“Glad someone did.”
Brian turned and stopped Brock with a hand on his chest. Brock looked down at the man, who suddenly realized what he was doing and removed his hand. He smoothed his hands down his own shirt. “You don’t know anything about our family so just stay out of it, soldier.” He spat out the last word.
“Sailor. It’s sailor. And I know enough to think that there’s more going on here.”
“My son had a little heat on him, sure. That’s what happens in our business. If the government weren’t so busy tryin’ to regulate us taxpayers out of our business and paid attention to the criminal element around here—”
This time, Brock stopped Brian. “What criminal element?”
“All of ‘em, man.” He gestured as though the hospital hallway was full of thugs. “We can’t bank, did you know that? Banks won’t let us set up accounts even though we’re legit. Afraid of running afoul of the feds. That means we do business in cash and it’s got no safe place to go. My son takes care of us, his mom and me. Sometimes that means he gets in trouble.”
“So you do have people after you?”
“Man, we always have people after us. Do you know how many times we’ve had to evade assholes waiting to rob us after hours? Finally got an armored truck to carry the money. My son protected us before that. People, they want revenge sometimes. Probably this time, that’s what happened.” He wiped his eyes.
“Do you have any names?”
“No, man.”
“What about Jerold Glass?”
Brianna's father looked genuinely confused. “What about him? Guy’s in jail, right? I said no, man, I don’t have any names. Could be anybody.”
“Oh my God!” Luna cried out when they got to the door. She broke from Sonny’s grasp and ran to the bed. “Oh, my baby boy! Mama is so, so,sosorry.” She laid the Teddy bear on his chest then picked up his hand and started kissing it. Claire went to her sister-in-law’s side and put an arm around her. Sonny went straight to Brianna and hugged her. Watching them, a nasty look crossed Brian Senior’s face.
“Now what’s your problem?” Brock asked.
“Why is my brother-in-law comforting my daughter like that?She’sfine. She’s not part of this at all. She turned her back on us, chose her uncle’s family over her own.”
Fuck you. “She chose stability over a couple of children in adult bodies who never took care of her is what you fucking mean.”
Brian’s head whipped around, but again, he took Brock’s measure and backed down, probably the only smart move he’d made that day. “I’m keeping an eye on you.”
“Likewise.”
Brock went to Brianna and pulled her in close while April approached Sonny.
“The doctor was here while you guys were gone,” she said quietly. “We confirmed Brian’s identity. He was found—” April choked back a sob—“by a good Samaritan in a ditch by the side of the road. He was basically dead; they had to restart his heart right there. In addition to the beating, there were a ton of drugs in his system. They’ve detoxed him, I guess. Now we just wait.”
Brianna sniffled and Brock squeezed her. She looked up at him. “I need to stay here. I need to—”
“You can’t give up your chance.” Brock stroked her hair.
“I can’t just leave him.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Sonny stepped closer. “You aren’t leaving him, Little B. We’re here. Your parents are here. They’re not gonna leave his side; we’ll make sure of it. You’ve gotta liveyourlife. You aren’t your brother’s keeper.” Her uncle touched her cheek. “You’ve done enough sacrificing for this family.”
“I never sacrificed anything,” she protested.
“You’re wrong. You’ve sacrificed so much. Don’t sacrifice your music.”
“You’re uncle’s right, Bri,” Brock said. “You have a gift that needs to be shared with the world. There’s a lot of darkness out there and when you play, that darkness retreats, just a little bit. The world needs that.Youneed that.”
Brianna looked back at the hospital bed. She bit her lip, still indecisive.
Sonny stroked her hair. “Someone will let you know the minute anything changes.”
She looked back at her uncle. Finally, she nodded. Brock breathed a sigh of relief.
