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I watched her face cloud over, but like the warrior she had proven herself to be time and time again, Katie dragged in a deep breath and nodded.
Marcie and Declan moved the tray tables closer to us and adjusted things so Katie and I weren’t laying on any tubes before Marcie asked softly, “Is everything okay?”
I nodded. A few moments later, I pulled back the blankets, and Hayden deposited Katie beside me. With her next to me, my soul calmed, and the anxiety and agitation that had been humming through me stopped dead.
The three of them left the room quietly, shutting the door behind them.
Katie lay next to me—her head on my shoulder and her hand on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her, holding her to me lightly. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel pressured or trapped.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I am now, sugar.”
I kissed her forehead, and she wiggled against me. At first, I thought I’d overstepped and pushed too far too fast, but she actually scooted herself closer.
“What about you, darlin’? Are you okay?”
She angled her head to look up at me. Tears gathered in her eyes. A couple rolled down her face as her lids fell shut. I watched her chin tremble for a few moments until her gorgeous, soulful brown eyes opened, boring into mine.
“I will be.”
From that moment on, we shared the bed. Fuck the nurses and the doctors; neither of us could bear to be separated from the other, and we weren’t going to be. Every time they separated us, or tried to, we threatened to sign out A.M.A. They finally gave up and left us be.
The day after my surgery, the detective Katie and I spoke to when we first arrived at the hospital came to see us. Dad, Foster,and Gran Dad all demanded to sit in on the conversation along with an attorney.
“I’m sorry to bother the two of you while you’re recuperating, but we have some info,” Detective Blanchard said as he came in.
I looked toward the door, praying the nightmare clone didn’t make an appearance. I noticed Katie was staring at the door as well. She also had sunk her nails into my bicep on the arm she had in a stranglehold.
When Detective Whitt didn’t come in, Detective Blanchard said, “Out of respect, Detective Whitt will be working this case behind the scenes to minimize as much re-traumatization as possible.”
I unfurled Katie’s fingers, pulling her nails from my skin, as I said, “Thank you. That’s appreciated.”
My granddad scoffed. He tried to cover it with a cough, but no one fell for it. My dad and uncle rolled their eyes at him. I just grinned. Gran Dad’s love and support through all this nightmarish bullshit had been a comforting balm that calmed my frazzled nerves.
“Okay, Detective, my son and Katie need their rest. What do you have for us?” My dad demanded.
The detective cleared his throat. “Katie, were you aware of the connection between yourself and Nina and Neil?”
Katie shook her head silently. The detective gave Katie the time she needed to say, “No. I’ve always been told I was an only child.”
Katie wished for siblings her whole life. She’d told me more than once since we met that she felt alone in the world after herparents split due to her mother’s issues with men and lack of maternal instincts.
“Who told you that you were an only child?” Detective Blanchard asked.
Her brow furrowed, and she blinked rapidly as her gaze bounced around, never focusing on one thing for very long. “Umm…my mom, but maybe my dad too.” She wet her lips and then asked, “Why?”
The detective brushed passed her question, “You never suspected or overheard anything that would make you suspect you might have siblings?”
“No. Never.”
“How did Nina, or Michelle, as you knew her, come to be your publicist?”
“Umm. The label sent her to me,” Katie said.
What a fucking coincidence.
I heard my dad and Gran Dad in my head saying,“There’s no such thing as a coincidence, son.”So, I reconsidered everything about the hookup with that redheaded cunt.
