Page 64 of Byte

“Give the girl a sip of water. Blame it on me,” Ranger said and got up to hold the cup for Gabby.

She took a small sip and continued. “Sissy, you might want to sit.”

Keegan situated herself at the end of Gabby’s bed. “Okay, I’m sitting. Spill it.”

Gabby sighed. “She said she wanted what was rightfully hers. Meaning the inheritance she thinks I got from Lawrence. Apparently, she’s his daughter.”

“What?” Keegan shouted and jumped to her feet. She took two steps and fell into a chair against the wall.

“Told ya to sit,” Gabby said.

“Keegan!” Shaker yelled seconds before he burst into the room. “I heard you scream. What happened?”

“The bitch that’s been harassing my grandbaby is Lawrence’s bastard child,” Ranger so eloquently summarized.

“Are you serious?” Shaker asked in disbelief.

“Congratulations,” Gabby sang. “I have a crazy relative, and none of you are it.”

“She’s been medicated,” I said quietly.

“I can still hear you,” Gabby whispered.

“She obviously didn’t seek out Gabby to have a relationship with her as a sister, so what was her end goal?” Shaker asked.

“Money,” Gabby blurted. “She thought I had Lawrence’s money and wanted half of it. What an idiot.”

“Why would she think that?” Keegan asked.

“She knew about my trust fund. She thought it was from him,” Gabby said sleepily.

“This is my fault?” Keegan asked in horror.

Gabby’s head shot up, and her eyes were wide open. “No. Absolutely not. None of this is your fault. Or my fault. Or anyone’s fault except hers. And maybe Lawrence’s. But it’s not ours. Now, I don’t know what they gave me, but it’s kicking my ass worse than I kicked Lauren’s. Promise me you won’t blame yourself so I can let this glorious euphoria take over. My hands hurt, Sissy. I want to go to sleep.”

Keegan reached for Gabby’s hand but stopped herself before she made contact. She carefully placed her hand on Gabby’s uninjured shoulder. “You’re right. We can’t control what other people do. Rest, Gabby. I won’t blame anybody except the two of them.”

“Good,” she smiled as her eyes started to close. “Your turn, Papa.”

“Fucking hell,” Ranger grumbled. “I promise I won’t kill her.”

“Thank you,” she grinned. “Any word on Patch?”

“He’s in surgery, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.”

“Fantastic. I love you all. Thanks for coming. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show. And I’m out,” she said and closed her eyes as her head slumped to the side.

“What in the hell did they give her?” Keegan asked.

“I’d guess it was one of the big boys,” I said and gestured to her hands.

“How did she hurt them this bad?” Keegan asked.

“She was running on pure adrenaline when I got there. I’m sure she didn’t even notice when it was happening,” I explained.

“Knock, knock,” Dr. White said as he entered the room. “How’s our patient doing?”

“She just conked out, but she seemed to be feeling pretty good prior to that,” I said.