Love in Country (De La Fuente Family #4)(33)

“Not anymore,” I whisper, and walk away at Mateo’s confusion.

I lean into Greg and ask Matthew, “Can I come and stay at your place for the rest of the night?”

“I’ve already told you, Sarah. You’re always welcome.” He smiles. “You don’t need to ask.”

I’m not sure what’s going on inside me at the moment. I just feel numb and know that I need to be away from all that is familiar.

AIDEN

Having Rae crying in my arms only makes me feel worse than I did when I arrived. But for wanting to get to my brother, I would have turned around and gone back for Sarah.

The image of her pale and in pain as I left without a word is ingrained on my brain, and probably will be for a long time to come.

She was already upset with me because of what Rae had given away over the engagement ring that I’d bought…I’ve probably made things ten times worse after tonight.

I can hope that she’ll understand when I explain about Diego getting a knife wound to his shoulder while defending Rae’s honor against a roughneck at the bar. Some * had decided he wasn’t going to take no for an answer from Rae, and Diego had seen and gotten involved.

My brain worked overtime though and after what I’d seen a few times when Rae and Diego were in the same room, I’m guessing that there was some jealousy involved. I could be completely off base, but I don’t think so.

I glance above Rae’s head and smile when I see Mateo and Erin moving toward us.

Kasey apparently called everyone, even though Diego himself is saying it’s only a scratch. The doc was more forthcoming and told us that although there isn’t a need for surgery that he would be out of action for a few weeks.

“Is he okay?” Erin asks while Mateo looks at Rae and glares at me for some reason.

“He’s fine and being a pain in the ass as usual…Lucia is in with him.”

“No she isn’t.” Mateo nods behind me.

Lucia hurries over when she sees the new arrivals and hugs Mateo and Erin before she turns to Rae. “Diego wants to see you.” Lucia frowns, probably wondering what’s going on between her son and my best friend. “He says he has to see you before anyone else.”

Oh boy, Lucia isn’t happy with that demand from Diego.

Rae pulls herself together and without a word, walks down the hallway to Diego’s room. I turn back to Mateo who is still glaring at me.

“What?”

Mateo looks at Erin and then his eyes find mine again. “Why are you here with Rae wrapped around you, instead of Sarah, who I thought you had gotten engaged to?”

“It’s a long story and I did get engaged to Sarah.” I’m so tired now that I’m debating heading back to find Sarah and just wrapping myself around her to sleep before we talk in the morning.

“According to Sarah there’s nothing for me to congratulate her about.”

My head snaps up, and I’m more awake than I was. “What the hell does that mean? When did you talk to Sarah?”

“I thought you had more sense, but I was obviously wrong.”

“Mateo,” I grind my teeth in anger, “answer the question.”

“Aiden,” Erin wraps her arm around Mateo’s waist as he tugs her in closer, “Sarah was here. We bumped into her on our way in. She was with Greg and Matthew and she looked really upset. I think that maybe she saw you with Rae.”

My heart sinks and I close my eyes to control my emotions. “I’ve screwed up big time…”

“You’re not going to get any argument from me, bro,” Mateo drawls.

“Mateo, really.” Erin shoves my brother, but he’s having none of it and kisses her.

“I need to go and find her. Make this right.” I have no idea how because I know she was insecure about Rae to begin with, but then she seemed to accept her as my friend. The whole thing with the ring and now tonight won’t help me in any way.





17


SARAH


When the mattress dips, I gasp, and my eyes snap open while I try to adjust to the darkness of the room. My heart pounds, and then I hear, “Sarah, don’t be afraid.”

Aiden.

“What are you doing here? Who let you in?” I struggle to sit up, wrenching my arm in the process. “Ouch!”

“I’m sorry. Wait.” Seconds later he has the small light on the bedside table on and I immediately notice the haggard look on his face.

“Greg let me in.” He runs his hands through his hair. “But only after I promised not to upset you again.”

Aiden climbs on the bed and helps me move into a more comfortable position. With his hands on me, I want to beg him to hold on and never let go, and that thought alone brings tears to my eyes. I don’t let them fall because I don’t want him to see just how much I’m upset, although if he doesn’t leave soon he’ll probably find out. I just don’t want his sympathy. I want and need a lot more than I think he’s free to give after what I saw at the hospital.

“Damn,” Aiden curses, stands and removes his jacket and shoes before he climbs back onto the bed. “I need to talk, explain…Mateo told me you saw me at the hospital with Rae. I hate that you saw that and jumped to the wrong conclusion.” He runs his hands through his hair and settles on the bed beside me.