Page 103 of Love Me Dangerous

Dad seems to read my mind and nods to Linnie. “Let’s grab a couple of sodas. Neve might be thirsty when she wakes up.”

Linnie gives him a scowl, like she knows this is a ploy to separate her from me and Jesse.

He beckons with his arm, his gaze thoughtful. “Come on.”

Reluctantly, she follows, letting Dad sling an arm across her shoulders.

With a sigh, Jesse slumps back into the wall. “She didn’t get it from me.”

I level him with a look. “On the phone?—”

“We were at a party. Some girl on the ranch Neve knows. They were passing out candy. Neve wanted to try it.” He huffs a giant sigh.

From living with an addict, I’ve learned a lot, butcandyis a one new to me.

“It’s like baby weed, okay?” he says, as if reading my mind.

“Except not, because why else would Neve be here?”

With his gaze locked on the floor, he nods.

It’s not like rich kids partying at the ranch is anything new, yet an overdose is. Finn River Ranch is billed as an oasis in the crazy world of the wealthy or famous, a safe, peaceful place where members can recharge and enjoy the outdoors.

I glance at the little window in the door next to Jesse, but I can’t see anything inside. “So… this is a pattern?”

He sends me a wounded look. Right. He didn’t beg me to come so that I’d make him feel worse. “She’s done ketamine for depression. Sometimes, she takes pills.”

“Why do you think this is your fault?”

“Because I didn’t stop her.”

“Would it have been effective if you’d tried?”

He taps the back of his head against the wall.

“How long until Neve’s parents get here?”

“I don’t even know where they are. If it’s Belgium…”

“Have you slept?” I ask.

He scrubs his face with his hands. “I’m supposed to get on a plane in twelve hours.”

The door to Neve’s room opens, startling Jesse and me from our standoff. A man in blue scrubs exits. He tilts his head at Jesse, then me, like he’s not sure what to make of us, and then he notices Dad and Linnie walking toward us.

“Are you the family?” His ID card from around his neck says NURSE in black lettering below a picture and his name, Adam Rodriguez.

“Friends,” I say.

“I brought her in,” Jesse says. “Her parents are coming, but it might be a while.”

The nurse crosses his arms and widens his stance, and I feel a lecture coming.

“She stopped breathing for several minutes. We reversed the effects of the drug, but she’s on oxygen until she’s a little more stable.”

Jesse presses his knuckles against his lips, his eyes glassy and bloodshot.

Not breathing for several minutes is a long time. Neve could end up with long-term health complications.

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