Page 156 of Let the Game Begin

“With Logan,” he answered. “The doctor let him go in and he hasn’t moved all night.”

“So he hasn’t eaten or rested or…?” Matt started shaking his head before I could even finish. Neil’s love for his brother ran deep; they had an unbreakable bond like I’d never seen before.

“Nothing. Neil’s sitting at his brother’s bedside, and he doesn’t want anyone to disturb him,” Matt said, and my chest got tight at the thought of how much he was suffering over Logan. “I’m going to check in with the doctor and see if there’s any news. I’ll be right back.” Matt got up and walked off, and I stood up as well, stretching my stiff muscles.

I smiled ruefully at the sleeping Chloe and Mia while a few nurses walked through the silent lobby, the smell of disinfectant filling the air around us. I headed quietly for the vending machine. I got two coffees and took them back over to Mia.

She opened her eyes, blinking in the fluorescent light.

“I thought you might want some coffee.” I handed a cup to her and she smiled slightly as she accepted it.

“Thank you so much.” She stroked Chloe’s hair as she took a sip. The girl was now spread out over her mother’s lap. I set the other coffee down on the chair next to the baby of the family so she could have it when she woke up. Then I sat down and rubbed my palms against my jeans, feeling slightly discomforted.

“I’m grateful for everything you’re doing, Selene,” Mia said abruptly. “I can’t imagine how difficult it’s been for you to accept your parents’ situation and the relationship between your father and me.”

I looked uneasily at her because we’d never discussed that before. When I moved to New York, I had a completely different idea of who Mia was, mainly due to my own dumb preconceptions and the things I read in the tabloids.

“I consider you a member of our family. I’m glad you came to live with us, and I would never want you see me as a threat.”

I ducked my head because that had happened so often when I was a teenager. My insecurities and jealousy led me to take a hostile position toward my father’s new romantic situation. I felt he had abandoned me and my mother for her, making me see Mia as a danger to us.

“Your father and I met by chance,” she said and I stared at her, waiting for her to keep going. “I had breast asymmetry. Ever since I was a girl, my condition was…traumatic for me. But I dreaded the idea of an operation and didn’t want to undergo surgery. I thought the situation might improve with pregnancy, but it never did.” She licked her lower lip and took a deep breath before continuing.

“So I decided to turn to one of the most renowned surgeons in the country—your father. He helped me not just through my physical journey but my psychological one as well. After the end of my marriage, I thought I’d never commit to someone again. I thought I’d never meet a man capable of changing my life and…I was wrong,” she said in a low murmur.

“At first, I hid our relationship from my kids. When I finally brought him home, Chloe took it pretty well. Logan was a bit shocked. And Neil…” She gripped the coffee cup in her hands and her voice trembled. “He didn’tspeak to me for months,” she confessed, and I felt a strange tension in my chest. Mr. Disaster was so strong, but at the same time so fragile.

“Months?” I whispered.

“Yes. Neil is very rigid: he gives his trust only to a few people, and he hates anyone he believes has betrayed him.” She gave me a resigned look and continued. “He never forgives. Our relationship was already troubled because of my ex-husband and the problems Neil had in his childhood, but after Matt came on the scene, I lost him completely. The only people who truly have a place in his heart now are his siblings.” Her eyes moved down to Chloe, and she stroked the girl’s blond hair as she continued to doze on her mother’s lap.

“And that’s how I know that, if I ever lost Logan or Chloe, I would lose Neil as well. He lives symbiotically with them; he won’t survive without them.” The gravity of her words kept me from speaking. I’d known already that the bond between Neil and his siblings was deep, almost uncanny, but now Mia had added another piece to the puzzle. She had made it clear that something had happened, something specific that made Neil cling so tightly to them.

“Let’s not think about worst-case scenarios. Everything’s going to be okay; you’ll see,” I tried to reassure her.

“As for your relationship with my father, I didn’t know about your operation and I’m glad that you told me. I appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me,” I admitted, a little embarrassed. “You’re not a substitute for my mother, Mia, but…” I cleared my throat before continuing. “But maybe we could be friends.”

I didn’t know if “friends” was the most precise term to define our relationship, but I considered it a reasonable proposal, if unexpected. It occurred to me that even in the worst situations there were opportunities to be seized and maybe this turning point in my relationship with my father’s girlfriend could be one of them.

Mia and I talked for a bit longer, and then I got up and went back over to the vending machine and got another coffee. Not for me, but for Mia’s son, the walking disaster I hadn’t seen in several hours and with whom I very much wanted to “talk,” though I already knew how he’d feel about that.

I headed for Logan’s room. I wouldn’t be allowed to go in, but I needed to at least make sure Neil was okay. But before I reached the door, his imposing form appeared right in front of me.

His handsome face was etched with suffering, his hair as wild as ever, and his golden eyes lusterless. With every step that brought me closer to him, my heart beat a little faster, throbbing in every corner of my body.

“Hey,” I said as soon as I’d caught his eye. “I brought you some coffee,” I babbled. Neil got me agitated, and I hated how I lost the ability to form meaningful sentences whenever he stared at me in that dark, mysterious way of his. I could never tell if he was admiring me or disgusted by me.

He didn’t say anything and instead just fiddled with a piece of paper in his hands. I frowned, intending to ask him what it was, but before I could say anything, Neil took me by the wrist and pulled me into an isolated corner. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching us and then opened up the crumpled paper to show it to me.

“Do you remember what I told you about the puzzle with the padlock and the photos with writing on them?” His baritone startled me, like this was the first time I was hearing it in years, but I focused on what he was actually saying and nodded.

“Okay. So, I solved it, spent the whole night thinking about it.” Dark circles shadowed his incredible eyes, now alight with a dangerous anger.

“What?” I managed, bewildered.

“Logan’s accident wasn’t an accident—all of it was planned. He was the first. Logan’s car went off the road because someone messed with the brakes. Player intended for Logan to die.” He handed me the paper, and I saw that it was scribbled all over with calculations and connections. I tried to decipher it, but I couldn’t pick out any conclusions from the scrawl, so Neil had to explain it to me.

“The note had a padlock drawn on it. The lock means a pattern-matching or puzzle game. In this case, the asshole made an encoded tanka.” He rubbed his face and sucked in an anxious breath.