Suddenly worried she’d had an accident, I asked, “Shit, did you get thrown by one of the horses? Did Remy call the doctor?”
Addy didn’t make a sound, but her fingers spasmed between my own, making me look over at her. She wasn’t smiling or laughing, but there were crinkles around her eyes, showing her amusement at something before she looked down at her feet.
Stopping in front of us, Marni shot the top of Addy’s head a poisonous look, and then her expression changed to one of hurt and vulnerability as she met my eyes.
“Yeah, I, um, I hurt my hip falling off of Kigali, but I can deal with it.” She reached out for me but stopped before she made contact with my chest, most likely because I was staring at her hand. “Would you have a second to talk to me? It’s important.”
Pulling Addy into my side, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Sure. What’s up?”
Marni’s jaw slid to the side, and her nostrils flared, showing how irritated she was with my obvious intent to keep Addy with us.
“Alone.”
Addy’s head shot up. “I’ll just go and—”
Giving her a gentle squeeze, I shook my head. “It’s cool, Marni. You can talk in front of Adrienne. She might be able to give you a woman’s perspective. If you’d like, you can have a drink with her and Santana later and see if having some female friends weighing in on whatever it is will help.”
I wasn’t expecting it, but the sharp pinch on my side made me grunt. Shit, it was as bad as when my brothers had done it when we were kids. I was going to have a bruise.
“Yeah, no, not happening.” Marni’s upper lip lifted in a sneer which rubbed me the wrong way.
Kissing the top of Addy’s head, I whispered in her ear, “Go and see Gibraltar and Rocky, baby. I’ll meet you there.”
The gratitude in the smile she shot me would have usually made me laugh, but I was too pissed. I was even too pissed to find the speed she ran to the stable with funny and the way Remy looked out of the open doors only seconds later, then the puking gesture he made.
Crossing my arms in front of me, I growled, “What’s so important then, Marni? I’m listening.”
Dropping her head forward, she looked at her feet for a moment, and when she raised it again, she had tears in her eyes. “You hate me, don’t you?”
I knew I had that irritating butt between my eyebrows, but I was so confused by the question, I couldn’t stop myself frowning. “What?”
Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she blinked out the tears, but none reappeared in her eyes after the first rolled down her cheeks.
“You hate me. I guess- I guess I just miss my brother. I keep having nightmares, and I’m so scared for him. I’ve been trying to get through to him for weeks, but he hasn’t replied. You’re the closest thing I’ve got to Jayden, so I thought you’d be like a big brother to me when I came here.”
It took me a moment to find the words because I had to wrestle between being a caring guy and being a harsh one who called her out on her bullshit. If it hadn’t been for Jayden telling me he couldn’t get through to her, I’d have gone with the former persona. But I knew too much, so I couldn’t. I also couldn’t go with the latter because maybe part of her did miss and worry about him.
God, why had we said we’d help her out instead of suggesting other places she could go to?
“Marni, I just spoke to Jayden not long ago, and he said you weren’t answering or replying to the messages he’s sent you,” I said slowly. “Now, if you want to talk to him to make sure he’s okay, I’d suggest starting there.”
She blinked up at me, her eyes widening momentarily. “Oh, I lost my phone.” When I looked down at the one poking out of the front pocket of her jeans, she waved her hands around. “I bought a new one, obviously. Who can live without a phone?”
I couldn’t say for sure what I was about to say was correct, but I went with it anyway. “That’s the same one you’ve had since you started here, is it not?”
“No,” she said, doing her best to look confused. “I’d never ignore my brother, so that doesn’t make sense. If I had my phone the whole time, why wouldn’t I reply to him?”
Done with going around in circles and dealing with this bullshit again, I ground my teeth together. “Marni, what the fuck’s really going on? Ever since you got here, you’ve been acting weird.”
When she opened her mouth, I knew exactly what she was going to say and answered her before she could ask the question.