He was a kid. It wasn’t on him to save them from disaster. That was his father’s job. But it was all water under the bridge now.
“I get that she helped you both, but you shouldn’t be held hostage to—”
“I’m not her hostage!” he snapped as he tried to sit up. He didn’t get far. He hissed in pain, clutched his thigh tight, and then eased back down on the bed. I went to grab his bottle of painkillers, but he waved me away. “Gia, listen to me. I’m not her hostage—I’m trying to help her. I’m giving her a lifeline now. What kind of brother would I be if I just cut her loose? The money is nothing to me. And it keeps her away from Cassie.”
I could see it now. I could see that he was still trying to support the sister who saved him, way back when. That whatever disaster she was now, he would help her, no matter the cost to him and his career. He was trying to give Sophia what she needed.
Except what she needed was a swift kick in the ass, not blind financial support.
But how did I say that to a man who was loving his sister the only way he knew how? Especially when he obviously had reasons to be grateful to her. He had loved her, and now wanted to share his good fortune with the sister who’d made it all possible.
I didn’t know how to answer, so when he tugged on my fingers, I went willingly. I lay down against his side and settled my head on his shoulder. I held him then, just as he was holding me. But the longer I stayed there, the more my silent voice of anger grew in volume. Eventually, I couldn’t keep quiet anymore.
“I get that you love her, and that you have reason to be grateful to her.”
“We wouldn’t have made it without her.”
“Well, you might have landed in foster care, like I did. Then again, that could have been a good thing.”
“We would have been split up.”
“Probably. But Connor, you’re not kids anymore. And you’re not helping her by letting her get away with this kind of bullshit.”
“You said she’s helping my career.”
“If she doesn’t get caught. That’s a big if.” Especially since Sophia was the kind to push her luck. One little lie now meant a bigger one tomorrow, and an even bigger one the day after that. Until somewhere, somehow, she’d get caught. And that would spell disaster for anyone attached to her. Someone like her very famous brother.
“What would you have me do?”
“Stop her.”
“How?”
I took a breath. “Cut her loose. Fire her. You’ve more than paid her back for what she did for you as a kid—”
He shook his head, obviously hoping I’d stop. Too bad.
“Connor, whatever need is driving her is only going to get worse. If your support was going to help her, she’d be better by now. She wouldn’t be spinning lies and creating drama outside of hospital ERs.”
I felt him wince. “She called the reporters?”
I’d verified that as soon as he’d left the ER. “Yes, she called them and promised them a great human interest story. Local hero saves—”
“Yeah, I got it.” He clearly understood what she’d done. “But how did she know about it in the first place?”
I sighed. “She’s got to have someone planted in the ball club. Any idea who that might be?”
“I think she pays one of the janitors to feed her information.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.” He sighed. “This isn’t the first time she’s had news before anyone else. She likes to keep tabs on me.”
I pushed up from his side. “And you let her?”
He shrugged. “Why not? I don’t do anything. If she wants to waste her money that way, then let her.”
“Until now. Until she spun this story out of nothing.”
