“Thanks, sis.” Rick pulls her into a hug, and it’s clear to see the adoration between them.
Abby straightens up, raking her concerned gaze over my battered face before pinning her eyes on Rick. “Can you take a look at Zayn’s injuries to make sure he’s okay? I have tried, but he keeps insisting he’s fine.”
“Of course.” Rick jerks his head. “Come on, little bro. Let’s patch you up.”
Kai hovers in the bathroom doorway as Rick tends to the cuts and grazes on my face and my split lower lip. I work hard to swallow every hiss of pain when he removes my shirt and probes my bruised ribs and stomach with careful fingers. “Nothing is broken, but you’ll need to ice those ribs for a few days.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the fight?”
Rick shakes his head while applying ointment to my bruises. “It can wait for morning. We’re all beat.”
“You said you loved Emery,” Kai says, lounging against the door frame. “Did you mean it?”
My tongue darts out, wetting my top lip. “Yeah. She’s the other reason I agreed to come here.” I narrow my eyes in suspicion. “How did you know about her?”
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow. We have lots of ground to cover.” Kai arches a brow, daring me to challenge him. But I’m too sore and too tired to care about baiting him. I just want to crawl into bed and sleep.
“Did Drew organize the package?” Rick cryptically asks as he pulls off plastic gloves and dumps them in the trash.
“Yup. They had just returned to Rydeville when I called.”
“What package?”
Both my brothers stare wordlessly at me with expectant gazes.
“It can wait for morning,” I grumble, biting back a wince as I slide off the counter.
“A lot of shit went down tonight.” Kai comes right up to me. “Are you doing okay with everything?”
“Quit with the big-brother routine. I’m fine.”
“Never, and I don’t believe you, but?—”
“We’ll talk in the morning. I hear you. No need to beat me over the head with it,” I say, walking toward the door. I stop in the doorway and turn to my brothers, gulping over the anxious lump in my throat. “Thanks for helping with Ro tonight, and thank you for fixing us both up,” I add for Rick’s benefit.
“You never have to thank us for that,” Kai says as Rick nods. Kai squeezes my shoulder. “Sleep. That’s an order.”
“He’s never going to agree to it,” I whisper to Kai as we stand outside Ro’s bedroom waiting for the outcome of the big discussion.
“Don’t underestimate Abby and Nessa,” he says in a quiet tone. “Both are survivors of sexual assault, and they only fully healed after therapy. If anyone can get through to him, they can.”
“What are we going to do about Jarvis?”
“The beating was a warning to stay away. I made it very clear if he came near Roman again, the next time, he wouldn’t walk away.”
“That won’t deter him. He’s a stubborn fuck. I think he keeps coming back in part to wind me up.”
“Probably,” Kai agrees as the door finally opens. It feels like we’ve been standing out here forever.
Anticipation races across my face as I look at Abby. “He wants to talk to you,” she says, giving nothing away as she eyeballs me.
Nessa pulls me into a hug, and I’m immediately enveloped in a cloud of perfume. “You’re a good brother,” she whispers before pulling back. Tears prick her eyes, and I’m wondering if that means Ro opened up to them. I won’t even be salty it’s not me if it gets him talking about it and he starts his journey to healing. That’s all I want for my little bro.
I step into the room, instantly on high alert when I spot my brother’s blotchy skin and swollen eyes. Ro is lounging on his bed with his back against the headrest, clutching a pillow to his chest.
“Hey.” I walk tentatively toward him, unsure how to handle this.
“Zayn,” he croaks as fresh tears spring to his eyes.
