“RJ, don’t,” Rebecca pleaded with a hand on his arm. She tried to turn Courtney’s brother, but he held steadfast in front of the other man. “I could really use some coffee, and I don’t know where it is. Can you take me?”

Thank goodness for Rebecca, who seemed to have a level head about her. And RJ at least understood what Rebecca was trying to do, because he shot the other man one last glare, then took Rebecca’s hand and led her out of the waiting room.

Elisa let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The last thing she wanted to see was people throwing punches at each other while poor Courtney was comatose. She leaned toward Brody so she could whisper in his ear. “Nobody knows who this guy is?”

Brody tossed a glance at the man in question, who’d sunk down onto the nearest chair. “No, I’ve never seen him before,” Brody said. “Court’s never mentioned anything about a fiancé or a boyfriend. But apparently Rebecca knows him since she called him. Then again she and Courtney live together, so Rebecca would know anyone that Court dates.”

“Do you think they’re really engaged?” she asked him.

Brody shook his head. “I don’t know.” He refocused his attention on her. Exhaustion radiated off of him in waves, and Elisa itched to run her fingers through his hair. Or maybe he could lean his head on her shoulder. “You don’t have to stay here with me. Do you want me to take you home?”

The only way she would go home was if he went with her. She wasn’t about to abandon him during this difficult and stressful time. He had her love whether he wanted it or not.

“I don’t want to go home unless you’re ready to come with me,” she said.

“We could be here a while. I’m not leaving until I’ve had a chance to see her.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’ll leave when you leave.”

At that moment, Carol came back in the room with red-rimmed, swollen eyes and a bundle of shredded tissues in her hand. Noah stood from his chair and folded his stepmother in a hug. He held her for a long while, while she silently cried into his shoulder. Martin left the room, probably to take his turn to see his stepdaughter.

Rebecca came back into the room, alone, and with a paper cup of coffee in one hand. She blew into the hot liquid as she took her seat next to Elisa.

“How’s RJ?” she asked the young woman.

Rebecca glanced at Elisa and smiled. “He got tired of pacing a hole in this room, so he’s pacing a hole in the other room. But, honestly? I don’t know.” Rebecca shook her head. “I’ve never seen him like this.”

“And how do you know Courtney?” Elisa had already come to the conclusion that the girls knew each other well, just judging by how emotional Rebecca had been throughout the night.

“Well, right now we live together. But I’ve known Courtney since high school.” She took a shallow sip of her coffee. “I’d say about twelve or thirteen years now.” She glanced at Elisa, a lock of spiral-curly hair brushed her cheek when she turned her head. “Do you know Courtney well?”

An emergency room was hardly the place to have a private conversation of this nature. Elisa needed to choose her words carefully. After all, she’d just met this girl. “No, I don’t know Courtney personally. I just came with Brody. A shoulder-to-lean-on kind of thing.” Elisa hoped that was a reasonable explanation, though she knew that showing up with him in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. But, in all honesty, she didn’t care if his family knew about their relationship. However, Brody seemed to be pretty guarded about things, so she kept her answers evasive out of respect for him.

Rebecca leaned forward, so she could glance at Brody. “Ah,” she said in an I-see kind of tone. “Well, you’re lucky. Brody’s a great guy. And he seems to have strong feelings for you.”

“How do you know that?” she asked the younger woman.

Rebecca looked at her with light dancing in her green eyes. “You’re here with him, aren’t you?”

Yes, she was, but only because she’d invited herself. If she hadn’t offered to come, he probably would have left her at home.

She glanced at his handsome profile and thought, again, where he expected this relationship to go. When they were in bed, he communicated his love with sex. Just the way he gazed down into her eyes when he was inside of her spoke volumes. It spoke of someone who had deep, intense feelings. A person just couldn’t fake something like that. She felt it down to her very soul every time he touched her. For some reason he was afraid to say the words. Elisa knew it had to do with his marriage and the way things ended with Kelly. Was that fair for him to deny their relationship because of his past demons?

Elisa didn’t think so, and she’d been more than patient with him.

The McDermott family sat in silence for a while longer. Noah’s wife, a stunning woman carrying a sleepy toddler, eventually arrived. She passed her daughter over to her husband, then sat down next to Carol to offer the woman her support. RJ still hadn’t reentered the room. After his earlier display of taking out his anger on the wall, Elisa worried for him.

She nudged Brody’s leg. “Maybe you should go check on your brother. He’s been gone a while.”

“Nah, he just needs to cool off.”

Elisa lifted a brow in doubt.

Brody sighed. “All right, I’ll go find him.”


Brody’s brain felt like a scrambled mush of shit that didn’t make sense. It was going on seven a.m. and he’d been awake now for more than twenty-four hours. He needed caffeine like nobody’s business. Hell, he needed the stuff injected directly into his veins via IV—that way he could run on pure adrenaline and really feel loopy. The only thing that kept his head from exploding completely was having Elisa by his side. He’d even been willing to overlook the curious glances and snide remarks from his brothers. If they knew about his and Elisa’s relationship, Noah and Chase wouldn’t hesitate to grill him like seasoned detectives. His relationships were nobody’s business, and Brody didn’t want or need his brothers’ noses all up in his shit. Just the look on Noah’s face told Brody he hadn’t heard the last of their opinions—jumping back into the dating pool headfirst, and all that crap. He’d heard that before, thank you very much.

Besides, now wasn’t the time. They were here for Courtney and needed to focus on her.

Elisa was probably right about RJ not being okay. Years ago he’d taken it upon himself to personally look after Courtney, since the girl was unable to make a responsible decision. At the same time, RJ didn’t need Brody checking up on him like he was some helpless kid. RJ had a reputation for being unpredictable and was best left alone when he got in moods like this. But Brody needed coffee like he needed air. He’d grab himself a cup, then make sure RJ wasn’t off somewhere ripping doors from their hinges.

Turns out, he didn’t have to look for his brother very far. RJ was in the snack room, sipping on some coffee and leaning against the wall. Brody nodded to the other man and grabbed the pot off its holder. RJ didn’t say anything, and Brody hadn’t expected him to. He simply poured himself some coffee and sipped it straight black. No fluffy creamy stuff for him.

RJ watched him over the rim of his paper cup. When he lowered it, he said, “So, you’re with the goddess?”

Brody looked his brother over. The man was in a mood and looking for a fight. He’d already picked one of those with the wall and hadn’t gotten a whole lot in return, except for a sore hand. Brody understood RJ’s simmering attitude, given the situation. But he’d be damned if he would allow his younger brother to take his shitty mood out on him or Elisa, for that matter.

“Yeah, but it’s nothing,” he finally responded.

RJ lifted a golden brow. “Really? Do you usually have ‘nothing’ with you in the middle of the night?” Brody didn’t answer because he refused to feed into RJ’s anger. “I’m guessing she’s the one who’s got you so distracted lately. Oh yeah, you’ve been distracted,” RJ continued when Brody opened his mouth to argue. “The restaurant you work at? You know, the one you’re never at anymore? Yeah, I’m still tending bar there because you still haven’t hired a replacement for Anthony.”

Brody jabbed a finger at RJ. “You’d better shut up, while you’re ahead.”

RJ pushed away from the wall, set his cup down, and took a step toward Brody. Fury simmered just beneath the surface of his blue eyes. “It’s none of my business who you fuck. But I care when that woman has you so distracted that you couldn’t do the one thing I asked you to do.”

RJ’s harshly spoken words sent Brody’s blood to a low boil. Yeah, RJ was pissed. And, yes, he was worried sick about his sister and was probably just as exhausted as Brody was. But he was inappropriate, and Brody wasn’t going to stand for it.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were blaming me for Courtney’s accident,” he said through gritted teeth.

“If she’d been working tonight, instead of driving around, she wouldn’t be in the hospital fighting for her life.” RJ tossed out his accusation through tight lips. Brody stared down his younger brother and tried not taking the words personally. “And then you had to bring Miss Victoria’s Secret Model here, as if it weren’t bad enough that you were at home getting yourself laid while my sister was having her head bashed in.”

“You were right before. Who I’m fucking isn’t any of your business. And even if it were, I’d tell you that Elisa doesn’t have me distracted because she’s not important enough to distract me. The only reason why she’s here was because she insisted on coming, and I wanted to get here as quickly as possible instead of arguing with her.”