on my chest had eased a little. Arianne was mine. Something as materialistic as a ring didn’t change that. But she’d looked so right standing at that fuck’s side, his parents smiling at them like everything about the situation made sense.
I climbed off my bike and hung the helmet on the handlebars. This was another bad idea, but I needed to see Tristan.
Enzo was right, Arianne was changing me. Things that shouldn’t have mattered before, did now. Like looking into the eyes of a guy I almost killed and asking for forgiveness.
The parking lot was empty as I crossed over to the main entrance. County Memorial was lit up against the inky backdrop, a sign that hospitals never slept. But I found the place quiet inside. Still, they probably didn’t take too kindly to random people walking the halls at night.
Taking the stairwell to the second floor, I checked the hall before ducking out of the door. I knew Tristan was up there, but I didn’t know where. The nurses station loomed up ahead, manned by a lone woman. I waited a few minutes, hoping she would be called away.
When she finally got up and disappeared down the hall, I took my chance, jogging up to the station and checking the huge whiteboard.
“Gotcha,” l whispered, making a mental note of Tristan’s room number. It was only a couple of doors behind me.
I’d half-expected there to be security, but the hall was empty. Pressing my face against the glass, I glanced inside, and sure enough, Tristan lay sleeping soundly.
Guilt flashed through me. I’d done this. I’d put him here. But he was okay.
He was going to be okay.
I grabbed the handle and gently opened the door. It barely made a sound as I slipped inside. Moonlight streamed through the blinds, casting shadows off the walls, illuminating Tristan’s profile. I stuck to the corner of the room, hiding in the darkness.
I wasn’t supposed to be here. But I needed to fix things.
I needed him to know I never meant to hurt him that night when I’d snapped. Now I was standing here though, I didn’t know what the fuck to say.
So I started with the truth.
“I didn’t mean to fall in love with her,” I said to the silence. “It just happened. It wasn’t some grand plan to mess with your family. She wasn’t a game, never to me. I just took one look at her that night and something snapped into place.”
I let my head fall back against the wall as I inhaled a ragged breath. It was late. Mike Fascini had probably made the announcement. The engagement was probably official.
Pain squeezed my heart like a vise.
“She wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but you should know. As the person who is like a brother to her, you should know that he raped her. The night of the Centenary Gala, he slipped something in her drink and raped her.” Tears burned the backs of my eyes. “And now she’s there, at the party with him. Your uncle and his father are parading them around like a happy couple... it’s messed up. This whole fucking thing is messed up.
“We weren’t ever supposed to be enemies, you know.” I let out a long breath. “We were supposed to be family. If history had played out the way it was supposed to, we wouldn’t even be here.”
Tristan shifted in his sleep, the rustle of stiff linen piercing the silence. I froze, holding my breath until he settled.
“I shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why I came... but everything is different now. All I want is to protect her. To put an end to all of this. But I don’t know how. I don’t know how to save her.”
I inched closer, staring down at him. “I never meant to hurt you that night. I didn’t even realize it was you until it was too late. If Arianne is going to survive this thing with Fascini she’s going to need all the allies she can get. So I guess I’m not only here to apologize, I’m here to beg you to do right by her. To step up and be the cousin she needs you to be. And to promise me that if something happens to me, you’ll be there to look out for her.”
I was met with nothing but silence.
This was stupid.
Tristan was out cold, and I might as well have been talking to a corpse. But it wasn’t like I could wake him.