Page 11 of It Starts With A No

“She’s fine now,” Elton said, cutting off Clary. “Why are you still here?”

Why? Because she got hurt because of him. Because he couldn’t leave a bad impression with Clary when she was probably the only one who could get him in touch with Edward Eolenfeld.

The old man had promised him a loan, then disappeared.

No one seemed to know where he’d gone. His mistress must know, though.

“You guys know I’m conscious, right?” Clary said from the bed. She’d come back around less than a minute after passing out. She kept mumbling that she was fine, then her eyes would slide closed again.

Her chest rose and fell, which was how he knew she was alive. But he had no idea what else he could do besides keeping his T-shirt pressed firmly against her wound. By the time the paramedics got to them, the T-shirt he’d retrieved from his car was soaked in blood.

Then she was put on oxygen and instructed to rest.

“My brother suffers from insanity off and on. Please ignore him,” he said to Clary, then turned to Elton. “Didn’t you hear the hospital director address her as Miss Fiore?”

Elton leveled a bored glare at him. “She’s the old man’s mistress. She is an Eolenfeld, or at least she’s linked to them. Do you know what Reddit is saying about her?”

“Reddit.” Clary laughed. “Awesome.”

Seth shot his brother a shut-up-right-now glare. There was no excuse for Elton to miss that message. Years of having to survive Holly Eolenfeld together had honed their ability to read each other. “When did you find time to participate in online discussions?”

Seth thought his brother barely had time to eat, which was what Elton was always complaining about.

When he wasn’t working, he was studying. Sometimes, Seth could go an entire week without seeing his brother.

“I read it on the way up.”

“Reddit is wrong,” Clary said and turned her attention back to her phone. “And I seriously don’t have to be here. Please discharge me.”

Elton brows drew together. “I don’t know what you did to Seth, but I’m not going to do you any favors.”

Clary’s brows drew together. She snapped her head toward him, then back to Elton. “What did I do to him? And, as I’ve already said, I’m not Mr. E—Eolenfeld’s mistress.”

“Everyone says you are,” Elton snapped.

“I—the person who’s actually involved in the situation—say it isn’t so.”

Elton rolled his eyes, and Clary turned to Seth with puckered brows.

“Apparently, if the Internet says so, then it must be so,” she said to him. “How completely logical a conclusion for a doctor to make.”

“He’s completely illogical once he starts in on a tirade,” Seth said and brought an ankle to his knee while Elton spun toward him.

His brother’s eyes were wide, as if he couldn’t believe what was going on. “You’re on her side.”

“Of course not.” He would never be on her side. She might not bear the Eolenfeld name, but she was definitely one of their people.

He and his brothers would never forget how the Eolenfelds treated them. He would never be on an Eolenfeld’s side. “I’m just glad someone else can see how annoying you are.” He was tired of being the bad guy at home.

Elton folded his arms across his chest. “Then why was he so worried he had to call the hospital director to check in on you?” He gestured around the room. “And look at the room the old man arranged for you.” He folded his arms again. “How did he even know you’re here? Are you chipped like his pet?”

“Elton.” Seth got up from the sofa, while Clary simply closed her eyes.

Her chest rose sharply before she said, “I’d like you to leave now.”

“Your Mr. E might’ve paid for this room,” Elton continued, and Seth strode forward.

This had gone on long enough.

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