Page 29 of Tainted Blood

“You’re my brother, and I love you. Get better, and we’ll destroy the bastard and everyone who helped him.”

“I love you too.” He hands me my pills and water. Once I take them, I lie back all the way and close my eyes. “See you later.”

“I’m just a call away.” He points to my phone on the nightstand and then walks out of my room.

I pick up my new cell phone and check the features. It’s an upgraded version of my old one. I play with it for about ten minutes, but the meds kick in and my eyes shutter. Before I pass out, I set it back on the nightstand.

****

“Fuck,” I roar. A terrible nightmare causes me to shoot up in bed. I groan, realizing I moved too fast for my broken body.

“Ian,” my brother shouts through the door.

“I’m good,” I groan.

“I’m coming in.” He enters my room and turns on the light. It must be late because he’s in only his boxers.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb your sleep,” I apologize.

“It’s cool, bro. I was wondering when the nightmares would begin. It happened with Claudia, but I’m not climbing into bed with you.” He chuckles.

I flip him off and say, “It wasn’t about the shooting, or at least not that exactly. It was about Calista and her dying at the hands of him.” I swallow hard, choking on the last bit.

“We won’t let that happen.” I believe him because they’ll do anything to protect our real family. Calista is going to be mine, which makes her family.

“Damn right, we won’t. She can’t come back to Chicago, and she can’t be near me no matter how much I want to snatch her ass up,” I reply, confessing the idea that’s been on my mind for weeks.

“Well, it’s good that she’s still in New York.”

“She is?” He nods. “That’s good,” I say, thinking of a plan. “Do you think we can trust her father?”

“I don’t know, but when it comes to Callie’s safety, Claudia told me he’s extremely protective. Hell, Jack saw a guard at the hospital talking to her while she was in the parking lot.”

“A guard,” I snarl.

“Calm down. We already mentioned that to you, but I’m guessing the drugs were still in your system. Anyway, she sent him packing. Now what do you want to do?”

“We need to find that piece of shit, but first, I need to speak with her father.”

“That’s fine. I can get the number from Claudia. I think she has it, or she can get it.”

I nod. “When does the doctor arrive today? I need to know when I can get back to working out and target practice.”

“Around ten. Maybe you should try to get some sleep because Jack said they are stopping by today as well. It’s going to be crazy around here. I don’t want it to be too much. They’re bringing John as well.”

“I miss him,” I say, wondering how he’ll react to me.

“He’s not the only one coming. Saunders is coming back.”

“It’s weird. I haven’t really processed that he’s actually my biological father.”

“Hey, it explains why you don’t look like us. It’s not a big deal to us. You’re still our brother in every single way. As far as I see it, you at least had a father who loved our mother.” He rubs his face and sighs. It’s the damnable thing about it. She had someone who loved her, but the devil guarded the gate. As much as I hate it, I have to get Calista on the same page as me. If she doesn’t feel the same, it’ll be terrible. I don’t need to repeat my mother’s pain. Still, I’m not giving up on us, and I’ll treat her like the queen she is.

“Damn right. I can’t even imagine just leaving Calista for another man to touch, or kiss, or fuck.” I growl, getting more and more annoyed by the second.

“Tell me about it. It had to be hard, but remember, she was never his. She was married to Dad, and Mom had to be the one to file for divorce. We know that even after all these years, he wouldn’t let her do it.” I want to punch something, but I can’t without opening the wounds in my arm and chest. “I know, I know. We’re going to help you get better before we hunt him down and torture that fuck. He deserves to die.”

“Damn right. Thank you.” There’s a light knock on the door.

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