Page 59 of Playing with Trouble

“I—” My throat closed up and I forced myself to get the words out.“I have to go.My brother’s in the hospital and—”

Chase was already on his feet before I even finished the sentence, his expression tightening with concern.But I barely registered it.My pulse was roaring in my ears, my body already in motion, trying to hold myself together when I was frantic to get to Christopher.

We told my boss there was a family emergency, that my brother was in the hospital, then rushed out of the casino.Once we arrived, Chase stayed in the lobby while a nurse led me to Christopher’s room.

My heart was in my throat as I entered and rushed toward his bed.My first glimpse of him knocked the air from my lungs.He lay against the white sheets, one eye swollen shut, chest wrapped in bandages and gauze.His nose was definitely broken, and a livid bruise colored his jaw.

“Christopher.”I hurried to take his hand, careful not to jar him.

His good eye flickered open, unfocused but aware.“I…told them…not to call you,” he rasped, his voice hoarse and weak.

I wanted to ask himwhy the hell not.I was his sister, his only family, but I bit it back.Instead, I focused on him and his injuries.“What happened?”

“I’m…fine,” Christopher insisted, though every shallow and pained breath said otherwise.

“You’re clearly not fine.”My voice shook with equal parts fear and anger that someone had done this to him.“What happened?”I asked again.

He winced, turning his head slightly, looking away from me.“I said…not…to call anyone,” he wheezed.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes.He was deflecting, and that set off alarm bells in my gut because I recognized this defensive behavior.He was hiding something from me.I’d seen this look before, when he was a teenager and he’d gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd, trying to convince me everything was fine while the fear in his eyes said otherwise.

He'd never been good at lying to me, not completely.Whatever had happened, I was now fairly certain it hadn’t been random.Someone had done this to him for a reason, and he was terrified to tell me why.

“Christopher,” I said, softening my tone and imploring him to open up to me.“You’re not telling me something.I can see it.What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” he said, the kind of denial meant to shut me down, not reassure me.He was scared, not just hurt.And whatever he was keeping from me was big enough to make him risk lying to my face.

I hit my breaking point and snapped.“Bullshit,” I said, done trying to gently coax the truth from him.“Don’t you dare lie to me, not when you look like this.”My throat burned as I forced out the words.“You think I can’t tell when you’re scared?I know you, Christopher.I raised you more than Mom ever did.So don’t tell me it’snothingwhen someone clearly did this to you for a reason.”

He finally turned his head to look at me.I saw the guilt and pain in that single unbruised eye, and I knew I’d struck the truth he didn’t want to say out loud.

But he did anyway.“What’s been happening to you…” he started slowly, his voice cracking, “it’s my fault.”

My pulse stuttered.“What?”The word came out small, sharp, and disbelieving all at once.My mind scrambled to make sense of what he’d just said, but it didn’t fit.

I searched his face, desperate for some sign he was confused, that the pain meds were twisting his words, but the look on his battered face was clear.Haunted.Real.My stomach knotted as dread coiled through me.

“Christopher,” I whispered, more gently now.“What do you mean it’s your fault?”

He swallowed hard.“You remember those…guys I used to run with?”

The mention of them hit me like a punch to the chest.My whole body went rigid, the air seeming to thin around me.Those guys.The ones who’d nearly dragged him down years ago.The ones I’d thought he was finally free of.

“Yeah,” I said slowly.“I remember.You said you were clear of them.”

“I was.”He exhaled shakily, his voice trembling under the weight of what came next.“But they found out where I work.You know the crown that’s coming in, the one for the exhibit?It’s worth millions.Four million, actually.”His words came haltingly, every one of them heavier than the last.“They want me to help them steal it.”

I could literally feel the blood drain from my face, and for a moment, I couldn’t move.Couldn’t think.All I could do was stare at him, the brother I’d spent my life protecting, realizing he was tangled up in something that could ruin his life forever.

“You can’t,” I whispered, dread filling every inch of me.

“I told them no,” he said, his tone pained and raw.“They roughed me up a bit.I still said no.So they…went after you.”

My stomach dropped.“What?”

“The car that sideswiped you,” he went on.“They’ve been following you.They trashed your place.I think…they hoped you’d be home.”The agony on his face was real.“I don’t know if they really meant it, or if they were just trying to scare me.But they said they’d hurt you if I didn’t cooperate.”

Holy shit.My pulse thundered in my ears as I sat down in the chair beside the bed.I’d known something was off with my brother.Every instinct in me had screamed it, but I’d wanted to believe Christopher was good, that he finally had his head on straight and I could stop worrying about him.