Page 516 of Manhattan Bossholes

“Huh? Take what, James? You mean pills?” A sniffle. “Yesh…I took a couple. But I sorta lost track of how many.”

Fuck! My brother had overdosed again and he was alone at home!

“Hey, keep talking to me,” I demanded. “What did you have for dinner?”

I jogged out of the storage closet and ran right into Rhea, who was mercifully alone. Despite her tendency to gossip, I knew I could trust her if I swore her to secrecy.

“Congrats to us,” she sang, waving her hands over her head. “What a wonderful night!”

I held out my hand.

“Rhea, I need your phone, now. Family emergency.”

Her smile faded when she saw my expression, and she sifted through her purse. “Of course, here.”

I handed her my phone so she could try to keep Christopher engaged and conscious while I called for help. “Christopher isn’t doing well. I can’t get into details but just keep him talking to you while I call 911.”

Her face went white as she held the phone to her ear, but her voice rang out with her usual cheer. “Christopher, my love, it’s Rhea! Hi there, you. Let’s gossip about the show, honey. You saw it right? Wasn’t it incredible?”

She listened for a moment then nodded at me, and I walked a few paces away to call the ambulance and gave them instructions on how to get to my brother. Thankfully, no one was around to witness the latest challenge in this topsy-turvy mess of a night. I walked over to where Rhea was perched on a couch.

“Did you like that part, honey?” Rhea said into the phone, staring blankly ahead of her. “When Skyler Honeywell came out in the ripped-up version of your first ever design? Everyone went crazy!” She listened for a few seconds. “Uh-huh, I know! You were a newbie back then. But you had so much talent. Everyone saw it. Your grandmother always said that there’s no one better.” Rhea forced out a laugh. “I know! We can’t tell anyone. It’ll be our secret, okay? I’m going to give you back to James now. You take care, okay?”

Her eyes were round when she handed the phone back to me. “He sounds really bad,” she whispered.

I nodded and pressed the mute key, worried about what Christopher might do if he overheard. “The ambulance is on the way and I’m going to meet them there. I appreciate your help. As always, this is a family matter. Don’t breathe a word about this to anyone. We don’t need negative attention competing with the show.”

“Of course,” she said as she stood up slowly. Rhea pulled me into her arms for a quick hug, catching me off guard. “It’s going to be okay, don’t worry.”

I gave her a cursory pat on the back and stormed off into the night, hoping that she was right.

22

JAMES

Leading with your heart always ends up like this.

Pain. Drama. Stress.

I glanced over at my brother in the hospital bed. He looked pale and small, but he was still here. Broken, but alive. My relief was tinged with guilt. Had I missed the signs? Was I so wrapped up with Natalie and work that I’d neglected the one person who needed me most?

It was too painful for me to even consider. I’d allowed my life to stray from the well-worn path that had kept me in control, and now I was paying the price.

It was just after seven in the morning, and I’d managed to sleep in the uncomfortable bedside chair for a couple of hours. My back was screaming for a real bed, but I wasn’t going anywhere until Christopher woke up and we talked. I needed to be one hundred percent sure that he was going to be okay.

At least for now.

I was too tired to think through his next steps. Rehab again? Finding a new therapist? I closed my eyes, overwhelmed with everything I needed to work through, both with my family and my business.

I was tempted to call Natalie, since she and Christopher seemed to share a brother-sister bond—maybe seeing her would help him—but I soon realized that it wasn’t my place to say anything to her. Plus, she probably wouldn’t pick up my call anyway. I dragged my hand across my eyes, then ground my knuckles into them. So much had gone on that I’d barely had a chance to think about the Heidi debacle, and how Natalie had responded to it.

I glanced over when I heard rustling coming from the bed.

“Did she call?” Christopher asked in a groggy voice. “Amanda? Did she call you?”

Shit. His first waking thought was of his ex. He was worse off than I realized.

“Hey, dummy,” I said gently, reaching over to squeeze his bicep. “Nice to see you too.”