Page 9 of Love in the Wild

Sorry wouldn’t cut it, but Thea’s expression was starting to soften. It wouldn’t take much more for this guy to convince her to let her guard down and trust him.

Gage crossed his arms over his chest. Brett was laying it on thick, and Thea was teetering on the edge of believing him. The puppy dog look he was giving her was working its magic. “You gonna keep looking at her like that, or am I gonna have to escort you out of here?”

Brett rolled his eyes. He never understood the very real threat to his health. He leaned over to whisper to Thea, “His bark has always been worse than his bite.”

If Brett only knew. Gage wasn’t the type to pull punches, and he would enjoy letting every fist fly at this guy’s face.

Thea grinned for half a second before she gritted her teeth through the pain. “If you two are going to dance, can you take it to the parking lot? And maybe send a nurse this way while you’re at it?”

Seeing Thea in pain had a dangerous battle warring in Gage’s head. He hadn’t been there when she needed him, and now he couldn’t take away the hurt. Failure after failure was a swift reminder that their family and this fight would destroy anything good in their lives.

Brett stood and headed for the door. “I hollered for someone when you first woke up.”

Gage took the opportunity to move to Thea’s side, and she flinched when he approached. Her cut and bruised face were even worse up close.

“Do you know who did it?” Gage asked low.

Thea searched his gaze before barely shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, Thea. Was it us or them?”

“Why would it be a Patton?” Brett asked. “I had no idea Thea was even in town, and I guarantee you the other Pattons never give her a second thought when Tommy, Bruce, and Cain are out there.”

Gage stood to his full height and gave Brett his attention. The Howards and Pattons didn’t need logic. They ran on revenge and violence. Only blood would calm their cravings, but not for long.

That’s what happened when you were raised to hate. The need to destroy whatever stood in your way kept growing and morphing to satisfy the darkness inside.

“It wasn’t me or any of the minions I could have at my beck and call. I’ll tell you that for free. The only ones you need to worry about are either dead or in prison. I’m here because I care!” Brett said. “You’d have to be stupid to think I did this.”

“At least I’m not stupid enough to hang out on the wrong side of the battle line,” Gage shot back.

“What are you even doing here? Did you get orders from the dark lord, or are you here to finish what you started?”

Thea sighed. “Can you both leave? Please?”

Brett piped up as soon as the last word left her mouth. “I don’t want to leave you. I’m sorry we were fighting. I can sit quietly in the chair. Please.”

A nurse walked in sporting a cheerful smile. “Hello, Miss Howard!” She stopped at the foot of the bed and propped her hands on her wide hips. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” The word was soft with little effort behind it.

Thea. His only sister. She was in pain, and Gage was just as much to blame as whoever landed the punches to her face.

You failed. Again. You always fail.

Brett whispered to the nurse, and her eyes widened.

“Wait. You’re a Patton, and she’s a Howard? No way. I’m here to take care of the patient, not play referee. Everybody out.”

Great. It seemed news of the family feud had spread all the way to Cody. Things had been quiet for five years, but the last fallout was a big one, and the news stations had covered it extensively.

Gage made one last effort to get through to Thea. “Why did you come back?”

“Emerson told me about Mom.”

Gage had suspected Thea would try something like this when she found out about Mom’s cancer diagnosis, but she should have come to him first. At least he could have been there when she needed him.

“That was stupid. They could have killed you.”

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