“Can’t I?”
“You never forgive anything. You made it very clear that I was never to contact you or Caleb or Aleki. That you never wanted to see me again.”
“And yet, little girl, here I am. At your bedside. Watching you tear up my brothers again.”
“You’re here for them,” she said.
“Yes. I am. Never forget that.”
She wouldn’t. She knew that he’d never come for her.
“What’s going on, Vivi? How did you end up in that alleyway? Who are you scared of?”
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t tell him. Then he’d be in danger too. And she couldn’t stand that, no matter how much he hated her.
* * *
Vivi felt like she’d been run over by a truck. Then a train. Then another truck.
In other words, she felt like total and utter crap. Her mouth was dry. Her head was throbbing. So was her arm. They could at least synchronize their throbbing. But, oh no, one went. Then the other.
“Seriously, Wolfe, how much jello did you eat?” Caleb asked.
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“It was good. At least for a start. But by my eighth or ninth I started to regret it.”
“The jello was supposed to be for Vivi,” Aleki told him. “Not you.”
“Well, it’s not as though she’s up to eating it right now. She’s asleep.”
“Not anymore,” she groaned.
“Open your eyes, jelly bean,” Caleb coaxed. He was always the one she could talk to. He never judged.
“I don’t wanna.”
Wolfe sighed. “Always so stubborn.”
He could talk. He was the most obstinate person she’d ever met. And the most loyal. He was also one deadly motherfucker. People underestimated him because he wasn’t as tall as Caleb or as muscular as Aleki. But she knew Wolfe was the most dangerous of the three. And if he had your back, you would be safe.
“Why not?” Aleki asked.
“Because when I open my eyes, I’m gonna find out this is all just a dream. Just like all the other times.”
“So you dream of us, huh?” Aleki asked. “What kind of dreams, hmm?”
“Aleki!” Caleb snapped.
“What?”
“You can’t talk to her like that! She’s lying in a hospital bed, injured.”
“What? That means she can’t have sexy dreams?” Aleki asked.
“It means now isn’t the time to talk about sexy dreams,” Caleb countered.
“Ahh, so you think she’s had them as well.”