All the Broken Pieces: (Broken Series Book 3) Read Free Page A

remaining closed. “Thank you, Brant.”
    Despite the grave situation, the sound of my name on her lips made me smile. I liked the way she said it, the low huskiness of her care-weary voice. I was suddenly consumed by thoughts of her calling my name in pleasure, whispering it against my ear as I used my body to blanket hers…
    And that made me the biggest asshole on Earth.
    There she was hurting, scared, and vulnerable—and I’d reverted to thinking with my dick.
    Ah, self-loathing, how I’ve missed thee. Welcome back, old friend.
    Pushing away my unwelcome thoughts, I lowered myself into the chair beside her, angled my body toward her and did the only thing I could.
    I reached for her hand.
    Her long, dark lashes lay softly against her skin as she threaded her hand into mine, gripping tightly as tears trailed from the corners of her eyes.
    I leaned my other elbow, the one closest to her, on the back of her chair and used my fingers to whisk her hair from under the still-warm blanket, smoothing it down and rubbing her upper back, soothing her as best I could and wondering where the hell Clay was. If I’d had any sense at all, I would have asked the nurse about Teach but I’d been so concerned about Lauren that I forgot. Given her attire, I suspected she worked in pediatrics anyway.
    The minutes stretched on as I sat awkwardly holding her hand and rubbing her back. My own back protested the angle of my body but I ignored it. Since I’d taken Lauren’s hand, her tears had slowed substantially and she’d stopped shaking, though the occasional tremor still rippled through her.
    Clay stepped into the room a few minutes later, mouth open to speak. He caught sight of us and hesitated, watching the slow rise and fall of Lauren’s shoulders. He cast a glance at me and whispered, “Sleeping?”
    I looked over at her and shrugged.
    “No. I’m awake.” Her voice came out as a croak and she sat up, eyes wide. “What did you find out?”
    Her new position forced me to sit back and remove my arm from behind her but she still held tight to my hand, so I scooted my chair closer and spun it so that my back would stop aching. From this position, she and I faced Clay together, each watching him with weary eyes.
    He took the seat across from us and blew out a breath. “Well, they aren’t telling anyone anything until Marilee gets here. I raised hell and nearly got thrown out but they still wouldn’t budge. All they’d say was that he was taken into surgery, which we already fucking knew.” His voice grew hard, angry, as he spoke. “I called Marilee but her sister answered and said she wasn’t taking calls. She told me they would be here in under an hour and we’d just have to wait until then. A real gem, that woman.”
    Lauren’s eyes narrowed. “That’s Bonnie for you. Hateful old cow.” She glanced over at me and squeezed my hand. “Guess now I know why they won’t tell me anything. Bonnie probably threatened them into keeping quiet.”
    I felt the anger boiling up, my face heating. “They can’t shut you out like that. You’re family too, dammit.”
    Clay and Lauren exchanged a glance and she looked back at me, sadness pinching her features. “No, technically I’m not.”
    “But I thought he was your uncle…” I looked between her and Clay and saw something pass between them.
    Clay spoke when Lauren faltered. “He’s family in every sense that matters, no matter what Marilee’s shrew of a sister thinks.” His statement was more for Lauren than me.
    What the hell wasn’t he telling me? He clearly knew something I didn’t and it kind of chafed for reasons I couldn’t quite fathom.
    Before I could question them further, Ali burst in and Clay jumped to his feet, relief apparent on his face. “Oh, thank fuck! If you’d taken another ten minutes to get here, I was coming to hunt you down.” He picked her up and crushed her against his chest, his back to me and Lauren.
    She hugged him back for a minute