Bad Boy Brody(27)

It was Morgan’s sister.

“Hey.” I let go of the IV cord, but I couldn’t stay in the damn bed. I felt like an invalid. Sitting on the edge, I was glad to see sweatpants, but these weren’t the jeans I’d been wearing last night. I was shirtless, and I wished that weren’t the case. The bruises were a garish purple and blue. “You can come in, and”—I glanced around but couldn’t see a shirt—“I would cover up, but I’m not seeing anything.”

She hid a smile, stepping in and shutting the door behind her. “We did call two EMTs that our family knows. They thought it would be funny to change your clothes, hide the shirts. They’re both divorced and big fans of yours.”

I grunted out a laugh. “So much for Shanna’s hope to keep this quiet.”

Abigail shook her head, suddenly serious again. “They won’t say a word. I promise. We’ve used them a lot over the years, I mean, when we were here before.”

“A lot?”

I eyed her, moving to the chair and lowering myself down carefully.

She nodded, moving to the other vacant chair in the corner. We were watching each other over the bed.

“Finn was always getting hurt. After the first few times, he kind of became friends with them. I think he met them for a beer afterward.”

“Good to have resources like that.”

“Yeah.” She looked down to her lap. She was twisting her hands together. “I went to see you last night to ask a favor. When I got there, I just got so curious. She doesn’t talk to people. Ever. Unless you catch her sneaking through the house, which sounds really ridiculous when you think about it, but—”

I cut her off. She had to know first. “I’m sorry for going off last night.”

“Huh?” She lifted her head again. “Oh. No. That was fine. I get it. I really do.” She lifted a shoulder. “It was pretty obvious you were projecting. I know about your brother.” Her eyes grew sad. “Everyone does.”

“I hope I didn’t scare you last night. I’d never . . . well, you know.”

“No! I totally know. I don’t want you to think I was scared or anything. It was actually, kind of heartbreaking. You kept saying Kyle’s name, and then you started saying things about Morgan. I hid the bourbon, told everyone you’d been drinking Captain Morgan.”

“Thanks for that.”

Fuck’s sake. Morgan’s sister was covering for me.

I was such a fuck up.

“You wanted a favor?”

“Yeah.” She sat at the edge of her seat, her posture was perfect and her hands were folded in her lap again. “I know you said last night that I should just go out there, try to find Morgan, or have her find me, but I was wondering . . .” Some sweat beads formed on her forehead. “Would you take me with you? Matt said you saw her at the river. I was thinking we could go there. That doesn’t seem too far away.”

I frowned. She was talking as if she didn’t know. “You guys don’t go through the lands?”

Her head dipped again for a second and then she looked back up. She shook her head. “No. I know we should, but as we got older, it just started to feel more like Morgan’s area. Her horses lived there, and then the whole fear factor kicked in. We could die out there. I don’t know how Morgan does it.” Her sister kept on, “If you take me out there, she’ll come. I know she will.”

“Just you and me?”

She nodded, her chin tightening. “Just us. No Matt. No Finn. I want to see my sister again.”

Shit.

I was going to do this.

I was going to get involved, and hearing Shanna’s voice from the hallway, I knew I was stuck anyway.

I said, “I’ll do it if you do me a favor.”

“What?”

My eyes cut to the door. We could both hear Shanna saying, “He’s awake in there?” Someone replied, but the words were muffled. I didn’t have long until she barged in, regardless of whatever they were saying out there.

“Cover for me with Shanna.”

“I did.” Her attention was skirting from the door to me, the impending arrival of Shanna making her shrink in size. “I told her you weren’t to be fired.”

“No, I know.” I shook my head. Shanna wouldn’t be able to find another A-list actor for the salary I was getting, not unless they wanted to put off shooting the movie, which would cost even more money. She knew it. I knew it. I wasn’t worried about that. “She’s going to think we’re sleeping together. You have to set her straight. She’s already watching Kara like a hawk. She doesn’t want any bedroom shit to land on the movie set. If she thinks we’re sleeping together, she won’t be happy about that. At all.”

The more I talked, the bigger her eyes got.

Then the door burst open.

Shanna came storming in.

Abigail gulped and then jumped up. “We’re not sleeping together!”

Yep. That wasn’t embarrassing.

Shanna looked from Abigail to me and then back again. A dry chuckle came out. “Well, too bad for you. I’ve heard he’s amazing.”

“Not funny, Shanna.”

She fixed those eagle-like eyes on me. “I wasn’t trying to be funny, but you were. Apparently. Drinking Captain Morgan all night. Then going off on your boss.” She gestured to Abigail. “What the hell were you thinking?”