Captain grins, grabbing his daughter. “Zo, we talked about this. We don’t blurt out everything we hear when we’re pretending to be asleep, remember?”

“But I like her, and Rora said no.” Zoey pouts.

I grin at Victoria. “You sleep in there every night. Why keep a room?”

“See, he wants it free for his girl.” Cap holds a hand out.

“Whoa, hey—”

“Don’t even start,” Victoria warns.

“Why not, maybe we should hear their thoughts?” Captain raises a brow.

“You, for sure, should hear my thoughts.” Raven laughs.

Victoria whips around. “You back off miss I’ll punch someone in the face to avoid talking.”

“I said I was sorry.” Raven grins. “And why are we bringing up old news?”

I cut a look at Brielle and her lips are pulled in, fighting a smile.

“Oh, I know!” Zoey shouts, bouncing on the trampoline and drawing our eyes back to her. She looks from me to Brielle. “You can share with Uncle Bro and when he sneaks me out of my room to watch movies at bedtime, you can come with us!”

Captain’s glare flies to mine and I widen my eyes. “Zo, you’re droppin’ secrets, girl.”

Zoey’s eyes widen, but instead of backtracking or pretending to be kidding, the girl who is too smart for her own damn good and fully incapable of telling a lie, slips from the netting and makes a run for the pool house, shouting for her papa all the way.

Brielle clears her throat with a small smile. “I should go.” She hooks a finger over her shoulder, walking backward toward the opening in the net. “Maybell is probably curious where I disappeared to.”

When all three of these assholes laugh, Brielle glances from them to me.

It’s Cap who puts his hands on her shoulder for a gentle pat and teasing ‘good luck with that’.

Dickhead.

But for real, she’s funny.

And going nowhere, which she realizes real damn quick.

It’s a couple hours later when Mac is racing up the driveway and charging right toward us.

My brothers and I stand.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Taylor Simms.” He glances between us. “She tried to kill herself.”

Holy shit.

Chapter 30

Royce

It’s after eight in the morning when Taylor is finally awake and coherent, according to the doc. Mac, Brielle, and I waited down here most of the night, but the others are just strolling into the waiting room.

“Zoey’s with dad?”

Cap nods. “And Raven. We wanted to have breakfast with her before we came down here, not knowing how long we’d be gone.”

“That’s good.” I look to Maddoc.

“Her and Phoenix are fine, man. I’m not going anywhere,” he answers my unasked question and refuses the order he knew I’d drop after it. “Run through it for us again.”

Mac rubs his hand down his face, exhausted. “She took some pills, washed ‘em down with a pint of her daddy’s best scotch. She called Enoch, and he knew something was off. He called 911 and headed over there.”

I pass him the note and he reads it aloud.

“I have tried to forgive myself for what I have done, but how can I do that when I don’t even remember what I did in the first place? He says I killed his dream, but why would I do that when we share the same one?” He sighs, looking up. “Why is this crumpled up?”

“Enoch knew where she kept her diary. He took it, tore that page out, and gave it to Mac.”

“Damn,” Victoria whispers. “So we were missing something.”

“Where is Enoch now?” Cap asks.

“I’ve got Micah and Jenson keeping him locked in a room down the hall. Didn’t want him to go off half-cocked again.”

“And Taylor?” Victoria asks, lifting Phoenix from Raven’s arms.

I nod, looking to Cap. “We had them bring her up to the Bray wing so she’s not bothered by people from the school, and so we can talk to her without anyone around when she’s up for it.”

“I don’t think she’ll talk to you guys.” Comes from Brielle, and all our eyes move to her. “Let me go to her.”

My brows snap to the center. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“It might be your only option.” She offers a small smile. “You’ll make her nervous and she’ll forget things or hold back. You guys are intimidating, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You scare the fuck out of me.”

She laughs, a softness in her eyes.

Around the room, my family looks between the two of us, and I know the shift is clear. They see.

“Trust me,” she whispers. “I’m... kind of good with this stuff.”

Captain steps up. “She’s right. Calm and caring ain’t our area.” He points a soft look at Brielle, one that reaches deep inside my chest. “This is perfect for her.”

Maddoc scowls. “Don’t forget you just ran over her dude’s fucking hand. She might hate you.”

Brielle glances his way, the corner of her mouth lifted a bit. “But he knows better than to tell who did it, right?”

Maddoc smirks. “That’s right. Just making sure you realized that before you went and apologized the second she looked at you.” He glares but it’s playful. “Seems like somethin’ you’d do.”

Brielle chuckles. “I’d probably have thought about it, yeah.”

Maddoc looks to me and tips his chin.

My girl, my call.

I frown at Brielle. “What are you gonna say to her?”

Brielle pushes to her feet and gives a slow shrug. “Nothing. I’m going to sit with her, and then let her say whatever she needs to say to me.”

She reaches for the note and Captain doesn’t hesitate in handing it over to her.

“I don’t get it.”

She steps up to me and pats at my chest with a hint of tease. “You don’t have to. You just have to trust me when I say it will work.”

She tries to walk by, but I grip her wrist, yank her back to me, lift her chin. “I do.”

“I know.” She smiles, pulls herself free, and walks out.

I follow her with my eyes, and when I look back, everyone is focused on me.

“Business, huh, Royce?” Victoria teases.

I flip her off with a smirk.

Fuck business.

That’s my baby.

Brielle

As I walk up to the door Taylor is behind, I find who must be her parents standing in front of it embracing. I consider walking away and giving them more time, but the man spots me when his teary eyes open.

He loosens his hold on the woman, and they both turn to me.

“Mr. and Mrs. Simms?” I guess.

They nod.

“I’m Brielle, I go to school with Taylor.”

Her mom begins to cry. “We feel like such failures.”

I nod, placing my hand on her arm. “Some people are very good at hiding. I was.”

I don’t break down what I hid as the situation is very different, but as I hoped it would, a little light sparks in her eyes. To see me standing here gives her some sort of hope when she feels so lost.