Which was nothing yet.
He noted that everyone in the room was young, which meant they were siblings. Over time, others arrived, too, spouses of Sienna’s brothers and sisters. This family definitely hovered over one of their own. Then again, if Sierra ended up in a hospital, all of her brothers would be there in a heartbeat.
Finally, there was a slightly older woman with blonde hair, who definitely resembled Sienna, sitting in the corner. Ethan pegged the woman as Sienna’s mother. Only Alex Dare, who Ethan recognized from his football-playing days, and a blonde woman Ethan assumed was his wife, comforted her.
Recalling the family dynamic and explanation he’d been given last night, Ethan realized the full-blooded Dares might be close with Sienna, but her mother was still the outsider. The other woman. The dirty little secret.
He muttered a curse aimed at himself, as he realized just why Sienna had reacted the way she had to his proposition.
Now that the excitement of her initial fainting had worn off and the large group of Dares congregated together, Ethan was left alone with his thoughts, and they weren’t good ones. Hospitals reminded him of Mandy. There had been her shoulder surgery and the opioids she’d been given as painkillers after.
She’d gotten addicted and Ethan had been too preoccupied with work to notice. Then the long months she’d been in California overseeing the Keystone project. Even when they’d seen each other in between, he hadn’t realized she wasn’t herself. Or if he had, he’d been too busy to really notice what was in front of him. Until the night he’d come home and tried to wake her up. Except she’d overdosed and was dead. He shuddered at the memory, not liking how Sienna’s passing out in his arms had taken him back to that time.
“How are you holding up?” Olivia Rhodes had walked over and asked, obviously taking pity on him.
“I’m fine. Just concerned about Sienna, like everyone else,” he said.
Olivia nodded in agreement. “You caught her before she fell. If not for you, she might have hit her head. Then we’d have a concussion to deal with on top of whatever else, so thank you.”
“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.” He ducked his head, not meeting her gaze, afraid he’d give something away.
Before she could reply, a doctor in a white medical jacket walked into the room. “Sienna Dare’s family?”
The entire room lifted their heads.
“She’d like to see her mother.”
“Is she okay?” Ian strode over to the doctor, his domineering presence all but demanding answers.
The older man tipped his head. “And you are?”
“Her brother. Now is she okay?”
The other man nodded. “She is. Preliminary bloodwork is all good. She asked me to tell you all that. Now is her mother here? She said she’d asked someone to call her.”
The woman who Ethan had thought was Sienna’s mom rose from her seat and headed back to see her daughter.
Ian began pacing, and this time it was Ethan who took pity on someone.
He walked over and faced the other man. “Is there anything I can do?” It seemed like a ridiculous question considering an entire horde of people were here who were closer to Sienna than Ethan.
Ian tipped his head and Ethan followed him to a private corner of the room. “I’m sure you’re wondering why the entire family would show up over a simple fainting spell?”
“I didn’t think it was my business to ask, but yes. My brothers would be there for my sister but this is…”
“Excessive?”
Ethan chuckled. “You could say that.”
“Sienna had childhood leukemia,” Ian said, and all the air left Ethan’s lungs.
“I’m sorry, what?” He had to have heard wrong.
Ian merely nodded. His hands in his pants pocket, his stress very raw and real. “Leukemia. Ultimately we were all tested and Avery was a match. She donated bone marrow and saved Sienna’s life.”
Ethan needed a chair because he thought it likely he might faint. His fragile, beautiful woman had endured all that as a child?
“I had no idea.”
“She doesn’t like to talk about it with just anyone. She feels like she’s put it behind her and only wants to focus on the present and the future.”
Head still spinning, Ethan said, “I understand that.”
“I appreciate you coming. I know this isn’t what you signed on for when you said you’d stay to oversee the stadium project.”
Ethan lowered himself into a chair and Ian followed, sitting beside him. “The Knights are very family oriented. I understand,” he assured the man. “The doctor said the preliminary bloodwork was good?” Ethan needed to be certain he’d heard correctly.
“Yes.” Ian let out a relieved breath. “We have no reason to believe it will come back. It’s been fifteen years. But we still tend to panic. And baby her.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I … I was the worst behaved when I found out that my father had other children. Another family. And I didn’t come around until just recently. Ever since Riley opened my eyes, I’ve been trying to more than make up for my behavior.”