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  “I’m sorry, but it won’t do you any good to keep questioning me. I wasn’t there until after she’d taken whatever it was that has made her so ill. You’re wasting your time and mine, and I’m at the end of my tolerance level for appeasing people. ”

  Shane turned to walk back into the room when he felt a tight grip on his arm from behind. He spun around and swung without thinking about it. When his fist connected with one of the officer’s faces, he knew he was in for a very long day.

  “That’s it, Mr. Grayson. You’re under arrest for assaulting an officer, and for suspected assault against Ms. Palazzo. ”

  Shane struggled to process what the officer had just said as the two men yanked his hands behind his back and cuffed him, but from high stress and lack of sleep, he couldn’t wrap his brain around it. It didn't make any sense. Did they actually think he was the one who’d drugged Lia? Were they truly that idiotic?

  “Are you kidding me right now? She’s like my little sister. I suggest you undo these cuffs before I get my attorney on the phone and have you brought under charges of false arrest. ”

  Shane was personal friends with the district attorney and their police chief, and he was fairly sure he could have the officers not only reprimanded but suspended if he felt like pushing it.

  “We’ll take our chances, Mr. Grayson,” one officer answered in a level voice, not even slightly intimidated. “We have some questions for you that we’ll ask down at the station. It’s a serious crime to hit an officer, and an even more serious crime to take advantage of a young woman,” the other officer said with unconcealed disgust.

  Shane had to have a smidgen of respect for the man. Although the cop had the wrong guy right now, at least he was trying to do right by Lia. If Shane's stress level hadn’t been at an all-time high, he’d probably have gotten a kick out of getting arrested.

  With Lia lying helplessly in bed, however, he wasn’t up for a trip to the police station.

  “Call your chief and tell him who you have in handcuffs. I think you’ll be releasing me pretty damn fast and apologizing,” Shane said as he glared at the two men.

  They glanced somewhat nervously at each other before he saw their eyes harden. Damn! It looked as if he was going for a ride in the back of one of their disgusting squad cars. He just hoped like hell he didn’t end up sitting in some drunk’s puke.

  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights, Mr. Grayson?”

  “Oh, I understand them a hell of a lot more than you. I’m done fighting with you about this. When we get to the station, your asses are going to be chewed from here to New York!”

  Neither man said anything more as they led him outside. Shane could continue screaming at the cops, but it would only delay their ride, and he’d rather get to the station, where he could speak to Bill, their chief.

  As they unceremoniously pushed him into the back of the car, where he gagged on the smell of sweat and various other body odors, he thought again how he and Rafe both would have had a good laugh over this if it had been during any other time than when Lia was so vulnerable.

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  As the car moved through traffic, Shane laid his head against the back of the cheap vinyl seat and counted to one hundred. When he still hadn’t calmed down, he started over. By the time they reached the station, he was more furious than ever.

  “I want my phone call,” he demanded as they led him inside.

  “You’ll get it when we say so,” one of the officers snapped as he pushed him toward the cell block.

  “Are you really this incompetent? Let me speak to your chief of police right this minute. ”

  “We’ll get right on that,” the other guy said with a smirk before shoving Shane inside a cell and shutting the door. The two men walked away, and Shane watched their retreat with an incredulous look on his face. He didn’t know what to think as he sank down on the cold bench and waited.

  He was going to be there for a while.

  Chapter Nine

  “What’s wrong, Rafe?”

  “We have to go now. That was Shane. Something happened to Lia,” he said as he rose from the table.

  “What’s going on? Is she going to be OK?” Ari asked as she jogged to keep up with him.

  “Shane sounded worried. I don’t know. I have to call my parents. ”

  Ari kept silent as the car was brought around, and the two of them climbed in the back seat. Rafe immediately called his pilot and had him prepare the jet. The next call was to his parents, who said they’d return to California immediately.

  As they boarded the jet, Ari realized they’d left everything at the hotel. She didn’t want to bring it up, but what if there was something he needed?

  “Rafe, we didn’t grab our belongings,” she mentioned gently. The ashen look on his face as he turned toward her shocked Ari. She’d never seen him appear so helpless before. How could a man who so obviously loved his sister care so little about the other females in his life? She didn’t understand him and probably never would.

  “I’ll have Mario arrange for them to be sent to us. I need to get back now. ” Rafe’s answer was barely above a whisper.

  As the jet lifted, Ari sat back, wishing there were something more she could do. Being unsure of what role she was supposed to play made it difficult to know how to act.

  When the attendant came and gave them each a drink, Ari decided she needed to treat Rafe like any other person in her life who was going through a hard moment.

  She stood up from her seat and walked cautiously to him. Hearing her approach, he peered up at her warily, as if afraid she would take full advantage of his vulnerability. Great. Knowing he felt this way about her, Ari felt a sting in her eyes as tears attempted to form.

  Nevertheless, without hesitating further, Ari sat down in his lap and curled up against his chest, wrapping her slender arms around his neck in a warm embrace. She might be crossing the line of what he deemed acceptable, but he surely needed emotional support right then, whether he wanted to admit to it or not.

  For a moment, his arms remained stiff and flat against his chair, then slowly he brought them up and flattened his palms on her back as he pulled her closer and leaned his head against her shoulder. For a few seconds, at least, he was allowing her to comfort him. She didn’t know who was receiving more from the small gesture — was he or was she?

  “She’ll be OK, Rafe. Lia is a strong girl. I don’t understand what happened, but there are some people in this world that are simply too wonderful to leave the rest of us behind. Both of your sisters have shown tremendous kindness to me when they didn’t have to. People like that have to be OK because otherwise nothing makes sense. ”

  “I wish that were how the world worked, Ari, but murderers take lives, sometimes without ever having to suffer a single consequence — babies die for no reason in their sleep — and good people do die. I refuse to give up on my sister, but I will feel a lot better once we get there. ”

  Ari didn’t know how to respond to his statement. Yes, he was right, but if they always dwelt on the bad, they would miss it when the good happened. Life was full of enough misery that to focus on only that would bring a saint down.

  Because she didn’t know what to say to make it right, she did the only thing she could do — and that was silently comfort him. Neither of them spoke further as the jet moved in what seemed like slow motion across the United States.

  *****

  “I need to see my sister, Lia Palazzo. ”

  “One moment, sir,” the nurse said as she looked at her computer.

  “Rafe!” He barely had time to turn around before his other sister was barreling into him.

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  “Do yo
u know anything yet, Rachel? Is Shane with Lia? Have you spoken to Mom and Dad yet?” He fired off questions, not giving his little sister time to answer.

  “Lia’s fine, Rafe. She woke up about an hour ago,” she answered with a watery smile. It took a couple of seconds for her words to process in his brain, but once they did, he squeezed her tight. Relief flooded through him.

  “Take me to her,” he demanded as he pushed her back slightly so he could see her face.

  “Of course. The only reason I’m out here now is that I’ve been waiting for you to arrive. ” She turned toward Ari and moved over to give her a powerful hug of appreciation for taking care of her big brother on their return flight. “Thank you for calling the second you landed. ”

  “I’m so glad to hear she’s awake. Is everything going to be fine?”

  “Yes. Some piece of scum drugged her at the party, but the doctor figured out what it was and he’s successfully treating her now. If I weren’t so worried about her, I’d beat her to a pulp for scaring me like this,” Rachel said as she steered them down the hall to Lia’s room.

  “I’m glad it’s getting better now. I can wait out here while you spend time together,” Ari offered. Before Rafe could object, his sister stepped in.

  “No way are you waiting outside. Lia needs all the friends and family she can have right now, especially since Shane got arrested and totally ditched her to wake up with no one around. ”

  Rafe stopped in his tracks as he looked down at the mischievous smile on Rachel’s face.

  “After I’ve seen Lia, you need to explain that to me in detail — not in front of her, though. ”

  For a brief moment, he didn’t think she was going to answer him, but then she shrugged and started speaking. “Apparently, a couple of officers came to talk to Shane about what happened to Lia. He was in a mood and took a swing at one of them, so they handcuffed him and hauled him off. ”

  Rafe waited for her to keep speaking, but she just turned and started moving toward Lia's room again. He watched her back in stunned disbelief as she pulled away from him, before he got his feet to move and caught up to her within a few long strides.

  “Do you care to elaborate? I’m really in no mood for games, Rachel!”

  “I know you’re worried right now, so I won’t snap at you for using that tone with me, but that’s all I know, so you’ll just have to ask Lia. Not that she knows that much as all of this happened while she was knocked out cold. ”

  “How can you act so cavalier about our sister being harmed?” he snapped as they reached Lia’s room.

  “Believe me, I wasn’t acting cavalier a couple hours ago, but Lia’s awake — dealing with a headache and extreme exhaustion, but otherwise fine. Now, I just want to hurt her all over again for being so stupid. She knows better than to go to some party in the middle of nowhere — especially without me. ”

  Rafe gave up for the moment. Both of his sisters needed to do some major growing up. Rachel just wasn’t taking this disaster as seriously as she should. He’d protected both of them so much their entire lives that they had no clue about the dangers in the real world. It looked as if he needed to educate both of them, extensively.

  Rafe and Rachel entered Lia’s room, and her eyes brimmed with tears as the three of them moved to her bed.

  “I’m so sorry you had to rush home, Rafe. I’m getting better now. I promise,” she assured him in a weak voice as she slowly held up her arms to receive his loving hug. He pulled her gently against his chest and held her head there, just as he’d been doing since she was a toddler. She cried softly against his neck.

  “It’s OK, Lia. When you’re stronger, I’ll give you a lecture, but right now, I’m just happy to see that you’re alive and well. I couldn’t handle it if anything ever happened to you,” he said as he relished being able to hold her again, knowing there had been others in similar situations who had not been so fortunate.

  “I screwed up. I won’t ever do something so foolish again. There’s no need to lecture me at all,” she promised with a sob.

  Rafe had his doubts. He was sure she’d soon forget about her foolishness, and be right back to being self-destructive. There were times he wished he lived in a century where he could just lock both her and Rachel up. That way he could ensure their safety. But if he tried to tell them that, he’d be toast.

  “Now that I know you’re going to be all right, you need to tell me what’s going on with Shane. ”

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  Lia pulled back and a slow smile appeared on her face, diminishing a bit more of his concern.

  “Well, I wasn’t awake, but the doctor told me he was being uncooperative and got his butt hauled to jail. I think we need to make him sit there a while longer. ” The heavy breathing at the end of her statement testified that she was nowhere near full strength yet, but at least she was well enough to smile in delight at Shane’s being arrested.

  “I thought you and Rachel liked Shane. ” Rafe was confused by both of his sisters’ obvious glee at his best friend being thrown in jail.

  “He’s been a bit of a pain lately. Sitting in a stinky jail cell serves him right,” she answered before leaning her head back and looked menacingly at him.

  Rafe’s suspicions grew as he watched the mixed emotions roll across Lia’s face. It was time for him and Shane to have a good long chat.

  Chapter Ten

  “You look good behind bars. I hope you haven’t found yourself a girlfriend already. ”

  Fury surged through Shane as he looked at the sardonic face of his best friend. How in the hell could Rafe stand there smiling while Lia was lying helpless in a hospital bed several miles down the road Maybe his best friend really was as cold as people said.

  “Get me the hell out of here, now! These idiot cops who wouldn’t know their asses from their faces wouldn’t let me make a phone call or speak to Bill. If they aren’t suspended for at least a month, I’m going to—”

  “Calm down, buddy. I spoke to Bill as soon as I found out the situation. The two arresting offers are transfers from LA, where things are done a bit differently. I don’t think they’re going to have seats left when the chief is done with them. If I have this nice officer here open the doors, are you going to behave?”

  “How in the hell can you crack jokes while Lia is injured, unconscious, and maybe worse? I thought you were a better guy than that, Rafe,” Shane thundered, his voice almost catching before he shoved the emotions down. He didn’t need Rafe seeing how hard he was falling for Lia.

  “You do know me, Shane. Do you honestly think I’d make any kind of joke if Lia weren’t OK?”

  It took several seconds for Rafe’s words to sink in, but when they did, Shane's eyes widened in surprise before he plopped back down on the hard bench in his cell. Of course Rafe wouldn’t be cracking jokes. He’d be freaking out just as much as Shane was. Lia must have pulled through while he’d been gone.

  “She’s OK,” Shane said, needing to hear his words out loud.

  “Yes. The drugs are out of her system and the seizure was just a side effect from whatever those animals gave her. She’s demanding food and eating up all the attention she’s getting. I will say that she’s been quite irritated that you left, even if it was in handcuffs,” Rafe said with a laugh.

  “I can’t wait until the day we’re on opposite sides here, Rafe, and believe me, you will end up behind bars at least once in your life,” Shane retaliated.

  “Keep dreaming, my friend. Before we open up this cell door, I thought we’d have a little chat,” Rafe told him as he grabbed a chair and sat down as if he were planning on getting comfortable.

  “What are you talking about, Rafe? I want out of here now! These morons have broken about every civil right I have. Don’t tell me you’re condoning that. ”

  “Of course not. However, I do have a few questions for you, and as it seems you tend to run off w
hen you don’t like what’s being asked of you, I think this is a perfect time for me to get answers. ”

  Shane was going to punch him — just once — give Rafe a big black eye. His friend deserved it for making him sit in the piss-reeking cage one second longer than he needed to be there. Shane also knew Rafe better than just about anyone, and furious as he felt, he knew he wasn’t leaving until Rafe got whatever it was he wanted to say off his chest.

  “Get this over with, Rafe. I’ve had a rough night and an even worse day. I won’t hesitate to turn your pretty face black and blue if you don’t get me out of here soon. ”

  “I’ll get right to the point then. Why is it that you’re the first person my sister wants when she wakes up and finds out she’s been drugged, nearly raped, and is stuck in a hospital room?” Though Rafe’s voice was quiet, Shane clearly heard the suspicion in his tone.

  Shane wouldn’t lie to his best friend, but he certainly didn’t want to tell him the fantasies he’d been having about Lia. He’d rather be just about anywhere else than sitting behind bars with Rafe’s accusing eyes staring him down.

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  “Honestly, I don’t know, Rafe. You know Lia has always had a crush on me, but I’ve managed to detour her for years. But she’s really stepped up her game this past year. I’m not going to lie to you — I have some feelings for her, too. Wait! Before you come unglued, I’m working on that. I know nothing can happen,” Shane said, holding up his hands in defense.

  Rafe glared at him for several moments, before his shoulders sagged, making him look almost defeated.

  “I know how persuasive Lia can be. Just make sure you keep your hands off her — got it?”

  “I have to say, it really ticks me off that you feel you need to tell me that. I’m not some horny teenager who has nothing better to do than chase innocent females and try to get into their pants. I think that’s far more up your alley,” Shane snapped back.

  Rafe grinned, and Shane knew the crisis was averted, at least for now. After a minute of silence, his friend turned back to him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.