Page 74 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

Aiden and Niall decided to stay back and hunt through social media. Some of Aiden's friends had gone on to become private detectives, and he knew one who worked nights.

"I'll go with you, if it's okay." I looked over at Selene. Aiden had his laptop open, and he was typing furiously to someone in his Facebook contact list.

She cast a worried glance at me, and it told me what I needed to know. She was afraid of wasting my time and involving me in what could be a tricky situation with her son.

But Niall and I had already figured something out. We knew it would take Aiden longer than the two of us to get to this stage, but we knew what we did.

We didn't want to do anything to hurt Selene. And that was big, but not in a gloating or ridiculous, self-righteous kind of way. It simply meant that if there were a way for us to lessen any amount of pain in her life, we'd go in guns blazing to do what we could.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I am."

"Cool." She tossed her phone into her bag. "Guys, I gotta go. And I'll be taking Ollie to Ben's tomorrow. Let me know if you find anything, and thanks a million for trying."

Aiden looked over the screen of his laptop. "We're doing this because we want to be around you, and we want that chickenshit ex of yours to burn in front of our eyes. Prime satisfaction guaranteed."

She let out a snort and laugh mixed into one adorable little grunt. "I'll take that. Come on, Dom."

"You know, don't be too worried," I tell her as we got into her car. "I understand saying this is pointless and Ollie is your kid, so you can nevernotworry when he's upset—but boys his age don't have the easiest time getting through school."

She reclined back in her seat and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, trust me, I know. I feel responsible because I've made him change schools in the past. He deserves more stability, and I feel like I keep taking that from him?"

The last line felt more like a question than something she was just saying, so I shook my head. "You've been protecting him, Selene. Sometimes, that means making tough decisions that he won't quite understand at his age. But there's always a way through—let's see how he's doing right now, and we can work from there."

She reached her hand out and laid it over mine. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"It's the most natural thing for me," I replied. "What's the point of being around someone so special if I can't take care of them when it's rough weather?"

She let her hand rest, and I did not remove mine either.

The rest of the ride back to her place was quietly companionable. The warm summer air drifted in, mixed with ocean salt breeze and slight melancholy. Neither of us felt the need for stupid small talk, and she got some shut-eye on the way.

Once we got down, Selene ran through the main door and called out to Ollie as soon as she was in. His cries were audible, even from the ground floor.

Franny came down the stairs with visible distress on her face.

She quickly relayed the events of the night. "Oliver was fast asleep but suddenly woke up crying for you, Selene. He even wet the bed, which is unusual for him."

Selene's eyes welled up with tears, her voice trembling with worry. "This is my fault. I should never have left him alone."

I'd seen and known Selene enough to understand that she had a way of taking the burdens of the world and forcing her shoulders to carry all of them.

She'd always end up looking for ways to blame herself—even if she was far removed from the scene.

I held Selene's quivering hand, trying to calm her racing thoughts. "Take a deep breath, Selene. Let's go find him. Trust me, we'll figure this out."

Turning to Franny, I asked urgently, "Where is Oliver now? Show me to him."

She led me to the nursery, where we found Oliver huddled in a corner, tears streaming down his face.

Selene's heart broke at the sight of her distraught son, her maternal instincts urging her to rush to his side. But I gently held her back, reassuring her with a squeeze of her hand.

Sitting down beside Oliver, I spoke to him calmly. "Hey, champ. What's going on?"

Oliver didn't respond immediately and continued sniffling. I tried an alternative approach. "Whatever it is, I think our boy is strong enough to face it. You're not alone, Ollie. We got you. Talk to us."

Oliver looked up at me, his eyes red and filled with vulnerability. "I dreamed that those bullies Nate and Clive were chasing me to the bathroom again. They locked me up and told me I could only come out when they gave me permission."

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