But right now, she was just my mom in a medically induced coma.
I sucked in a deep breath and took Sadie’s hand in mine. We weren’t an affectionate family. The Ashby clan did not greet one another with hugs. We were not the hand-holding type of family, but we loved each other fiercely.
“I’m still looking for the asshole who did this to you, and I won’t stop until I find him.” My voice was breaking, but what the fuck. She couldn’t hear me. But I needed her to. “In the meantime, I need you to focus on getting better so you can get back to annoying the shit out of me.”
Those words surprised a laugh out of me because that was the truth. We were too much alike to work together in bland peace. We argued and fought.
About everything.
“The business is fine,” I assured her because wherever the fuck her mind was, she’d want to know that. “And I’ll make sure it stays that way.”
She didn’t move, didn’t twitch, she didn’t do a goddamn thing except lay there. I didn’t even know if she could hear me, but I talked because the doctors said it couldn’t hurt.
“The strange fucking part of all of this is that I have no clue who did this. Savannah is no longer a problem, not as long as Charlie can keep her in check. The Black Jacks are no more. The Crusaders are a non-issue.”
Those weren’t the only Ashby enemies, of course, but those were the most likely suspects. “Who the fuck could it be?”
There was always a chance Addison Beck had run her mouth, and one of Mueller’s family members or even a fucking FBI agent had done it. Still, I needed proof, something tangible, before I took my revenge.
I sat there with her soft hand in mine for more than an hour, mind whirling with possibilities of who would be stupid enough, brave enough, to take a shot at Sadie Ashby. I had to focus on finding this asshole.
So do it. That’s what Sadie would say. She would flash a sardonic smile; one brow arched in a challenge and ask me what the fuck I was waiting for. Then she would hit me with one of her ridiculous gems.
“Like that little green fucker said, do or don’t do. There is no try.”
I laughed and pulled out my phone. “You’re absolutely right.” It was time to be the leader my family needed me to be. “Virgil? Yeah, family meeting. Tonight. Spread the word.”
I brushed a kiss to my mother’s forehead and took long, purposeful strides out of the hospital. Time to get shit handled.
By the time I made my way to the manor, the family had gathered around the dining room table. They weren’t as loud as they usually were, everyone subdued in Sadie’s absence.
“Hey.”
“Mexican food? Seriously?” Kat glared at me, her blue eyes narrowed to angry slits. “Not even good Mexican food cooked by the professionals in our kitchen?”
She shoved a platter of fish tacos away like it had bugs on it. “Just garbage-ass food.”
I rolled my eyes at her histrionics. “No Sunday dinners until Sadie wakes up.”
“Then might I suggest we do these family meetings over brunch?” She reached across the table and grabbed a bowl of guacamole. “Good guac, though,” she said and shoved a spoonful into her mouth.
“Nasty,” Virgil growled and looked at Terry. “How do you stand this pig?”
Terry shrugged. “I love it when my girl gets nasty.”
Virgil flipped him off and Terry laughed. It was good to see, given our present situation and the purpose of this meeting. “That’s my sister, asshole.”
“She’s my wife, dick.” Terry kissed Kat’s cheek, and she continued to eat the guac with a fucking spoon.
I took my seat at the table, redirecting the focus away from Sadie’s empty chair. “Are you pregnant or something? Because that might change what I have to say.”
Terry looked at Kat with another mound of mashed avocado halfway to her mouth. “Well?”
She shoved it into her mouth and took her sweet-ass time chewing.
“No, not pregnant. It’s called stress eating, boys. You know, because my mom is in a goddamn coma?”
With her words, eating resumed, and I relaxed in my chair. “Okay, then. I need everyone to step up while Sadie’s in the hospital.”
My gaze landed on each of my siblings. Kat’s blue eyes were defiant. Virgil nodded, ready to step up and do whatever was needed of him. Cal was there, silent and brooding but present. Terry nodded, a loyal non-blood brother I knew I could count on to have my back. Always.
Kat sighed. “Why? You’re in charge of everything anyway.”
It was a sore spot between us, had been since she came home after college and found herself working for me instead of with me. Beside me.
“Because Kat, I need to find who the fuck did this, which means I need you all to pick up the slack.”