Page 52 of Save Me

“No, not even a little bit,” she told him firmly. “You need to go and straighten your shit out, and if you ever come at me like this again, I will make you pay.”

“Feels like you already are…”

“Don’t be such a baby. Just go and talk to Dad.”

“Fine. But if things get worse…”

Moving in close, she met his gaze head on. “If things get worse, it’s not on me. Remember that.”

All he did was glare before looking over at Ryker. “Good to see you, man.” And with one last look at Ryleigh, he let himself out.

The sigh was out before she could stop it and then strong arms wrapped around her as she did something she hadn’t done in a long time.

Cried.

* * *

It wasn’t like Ryker to do anything on a whim, but this afternoon, he wanted to see Ryleigh and surprise her.

Now he was glad he did.

Smoothing a hand up and down her back while she cried, he was at a complete loss at what to do or say. Clearly she and Jamie had been fighting and if he had to guess, it had something to do with their mother.

On the surface, Kate Donovan was a completely delightful woman—always smiling, always friendly to everyone. But seeing firsthand what she was doing to Ryleigh was more than he was willing to stand.

“Hey,” he said softly, leading her over to the sofa. “Talk to me.”

It took a solid minute for her to compose herself before she relayed the reason behind her brother’s visit, and Ryker wished he had known because he would have punched the bastard in the face. She was trembling in his arms and it was killing him.

“Damn, Ryleigh. I’m sorry. What can I do?”

Sniffling, she looked up at him. “Did you get the brownies with the frosting or without?”

His lips twitched. “I got two of each.”

“Can I have one with frosting?”

“You can have anything you want,” he told her, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. Standing, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed the plate. “Do you want coffee or maybe just some milk?”

“Milk, please.”

When he looked over at her, her head was thrown back against the cushions and her eyes were closed. Part of him wanted to get in the car and confront Kate and put an end to this once and for all and then beat the crap out of her brother.

Neither of those were viable options right now.

With two glasses of milk and a plate of brownies, he made his way back over to the sofa and placed everything on her coffee table. She straightened and reached for a brownie and smiled with utter gratitude.

“You have no idea how much you saved me,” she told him solemnly. “I hate arguing with my siblings, but this was the first time I was so angry that I wanted to get violent.”

Yeah…he got that.

“I think it was completely justified.”

They ate in companionable silence for a minute before she spoke again. “Any chance we can make a big Italian feast at your place for Saturday night and invite Will, Ari, Liam, Tessa, and Patrick?”

“Not Jamie?”

“Definitely not Jamie,” she said, and then a slow smile crossed her face. “Or…we invite JamieandFallon Murphy!”

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