Rome

“Cancer. Fucking lung cancer. They’re calling in an oncologist right now, but it’s bad.”

I sucked in a breath and saw that Cora was shaking, too. That wasn’t good news.

“I’m so sorry, man.”

He blinked like he was in a daze and pulled away from my girl. He scrubbed his hands roughly over his bald scalp and started to pace back and forth like some kind of wild animal in a cage. I pulled Cora back into my arms and ran my hands up and down her back when I felt her tears slide against my neck where she shoved her face.

“I knew something was wrong. For months and months he’s been acting weird, not returning calls. He was all gung ho to get a new shop opened, and then that just fell off the map. I let it go and let it go. Hell, I thought he had a new girlfriend he didn’t want anyone to know about, but no, it’s motherfucking cancer. Jesus Christ, smoking. All from goddamn smoking.”

“Nash, take a breath. You don’t know how bad it is or if it’s treatable yet. Don’t jump the gun.”

He swore some more and kept moving rapidly back and forth in front of us. His nervous energy was like an electrical charge making the hairs on my arms stand up. I wanted to tell him everything would be fine, that it would all work out, but before I got the chance to say anything, a petite woman with jet-black hair, dressed like she had just left high tea, followed by a man who clearly wore a suit every day and bossed peons around for a living, burst into the small waiting room. I didn’t know who they were, but Cora went stiff in my arms and Nash stopped pacing. The look on his face would have been enough to frighten a herd of stampeding elephants, but not this lady. She shrieked, “Nashville. Oh, honey, the hospital just called us. Are you okay?”

She hugged him hard, and I didn’t miss that he didn’t return the gesture. He looked at me and then back at the woman, then purposely took a step away from her. I peeked at Cora, who mouthed “his mom,” and turned my attention back to the family drama that made the Archers look like the Brady Bunch.

“What are you doing here, Mom? Why would the hospital call you?”

The woman fiddled with the strap on her purse. I was having a hard time seeing any of Nash in her. She was small and pale of complexion; he might have inherited his dark hair from her, but that was all I could tell.

“I’m Phil’s next of kin on all his paperwork. The hospital had to call me. I’m also his power of attorney.”

Nash glared. “Why you? Why would he have you on all that stuff, Mom?”

The woman took a nervous step away from her obviously emotional and enraged son. “He was going to turn it all over to you once the final tests came back.”

You could’ve heard a pin drop. I felt Cora gasp and let go of her because I was actually worried I was going to have to physically restrain my brother’s best friend.

“You knew? You knew how sick he was?” Nash’s voice blasted across the hospital walls like a gunshot. The man that had followed his mom in—her husband, I assumed—went to take a step toward Nash, but I reached out a hand and shook my head.

“Wouldn’t do that, friend.”

He sneered at me and looked at my hand like it was covered in shit.

“And who are you?”

I lifted my eyebrow.

“I’m nobody, but if you think you’re going to get in the middle of that, I’m the guy that’ll be happy to stop you.”

His eyes slid over the top of my head, across my shoulders, and looked at where my pixie was shooting him the death glare from my side, where she was safely tucked away. Apparently he saw that I meant business because he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest like a sulking child.

“Nash.” The woman was pleading but he wasn’t having any of it.

“How long, Mom? How long has he been sick? How bad is it?”

She looked away and bit her lower lip. Nash put his hands on her slight shoulders and gave her a little shake. I thought for a second the hospital security might show up or the rest of the crew, but so far it was just us and Nash’s life unfolding in front of him.

“He got sick at the end of last year. They had to remove part of his lung. He didn’t want anyone to know. The doctors thought it was contained but it metastasized and spread. He’s in stage three. It’s possibly moved to his lymph nodes. He was waiting on the test results. He didn’t want you to worry, Nash.”

Nash swore long and loud, and Cora pulled away from me to go and soothe him.

“Worry! You don’t think a heads-up would’ve been nice before I stumbled across what I thought was his corpse? Jesus Christ, Mom!”

“You need to calm down.”

“The last thing I need to do is calm down. Why would he tell you all this and not me? I’m his family. Hell, I’m more his son than his nephew.”

I saw the woman flinch and the suit made a strangled noise in his throat. Cora narrowed her eyes at the woman, and at the exact same time as Rule and Shaw came racing into our little party from hell, the pretty nurse came back around the corner followed by Cora’s dad.

“Mom?” Nash’s voice was downright scary, and for being a typically mellow guy, he looked like he could take the hospital apart brick by brick if he wanted to right now. Rule took a step toward his buddy but I shook my head. The nurse walked up to Nash’s other side and put a hand on his shoulder. His gaze snapped to her and something in the lilac depths shifted fractionally.

“He’s awake and asking for you.”

“For me?”

She tilted her fiery head to one side and blinked up at him.

“He asked for his son. That has to be you, right? I mean you guys look identical.”

Nash’s mom gasped and looked like she was going to faint.

“Holy shit.” Rule’s outburst got him an elbow in the gut from Shaw and a dirty look from the suit.

“Nash.” Cora’s tone was stern and no-nonsense. “Now isn’t the time. We can work out all the details later. They don’t matter. You have to appreciate that he’s still here and focus on the now.” Her bright eyes danced over to me and then slid back to him. “Plus you can’t hit her and get away with it. I can.”

Saint—I still thought the nurse’s name suited her perfectly—hooked her arm through his and started to guide him away from the mess that particular bomb had left in the waiting room.

“I got you, Nash.” Her tone was kind, and instead of being brisk and businesslike, there was something else lurking in those dove-gray eyes.

“Do you?”

“I do.”

They went around the nurses’ station, and we all collectively turned and stared at Nash’s mom. I saw Cora cross her arms over her chest and stamp her foot. If this prissy lady thought this was over, she had another thing coming.

“Phil is Nash’s father, the father that supposedly took off when he was a baby?”

The woman looked at her husband and then around at all of us. Rule growled something under his breath and stalked toward her until he was right in her face. I saw her cower but I wasn’t going to intervene.

“How could you let him believe that lie? It tore him up, it made him feel lost. He loved Phil like a father all this time; hell, we all did, and neither of you could bother to share! Fuck you and f**k that piece of shit you picked over your son. You better hope to God Phil has a fighting chance to beat this, Ruby, or I will make sure your dirty laundry is spread all across the Front Range.”

The small woman bristled in that way only someone who thought they were inherently better than you could do.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Rule. I don’t owe any of you anything.” Her husband shoved past me and went to stand by her side. They both glared at us like we had something to do with this life-changing secret coming to light.

Cora came back over to me and curled back into my side.

“You’re wrong. Nash is ours, not yours. We love him, we take care of him, and we’re going to be the ones that help him through this. You didn’t want him, we do. I think you need to go. You are not wanted, or needed, here.”

The couple bristled and I could see they were going to put up a fight, when Cora’s father stepped around our motley crew and got between us and them.

“I know you don’t know me, but my name is Joe Lewis and Phil and I go way back.” They might not have known the sailor but they both had clearly heard of him. The fight visibly drained out of them. “I know all about you, Ruby, and you, too, Grant. I know your story, I know about the boy, and trust me, if you want any chance at making this right with your child, you will turn around and leave his family to take care of him. Am I making myself clear?”

Apparently he was, because with one last haughty look they turned and walked out of the waiting room without a backward glance.

Shaw let out a little whistle and fake-whispered, “Your dad is a serious badass.”

I snickered a little and dropped a kiss on top of Cora’s wild hair. “You come by it naturally.”

“So what now?” Shaw propped herself in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs and took out her phone.

“If Phil pulls through, they can work it out. If he doesn’t, I don’t know.” Rule’s voice sounded strained.

Cora kissed me on the cheek and wandered over to sit next to her friend. My brother arched one of his dark eyebrows and nudged me with his shoulder.

“So what was up with the hottie nurse? They know each other or something?”

“You guys went to school with her.”

“Ah … no, I didn’t. If I went to school with a chick that looked like that, I would’ve remembered … don’t tell Shaw I just said that.”

I snorted because that was typical Rule. “She’s Saint.”

He frowned in confusion. “She’s a saint?”

“No, her name is Saint, but she might be a saint as well.”

I sure hoped she was because it looked like Nash was going to need all the help he could get dealing with this particular mess. Sure, he had all of us in his corner and at his back, but there was no denying that a saint might come in handy.