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“Okay, sweetheart,” Xavier said. “I’m going to check your vitals. Then Ed has some questions to ask you.”
“Ed?” she asked.
“I’m here, Gwen. Are you up to answering some questions for me?”
“I don’t . . . what happened?”
They all exchanged grim glances. Xavier checked her over, then moved next to the door. “I’m going to stay in case she needs me. Also, you both upset one of my nurses, so be prepared to smooth some feathers.”
“I’m sure a donation to the hospital will take care of everything,” Reuben said.
Xavier sighed. “Money doesn’t solve everything. But in this case, it will probably help. Does Juliet know you’re here?”
“I texted her when I arrived. I flew into the small airstrip I put in by her house. Didn’t want her to get a fright if she heard a plane land.”
“Our house. All right, then.”
“I’ll try to keep this short, Gwen,” Ed told her, moving closely. “But if you want to do this alone, you can tell me.”
“Not happening,” Reuben said.
“No way,” Dom said at the same time.
“I don’t want to be alone,” she cried.
Both of them tightened their hands around hers.
“That’s fine, Gwen,” Ed reassured her. “Can you tell me what your last memory is of?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” She sniffled, clearly starting to panic.
“This might be too soon,” Xavier said.
“I know,” Ed said grimly. “But we need all the information we can get. The person that brought her in to the hospital seems to be a ghost. He kept his face down and his truck isn’t registered. I have no idea who he is.”
“It . . . it’s okay. I want to help.”
“That’s my brave darling girl,” Dominic murmured. “You can do this. We’re all right here to help you.”
Gwen was still kind of confused about what was going on. She knew that she’d been injured somehow and that Reuben and Dominic were here.
“I didn’t tell you about Reuben. He’s my best friend.”
“I know, darling girl.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was going to. I came to Wishingbone to find out what I could about Davidson. He was mean to Juliet.”
“What?” That word was snapped from across the room. Xavier? “What did he do to Juliet and why don’t I know about it?”
Someone sighed. It sounded like Reuben. “Because it was reported to me. He was saying things about her to his friends. Laughing about my sister.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me or Brick?” Xavier asked.
“Why would I?” Reuben snapped back.
She moaned as her head throbbed. Nausea bubbled in her stomach.
“Both of you calm down,” Dominic said. “That isn’t important right now.”
“We’ll talk later,” Xavier said darkly.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Hey, it’s all right,” Dominic told her. “I don’t care that you didn’t tell me that your best friend is Reuben Jones. Or that he’s the reason you’re here in Wishingbone.”
“You sent her here to spy on Davidson?” Ed asked.
“It was a reason to get her out of New York.” Reuben sounded so tired. Had he been awake all night? “She hasn’t been well. She left her job suddenly, and she was so stressed all the time. I heard what Davidson had been saying. I could have ruined him without sending her here . . . but I thought it would be good for her to come here.”
She’d known it had mostly been a ruse to get her here. To Wishingbone. Heck, he’d probably been hoping she’d find a Daddy here.
And you did . . .
“Dom-Dom? You upset? With me?” It was so hard to think.
“No, baby. I told you already that I’m not, remember? No one is upset or angry with you.”
“She’s a bit confused because of the head injury,” Xavier said.
Uh, that explained it.
“I told her not to tell anyone that she knew me or why she was here,” Reuben explained. “I knew people wouldn’t be as accepting if they knew she was my best friend.”
“How come we’ve never heard of her?” Xavier demanded.
“I don’t have to tell you shit,” Reuben said.
“Reuben,” she whispered, knowing he was upset. “I’m all right.”
“No, you’re not. And it’s my fucking fault for sending you here. I never thought . . . I didn’t think you’d be in any danger. I thought we could pin something simple on Davidson and fucking ruin him. Hell, I can do that shit with my eyes closed. And I thought you knew about Andy.”
“Andy?” Xavier asked. “Wait, Gwen is your friend, Andy?”
“Yep.”
“You didn’t think to tell us that Andy is a girl?”
“Why does that matter?” Reuben asked smoothly. “Is there something wrong with having a girl as my best friend.”
“Of course not! God, you’re irritating sometimes.”
“You’re just jealous because you’re not my best friend,” Reuben said.
“Do you think Davidson could have gotten word about why Gwen was here?” Ed asked, interrupting the budding argument.
“Fuck. Fuck!” Reuben said. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. How would he know? All she has done is some research into him and one night she went to his restaurant for dinner.”
