for, you know, looking after me,” I said before Cooper reached his car.
He offered me a warm smile. “Anytime, princess.”
I grinned, breathing a sigh of relief as I made my way around his car and slid into backseat of the sleek sedan. My driver mumbled a brief “good morning” before pulling away.
A short time later, we arrived at the library and the car rolled to a stop. I stepped out into the brisk morning air, realizing that I’d forgotten my jacket in my haste to get out the door this morning. I looked both ways, and when I was sure everything was clear, I closed the door behind me and began to cross the street to the library.
Bethany stood waiting for me just outside the entrance, and I waved to get her attention. She waved back and opened her mouth to speak, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying over the sudden roar of an engine revving.
Time seemed to slow as I watched Bethany turn from her spot on the curb, her eyes growing wide and frantic. She turned back to me in slow motion, pointing at something behind me.
“Emma!”
But her cry was too late. I turned just in time to see a red vehicle barreling at me, just yards away.
Air whooshed past me as I spun around and bent slightly to launch myself out of the way. Just as my foot left the ground, the metal frame of the car plowed into me, and my body rolled onto the hood of the car like a rag doll.
Tires squealed as the breath left my body, a white-hot pain shooting through my sides. I fell to the asphalt in a heap, the dim sounds of Bethany’s screams ringing in my ears. Footfalls rushed toward me, but I didn’t move to see where they were coming from. I couldn’t.
Because everything went dark.
Chapter Thirteen
Gavin
No matter how many times I went over it in my head, I couldn’t say what happened. In my mind, the events of that day were like fragments of broken glass on the floor. I could only see them in a certain light, and when the light was gone? All I could see was darkness and pain.
The fragments I remembered, though, were the ones that still cut deepest.
One moment I was in a meeting with a team of overpriced publicists, who were readying us for yet another press junket, and then the next, my cell phone was ringing in my pocket. On any other day, I might have ignored it, turned off the ringer and gotten back to work.
Not that day. Something in me knew that this was no ordinary call.
What exactly Cooper said when we spoke was beyond me. I couldn’t tell you what I said in return, either. All I remembered was my vision blurring and my heart pounding in my throat, and the next thing I knew, I was stepping onto the plane with Quinn while he said words I couldn’t comprehend. Not really.
I only knew one thing for certain.
Emma had been hurt.
And I wasn’t there to save her, wasn’t even there to sit by her hospital bed and ask the nurses about her condition. Wasn’t there to make sure she got the best care money could buy.
Damn it all.
Over the course of the flight, Quinn had tried over and over to engage me, but I was too far gone to listen. Instead, my mind was funneling down the old spiral of memories I’d tried for so long to keep at bay. Ashley, too, had gone to the hospital on more than one occasion. First, for surgeries on her feet, and then for stranger maladies that always ended in her taking home a fresh prescription for her beloved pain pills.
Emma wouldn’t be like that, I knew, but it didn’t change the way my stomach roiled at the thought of stepping inside a hospital again. Or the way I could already smell the antiseptic sterility of the halls clinging to my nose and throat, suffocating me.
Over and over, I relived every visit I’d made with Ashley until the very last one. The one just before the coroners took her away.
“Gavin?” Quinn said, interrupting my morbid thoughts.
We were in the car now, and I looked around to find that we were in front of the emergency entrance to the hospital.
Meeting his gaze at last, I asked, “Did someone send me the room number?”
He nodded. “Yes. And remember, everything is fine. She’s in stable condition. Doesn’t look like she broke anything. She’s bruised and in some pain, that’s all. I’m sure the doctors will tell you more, but she should be out of here tonight.”
“Good,” I said, finally in a place to really let the words seep in. She could have been killed, but the fact that she was in pain and afraid devastated me.
As the sun began to dip low behind the skyscrapers, I breathed out a sigh. From now on, I would be with Emma—she would never be hurt ever again. I just had to get her better and stick by her side until whatever this was ended.
“I’m going back to the office, but Cooper is there with her now.”
A flare of white-hot rage shot through me at the mention of his name, but somehow, I managed to nod. “Right, thanks.”