“So, what happened this afternoon?”
It was my turn to gape at him. “That’s it?”
He shrugged. “You get caught, you lose big. It’s stupid, but I get it. You didn’t know the program was crooked. You had a moment of weakness, happens to us all. And... she’s your sister. It fits.”
Dustin was looking between us, his eyes wide. “It doesn’tfit.” He marched over to the kitchen area, anger vibrating in his every step. He reached into a cupboard and then glared at Noah. “Stop eating my stuff.”
Noah stood and walked over to him, his bigger frame making Dustin look small, when Dustin was anything but small. The linebacker reached into the cupboard and brought down a bag of chips. “Stretch more, shortass.”
“I’m six foot!” Dustin protested.
“Shortass.”
They both sat back down and stared at me. “Go on,” Dustin instructed, opening his bag of chips.
“What if I stop and he goes after her again?” It was my darkest fear. One I’d never been brave enough to say out loud.Never been too disloyal to admit that I didn’t trust my sister not to be tempted. “I have one more year before I can take my family and put them far out of his reach.” I looked between them. “I’m not there with her. I’m not asking for help, I’m not asking for anything, but I really didn’t expect cover-ups like this from the program. It’s really knocked my belief in everything we’ve achieved, but... Am I any better?” I sighed long and loud. “I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite, so I refuse to be one.”
“I don’t like this any more than you do,” Dust grumbled. “Does Jiana know?”
“No.”
“Tell her,” he said, leaning forward in earnest. “C’mon Dante, I’ve met your sister; she adores you. Tell her what you did, what you are risking for her.”
“She never asked for this,” I snapped.
“No, she didn’t, and she never asked for you to sacrifice your whole life because you didn’t trust her,” he countered. “Give her some credit.”
I thought about it. Really thought about it.
“I did that,” I said bitterly. “She ended up in the ICU, and I thought she was dead and my nephew would grow up with no mom.”
“You weren’t the only one who got a wake-up call when she woke up,” Noah murmured. “What scared you would have scared the shit out of her even more.”
I met his look. “I hope so,” I told him honestly. “I really do.”
The silence sat heavy between us until Dustin leaned forward and rubbed his hand over his head. “Tell us about this afternoon.”
“Hembry took me to PT. A new trainer came in, young, capable,” I said, remembering her strength. “She told me what she planned to do for my recovery,” I added. “It’s more than Doug told me. She scheduled an MRI for the morning.Ran through her recommendations, told me I was getting an injection and a massage, and then...”
Dustin rolled his eyes. “I can do without the dramatics.”
“I thought I was going to sneeze, asshole.”
“Can we get to the point?” Noah muttered.
“Then she asked if I wanted a chaperone in the room with me, but she wasn’t asking ifIwanted a chaperone; she was telling meshewanted one.”
Noah whistled low. “Wow. That’s really sickening that she doesn’t feel safe.”
“Yeah.” I leaned back in my seat. “When we left, Hembry said she was still too new to be tarnished by Wrighton.”
Dustin grimaced. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I have a pretty good idea.” I slid my phone over from side to top, against the arm of the chair, as I thought about it. “Then he said he knew why I was fighting, and that it sucks, but he told me not to rock the boat. He said I’ve one more year here, keep my head down, and stay out of it.”
When I was done talking, both looked as pissed off as I felt.
Chapter 30
