Page 136 of The Enforcer's Revenge

Tino gave her a wide-eyed look. “Are you?”

Brianna stared at the check pieces in her hand and whispered, “It’s not like he’s called. Not once since my mom went away. I already knew he didn’t love me.”

Carina suddenly hugged Brianna from behind, squeezing tightly. “I love you. I promise I love you.”

Brianna nodded and hated the way the tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks. She just couldn’t stop them, and she wiped at them furiously, embarrassed that it was happening in front of Tino, who had so many more reasons to cry than she did.

“Hey.” Tino reached out and hugged her, too, so that she was squished between both of them. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered because the hugs just made the tears flow harder.

Tino kissed the top of her head like he did with Carina sometimes. “Your dad’s a dumbass. He’s not worth it.”

Brianna nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll never let them hurt you like that,” Carina whispered from behind, with her arms still wrapped tightly around Brianna’s middle, nearly squeezing the air out of her. “Do you believe me?”

Brianna nodded. “I believe you.”

“Never, Bri.” Carina sounded solemn. “I won’t let them.”

Brianna hadn’t thoughtabout it for a long time.

Her father did a lot of things over the years to hurt her. It was all a sea of disappointment at this point. They hadn’t even bothered to tell him she was in the hospital. Her mother was there for a while, but Brianna told her to go home because she was always more work than help in a crisis.

Now, Brianna was trying to sleep, but something about the medicine they gave her made her restless. Her injured arm stillhurt. She had an IV in the other one, so she couldn’t sleep on her side like she was used to.

She was horribly uncomfortable as the late morning sunshine lit up her private room. Thank God for small blessings. For a long while, she was in the ICU, and that was extra miserable.

She shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a way to sleep, when she heard Carina whisper in a deadly voice, “Look who decided to show up.”

Brianna opened her eyes and saw Tino standing there with the friend he had brought with him to the basement the night before.

“Hey.” She sat up, feeling instantly relieved. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah.” Tino looked back at his friend. “This is Tony.”

“I remember.” Brianna smiled at him. “Hi, Tony.”

“He gave me a lift.”

“What a champ.” Carina’s voice still sounded sharp.

“I’m just gonna…” Tony pointed down the hall, looking extremely uncomfortable. “I’m gonna wait out here.”

“Cool, yeah.” Tino ran a hand through his hair as he glanced from Carina, sitting next to the bed, to Brianna as she pulled on her ponytail, straightening it and trying to put herself back together. “How are you feeling?” he asked in a rush. “You still look really pale.”

“Well, she almost bled to death, so…” Carina went on. “She was in the ICU until a few hours ago. You’d know that if you’d been here.”

“I had to work,” Tino explained to Carina, his voice as sharp as hers. “We don’t all get to do whatever the hell we want in this family. I had real responsibilities.”

“I bet.”

“Carina, come on.” Brianna reached out when Tino walked up to her bed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. “Youlook awful.” She tried to stroke the hair off his forehead because it was sweaty and messy in a way she wasn’t used to with him. He jerked away before she could, staring back at Carina, appearing self-conscious. Brianna huffed and looked at her best friend. “Can you give us a moment?”

“No, I can’t.” Carina shrugged. “Not this time.”

“For real?” Brianna gave her a harsh look. “I’d like a moment with my boyfriend, please.”