“What can you tell us?” I asked Violet, keeping my voice calm. Collected. Because even though I wanted to hit something and I wanted to rage, I thought about Sienna at that hockey game and her pale face when I got angry. And it calmed me down. Because I didn’t want to be that angry man. I didn’t want to be the person that put fear on Sienna’s face. I didn’t want to be the one that made her remember what had happened in that alley.
And I sure as hell didn’t want to be the person that reminded her of what had just happened today.
Fuck, this was too much.
“Apparently, one of the people that she works with, one of her clients, there was something wrong with him or something. I don’t really know, but he came at her in the parking lot and just kept hitting her. They know she tried to fight back because they could see it on her hand or something. I don’t really know. But he knocked her out, and now they’re doing a concussion protocol. She has a few stitches from where she hit the pavement or something. I don’t know. I don’t know anything.” She started shaking, and Cameron held her close before sitting down in one of the chairs and pulling her onto his lap. He kissed her forehead and just whispered to her as I looked at Harmony and Brendon, who were holding each other, the two of them pale but steady.
I looked at Dillon, who was wiping tears from his face before he went and sat down next to Cameron, taking Violet’s hand in his.
We were a family. It had taken way too long to get here, to get to the point where we could rely on each other like this, like we should have done the whole time.
But we were here.
And my stomach hurt.
I just wanted to see Sienna.
“Are you the family of Miss Knight?” one of the nurses asked, and we all stood up, shaking.
“We’re her family,” Violet said. “All of us are.”
“Our parents and my brother and his family are on their way. But we’re all family here.”
The nurse looked at us and didn’t even flinch at the idea that all of us were one big family. Because we were. Blood didn’t change that. We were a family.
“Okay, then. Miss Knight is awake, and she’s doing okay. She’s a little banged up, and we’re going to keep her overnight to monitor her concussion. She has some bruising, and some stitches. But she’s going to be just fine. There’s no doubt in my mind that she is going to recover a hundred percent very soon. Now, only two people are allowed back there at a time, so you’re going to have to take turns.”
I looked over at Violet and gestured. “You and Cameron first. And then the rest of you. I’ll go last.”
Violet gave me a weird look. “Are you sure, Aiden?”
“No, you go first. I’ll be her last. Because you’re not going to be able to pry me out of there without a crowbar.” That made Violet smile, and I knew it was a real one.
I waited with the others while Violet and Cameron went first, and then Harmony and Brendon. Sienna’s parents showed up next, giving everyone hugs and kisses before going in. And then Mace and Adrienne came, the big brother of the girls looking dour and big and all tattooed and broody. They hadn’t brought their daughter, and for that I was grateful.
All of us had had to deal with a little too much recently, and none of us wanted a little girl to have to deal with that. She was staying with Adrienne’s family down in Colorado Springs, so that was good.
And then it was my and Dillon’s turn. Dillon had offered to wait even later, but I knew he wanted to see her, even for a minute.
So, we walked in, and I had to sit near the doorway, doing my best not to stress out. I hadn’t asked anybody what they’d seen, what she had said. Number one, that was for them. But mostly, I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to think about that while I was waiting.
“Hey, you two,” she said, smiling, looking so strong.
I saw the bruises around her neck again, the ones on her face, the cuts and abrasions on her skin. Her beautiful, beautiful skin, cut up and bruised with some stitches on her arm and on her chin.
That asshole had hurt her. I could barely breathe.
“I’m so sorry,” Dillon said and leaned forward to kiss her softly on the lips.
I raised a brow and looked at the kid, who shrugged.
“She’s my sister.”
“Okay.”
Dillon took a seat next to her and took her hand, just laying his head on the bed, his whole body shaking.
I took a few steps towards them both, meeting Sienna’s gaze, and then put my hand on the kid’s shoulders. “You’re okay. We’re all okay. She’s fine.”
“I can’t lose any of you guys, okay?” Dillon said, sounding far younger than he was.
Sienna moved to reach out and touch him, but then winced, and I shook my head. “She’s fine. She probably just needs some sleep. Why don’t you come back a bit later, okay? She’s fine.”
Dillon stood up then, wiped his tears, kissed her on the forehead, and then hugged me tight around the middle. I wasn’t expecting it, so I took a few steps back and kissed the top of his head. He was almost my height, but because Dillon was leaning slightly, I could do it.
“I want to go and feed all the cats. Well, I need your house key, but I’ll get it from Violet, okay? I’ll take care of everything.”
He waved and then jogged off, and I wondered how that had just happened.
“I forget that he’s a kid sometimes. Even at eighteen. He seems so much older.”
I looked at Sienna then and sank down into the chair Dillon had just vacated.
“I forget, too. And I missed out on so many of those years. All of them, really.”
“You’re not missing them now.”
I tasted salt on my tongue and realized I was crying, so I leaned forward and took her lips. Softly so I wouldn’t brush any of her bruises. The fact that it was hard to do broke me.
“Sienna.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just really tired of being in this hospital.”
“I never want to see you bruised again.”
“I have cats. I run into walls. I’m going to get bruised.”
“But not like this. I don’t want this to ever happen to you again. I don’t think I can stomach it.”
“I don’t want to stomach it either. I want to be okay. They arrested him.”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” I growled out the words, but she didn’t flinch. I told myself I had to calm down. Because she was already pale enough, and I didn’t need to see the fear on her face like I had at the hockey game.
“He had a traumatic brain injury, Aiden. So he had a lot of issues. Always had. And he sort of fixated on me, I guess. I don’t really know, and I figure we’ll hear more about it later. But after my attack in the alley, I think it sort of triggered something in him. Like he thought I was his and he hadn’t been able to protect me.”
I laughed, but there was nothing funny about what she’d said. “I thought the same thing. That it was my fault that you had been hurt. That I should have been there to protect you.”
“Yes. So it’s a normal, common thing. But if you already have a brain injury, sometimes, it can mess things up for you. And it messed him up. I don’t think I can blame him,” she said, her voice hard. “I want to blame him. I want to get angry that I’m in this hospital bed again and that my whole body hurts and that I’m afraid, but I can’t. Because you can’t really blame someone who can’t help or think for themselves.”
“You don’t have to blame, but I might blame a little bit. I’m pretty sure your brother or my brothers are going to want to blame a lot, too.”
“Fair enough. I just don’t think I have it in me right now.”
“You don’t have to do anything. You just have to heal. I’ll take care of you.”
“And I might just let you.”
“I was so scared. I was so scared that I would never be able to talk to you again. Never see you. I didn’t realize how important you were to me until I realized that
no matter what happened, I wanted you in my life.”
“I’m fine, Aiden.” Tears filled her eyes, and I shook my head, leaning forward so we were nose-to-nose.
“I almost lost you,” I growled out, trying to stay calm. “I love you, dammit. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Her eyes widened some, and then she smiled. “I love you too, Aiden. I don’t want anything to happen either. So let’s just try to live in the moment like we said we’d do, okay? Because I love you so much.” I wiped her tears from her face and kissed her softly, trying not to touch her stitches.
“I didn’t realize I loved you until I thought I’d lost you. Not really. And shame on me. Because I should have realized what those feelings I was having were.”
“I’m kind of new to them, too. I didn’t realize until I almost lost you before either.”
“At your work?” She nodded. “You wouldn’t have lost me then. I’m an asshole, but I wasn’t that dumb.”
“Well, sometimes we’re dumb together. Now, can you just sit here a bit longer and talk to me about food or something silly?”
“There’s nothing silly about food,” I said, and she laughed before wincing.
“Okay, maybe not something funny. Maybe just something calm. I just want to hear your voice. And I just want to be with you.”
“Then can we yell and fight with each other later?”
“Of course,” she said softly. “I hear the makeup sex is the best part.”
“That’s the Sienna I love and adore.”
“Can you say it again?”
“That I love you?” She nodded. “I love you, Sienna Knight. I didn’t really understand what that word meant when I was a kid. I didn’t understand that you could have a family who loved you, that you could have people in your life that you cared for that were part of your soul. And while I loved someone else, someone close to us, it wasn’t the same. I hope you realize that. I hope you know that you’re my everything. My it. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that I’m worthy of that, okay?”
She was crying again, and I wiped her tears one more time. “I loved her too, Aiden. She’ll always be here between us. But that’s okay. Because she should be. We should never forget. I’m so glad I get to love you. I’m so glad that I get to call you mine. Even if it hurts a little.”
My heart thudded just a bit, and then I nodded, wiping away my own tear. “I think we can do that. I think that’s the perfect way to honor her. Although, if you tell anyone that I’m crying like this, I will have to take away your favorite foods.”
“Deal. We’ll both be stern and strong and not cry.” She hiccupped a sob, and I kissed her again.
“I love you, Sienna,” I whispered.
“I love you, Aiden Connolly. Even if I hated you first.”
And then I laughed and held her hand, wanting to hold the woman I loved but knowing that she needed to heal first.
Because it had taken us too long to get here, even if it felt like a blink.
And though I wanted to punch something, wanted to scream at the world for what had happened, I wasn’t going to. Because she was my touchstone, my calm in the storm.
And I would never take that for granted. Never again.
Sienna Knight was mine.
And I would do everything in my power until the end of my days to let the rest of the world know that, so they understood.
Epilogue
I love you. Always.
-Sienna, today.
* * *
Sienna
“I really want a beer,” I said, leaning against Aiden’s chest.
“You had your last painkiller this morning. Meaning tomorrow, you can have a beer. Today, you’re just going to cuddle with me and use me as your liquor.”
“That was a horrible line,” Brendon put in. “Like a horrible line.”
“I can’t help it, I’m cheesy now. It’s a thing.” I laughed against Aiden, but I didn’t wince this time, so I counted that as a win. It had been a week since the attack, and things were getting back to normal. Whatever normal was.
The attack in the alley when I had been mugged was a one and done thing, something I would probably never get answers to, much like a lot of things in my life it seemed. But we hadn’t been able to find the attackers, and I didn’t think we ever would.
I was finally going to take another set of self-defense courses, but that didn’t start for another two weeks. I still had to heal. Putting it off before because I had been busy was stupid. And it’d almost cost me my life. I never wanted to be that person again.
Jefferson was facing charges of assault, but not attempted murder. He didn’t even have to face stalking charges because those wouldn’t do anything to him anyway. And while I didn’t blame him fully for what had happened, I knew he needed help. And physical therapy wasn’t enough for him. He needed help beyond that, maybe even seeing a therapist every week.
He needed help that I couldn’t give him, and honestly, the thought of being near him again scared me.
So, he was no longer my client.
I didn’t think he was really going to serve time, but he was likely going to be admitted somewhere for help.
And maybe that was the silver lining in this. Because he needed help. I just hated the fact that it had taken what it had for him to get some.
“So, like whose turn is it next?” Violet asked, snuggling into Cameron’s side.
I looked around at the bar, confused. We were pretty busy, and the fact that I just said we meant how much I thought of the Connolly Brewery as my own. But considering it was a weeknight and the rest of the staff was working, it wasn’t too bad. I still didn’t know what Violet had meant.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Well, Cameron and I are together, Brendon and Harmony are together, and now you and Aiden are nice and sweet and have that lovey-dovey face. Who’s next? Dillon?” We all looked at each other and then up at the bar where Dillon was wiping it down before going to bus tables.
“I think he needs a little more time, don’t you think?” I asked Aiden.
He shrugged. “I think that kid’s probably better at understanding women than any of us. Women excluded, of course.”
“You know, one day, he’s going to get knocked on his butt, and he’s not going to see what hit him,” Cameron said.
“And I can’t wait for that,” Brendon said, and the three men clinked beer glasses while us women just rolled our eyes.
“I think next should be your bartender,” Harmony said before kissing Brendon’s cheek.
“Beckham?” Brendon scoffed. “He’s going to have to stop brooding and making fun of us if he wants to actually settle down.”
I met Violet’s gaze and then Harmony’s, and we just smiled at each other as the guys looked confused.
Oh, we had an inkling of when and who Beckham might settle down with. It was just going to take time. And lots of planning.
But we could do that. We had time. And Beckham deserved a happily ever after.
And so did a certain friend of ours.
But tonight was just about us.
The Connolly brothers were officially in the deep black when it came to the bar. Violet’s new paper was being published. Harmony had gotten a huge check for her charity, and I was going back to work next week.
Our lives had all taken separate paths from each other, maybe when they shouldn’t have, but the worst had brought us together.
And though none of us would ever be fully over that, the fact that we could find love even in the darkness was something that I would never, ever forget. It was something that I would treasure always.
“I love you guys,” I said quickly, wiping away a tear. Aiden looked down at me and frowned.
“You okay, short stack?”
I flushed at that, because every time he said “short stack” now, I thought of something dirty. Thank you, Aiden Connolly.
“I’m fine. Just thinking about why
we’re all here together again. You know, what started it all.”
The mood dampened just slightly, and then Aiden cleared his throat and held up his beer.
“To Allison. One of us. No matter what.”
I held up my water glass, and the rest of them held up their beers, and we clinked glasses and toasted the woman who had been a part of us. The one who was no longer here.
I missed her with every breath I took.
And I hoped she was happy wherever she was. I hoped she wasn’t in pain anymore, if that had been the reason for her leaving us.
But Allison’s death had brought us together, and that was something that I would have in my heart for a long, long time.
I had found my calling, had found my trust in my sister and my best friend.
I had made new friends, new connections, even through the fractured pieces.
I missed Allison, I knew we all did, but none of us were as broken as we had been when we first lost her. And we could say her name and toast to her without breaking down now.
Perhaps that was a blessing, a next step. I wasn’t sure, but as I sank into the hold of the man I loved, I figured we all had our own paths to follow, our own futures to pave. And through it all, we would have one person by our side, even if she was no longer with us.
Because she had brought us together with her passing.
I loved every single person at this table, and I knew they would be there for me no matter what.
And that was something worth falling for.
* * *
THE END
* * *
The Fractured Connections series continues with Taken With You.
Don’t miss the other books in the series, Breaking Without You and Shouldn’t Have You.
* * *
Want to read a special BONUS EPILOGUE featuring Aiden & Sienna? CLICK HERE!
Falling With You Page 19