Page 108 of Drifting

“Thank you,” she says, relieved.

Uncle Brett, Dom, and Nick walk in.

Uncle Brett heads right over to Cin and grabs her hand.

The exam room suddenly just got a lot smaller. Thankfully, we won’t have long to wait until they move her into a private room.

“My insurance won’t pay for a private room,” Uncle Brett states worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick says. “One of us has it covered.”

Uncle Brett glances at the three guys. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“No thanks needed. You’re Shelby’s family, and she’s our family, so that makes you family. I’m just glad we didn’t have to hardball your business off you.” Mav chuckles.

“Huh? What’s good looking number one talking about?” Cin questions from the bed.

“Did you hear that, bro?” A cocky smile appears on Mav’s face. “I’m good-looking number one, which makes you number two.”

Rolling my eyes, I watch Mav gloat in front of his brother. “Shit. Thanks a lot, Cin. Now, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

I sit on the chair near her, and the guys stand behind me. “We were going to threaten to take Uncle Brett’s garage to get you ou—”

“How could you do that after everything he’s done for you?” she yells, her eyes flashing with fury, and steam practically rises from her head. “He raised you, and this is how you repay him?”

“Cin, what would you have me do? From where I was sitting, it looked like he knew what was going on and wasn’t doing anything about it. I racked my brain for months trying to come up with something. If I barged in here and took you, it would have been kidnapping. There was nothing legal we could do. Mom and Peter even talked to their lawyer. There was nothing they could do. Then, the last words I heard from you were, ‘Shelby, it’s bad,’ before that bitch slapped you, and I heard a crash.” I close my eyes and look away as tears run down my face.

When I heard that crash, I thought I lost her.

I wipe away the tears, suck in a breath, then slowly let it out. “I would have been here sooner, but I got some shit going on at home.”

Dom leans his arms onto his legs. “We wouldn’t have taken your father’s garage. We were just going to threaten to. We know how much it means to Shelby.”

“I’m sorry.” She holds her hand out, and I grab it, squeezing. “I know you were only doing what you could with the information you had.”

Uncle Brett sits on her other side. “I honestly have no words to tell you how sorry I am for what you went through. Brenda completely blinded me. I believed everything she said. I didn’t know what was happening to you.” Pain flashes across his face. “Your Aunt Patty wants you to come live with them. I don’t want you to leave, but I think it would be an excellent opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up.”

Cin stares at her dad. “Who will take care of you?”

“I can take care of myself.” He seems so defeated, blaming himself for all of this and thinking the best thing he can do is to send his child away. “Maybe it’s time to sell the house and move into an apartment.”

Cin put her hand out for her dad, and he takes it. “Dad, this is not your fault, so stop thinking it is. I’ll be fine after I get some antibiotics and nutrition. I’ll be good as new.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

By the time she’s ready to have her fluid bag changed, they have Cin moved to a private room. It’s much bigger than that small emergency room, almost like a mini-hotel. There’s a sink and counter with a coffee machine sitting on it. A couch, loveseat, and two chairs offer extra seating.

It’s nice to have connections and money.

The guys spread out in the room, while I watch Cin try to hide the brief glances she steals at Nick. It looks like my cousin has a crush on my stepbrother.

She wants to know what’s been going on with me, so I tell her about Paige and the Barbie Squad and everything they did to me.

When I tell her how Nick and the guys got me back into school when they tried to get me kicked out, she looks at them. “Thank you for taking care of Shelby. She has a hard time asking for help.”

Dom mutters, “No shit.”

She focuses on Nick. “Why does Peter want me to come live with you guys.”

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