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“Kaiden.” She whispers my name and bursts into tears.
“Baby,” I say in a soothing tone and press a kiss to her lips. “Are you okay?”
“I am now that you’re here.” She smiles tremulously.
“What are you doing here?” Valentina’s shrill voice calls out. Jesus, I forgot how annoying her tone is.
Ignoring the question, I focus on Rori. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“My arm is broken, so they splinted it for now to stabilize it. I have a couple staples in the back of my head from where it slammed into the pavement.”
“Do you have a concussion?” I ask.
“Yes, and they’re going to do a CAT scan to make sure I don’t have anything wrong.”
“What are you doing here?” Valentina repeats, raising her voice.
I lean down close to Rori’s ear. “Excuse me for one second, baby.” Straightening back up, my eyes narrow on Valentina. “What is your problem?”
“I want you to answer my question.”
“What areyoudoing here?” I fire back.
Her mouth opens and closes two times before she replies, “I’m her sister.”
“Well, I’m the guy she loves, and that trumps a sister. If you can’t be nice, I’m going to make sure you leave.”
“How dare you talk to me like that.” She’s got the whole acting outraged thing down to a science.
“Oh, I dare. And I’ll do a lot more if you say one nasty word to Rori or me.”
“Kaiden, you have no say here,” her mother chimes in.
“I have more say about the situation than you. I’m the one who’s going to pay her hospital bills. Unless you’d like that responsibility?”
“She has insurance,” her mom says.
“On a waitresses salary? It’s possible but not necessarily likely,” Stella says. “It’s not a steady, dependable income. While she might have one good night of tips, she could have three that are lousy.” At least one of her family members seems normal.
Valentina rolls her eyes and catches me watching.
“Do you have something else you’d like to say?”
She shakes her head.
“That’s too bad. After all the horrible things you had to say about Rori and me, I’d really like a reason to kick your bony ass out of here.”
Valentina and Mrs. Russo simultaneously gasp while Rori and Stella both snicker. At least I made my girl laugh.
I caress Rori’s cheek with the back of my fingers and smile at her. “This is the woman I’m in love with, and I’m not going to let anyone treat her poorly.” I glance at her mom, then Valentina.
“Kaiden, that’s my daughter. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
“Mrs. Russo, you might not mean to, but you’re constantly criticizing her and her decisions.”
“I only want the best for her,” she says defensively.
“Are you sure about that? Or is it that you want to control her and have a say in her life?”
