She sagged to the side, her brain processing things a bit slower now that the medication had taken effect, and just as she’d closed her eyes in an attempt to forget everything for just a little while, a soft knock sounded at her door.
She cursed under her breath, not wanting to move from her comfortable position. Thankfully, before she had to, the door opened, and to her surprise, Thane stuck his head in. She squinted in his direction, unsure if she was seeing him properly or if the drugs had muddled her perception, because the man looked about how she felt.
He gave her a lopsided grin as he came in and shut the door behind him.
“Hey, kiddo. You up for some company?”
She shrugged. “If you don’t mind that I’m a little loopy at the moment.”
He strode over, his long legs eating up the distance between them, and settled in the chair across from hers.
“How you feeling apart from loopy?” he asked softly.
She shrugged again, angry that she only wanted to cry.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been by before now. I didn’t find out all that went down until after it occurred. I’ve been spending all my time at the hospital with Gia.”
She frowned. “Who’s Gia?”
“My stepsister.”
“What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?” Hayley asked in concern.
Thane’s mouth dropped open. “That giant idiot didn’t tell you what happened?”
“If the giant idiot in question is Silas, we haven’t had much of anything to say to one another,” Hayley said stiffly.
Thane shook his head. “Gia is my stepsister, but no one knew about her. I had hoped to keep her away from the kind of shit we deal with on a daily basis, but the Vanuccis got to her and beat the hell out of her. Nine days ago, they dumped her out of a car in the back parking lot of the club. It wasn’t a good day for any of us, and I said some pretty nasty things about the fact that no one any of us cared about would ever be safe and would never live free and happy. Silas took it harder than most.”
Hayley sucked in her breath as comprehension dawned. “That was the day he showed me the door.”
Thane grimaced. “Yeah. I wish now I had kept my mouth shut.”
Anger seized her as a whole lot more suddenly made sense.
“That moron,” she hissed. “God save me from idiotic men.Giant idiotis far too nice of a description for him.”
Thane lifted his eyebrow, obviously perplexed by her reaction. “Uh, I didn’t mean to get you all riled up, kiddo. I just thought you should have all the facts.”
“Oh, I know the facts,” she said in disgust. “Believe me, I get the picture. I swear, men so incrediblystupid.”
As she said the last, she struggled up out of her chair, wobbling unsteadily. Thane was on his feet immediately, his arm going around her to steady to her.
“Whoa there, sunshine. Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to go knock some sense into a dumbass’s thick head.”
“Uh, not that I don’t firmly believe he needs it, but I’m not sure youshould be going anywhere at the moment, honey. You’re about to take a header.”
“Look, you can either take me over to his apartment or I’ll get a cab, but either way I’m going,” she said stubbornly.
“I’ll drive you,” he said instantly. “But you might want to think about getting dressed first.”
Hayley glanced down at the shirt Maddox had buttoned for her to keep her from having to pull anything over her head, and she made a face. Then she turned her pleading look at Thane.
“This is embarrassing,” she muttered. “But I don’t have anything but this. And I need help because I can’t lift my arms over my head. Maddox had to help me into one of his shirts and I can’t exactly go anywhere in only his shirt and my underwear. A bra is out.”
Thane looked as if he’d swallowed his tongue and she could swear he paled a little. The look of desperation on his face was almost funny if she hadn’t been so pissed off at her own boneheaded man.
