Chapter 58: Chapter 58

Reno could feel himself slowly going mad. The long flight back had made him irritable. He barked at the airhostess every time she approached him a seductive smile on her lips. Reno’s last straw was when she decided to sit next to him, taking every opportunity to rub her gigantic tits against his arm.

“My girlfriend is dying and you’re here trying to get me to fuck you?”

That warranted him a visit from the air marshal.

The two men were able to reach an agreement—Reno would keep his cool if they kept the horny attendant away from him. Reno had left his bags behind when he didn’t think he could handle waiting for them to come through the conveyor belt. It was a good thing Dennis had sent one of his men with the helicopter. In the air once more, Reno thought he could run faster that the chopper. The sound of the blades cutting through the air seemed to calm him down.

Now, three days later, he sat by Lisette’s bed waiting for her to wake up. He didn’t care she had slept with Michael; didn’t care she had betrayed him and her sister. All he wanted was to stare into her sunset stormy eyes and see her smile.

“She woke up the day you arrived. Just for a moment though. She asked for you. She was so worried you were in the car with her.” Reno stared at Rosalinda’s exhausted expression. He felt for the woman. She had her eldest daughter lying still, as white as the sheets covering her, fighting for her life, while her youngest was across the hall, a death sentence looming over her head.

“I shouldn’t have left her there.” Reno never expounded on his statement. Never, in the numerous times they had asked him, had he said why Lisette was at the Waldorf that night. The bigger mystery was why Lisette had been drinking—she had sworn off alcohol. He knew there was something AJ wasn’t telling him.

“She’s strong, my little girl. She’ll live, even if it’s just to tell you she loves you.” Rosalinda cupped Lisette’s limp palm against her cheek. “She’ll live. She has to. I can’t lose both my babies.”

“Catalella will be fine.” Reno tried to reassure her. AJ had told him that they had caught the cancer early. Catalella was already on radiation, a few sessions of that and she would get a transplant from AJ. Before they knew it Catalella would be as good as new. And maybe her new lease on life would make her realize that she was wasting her time with Michael. Reno had done everything to hold himself back from pummeling Michael to a pulp. He had only seen him once since he had arrived. Either the worm was staying out of his way, or he hadn’t been to visit his wife.

Reno looked up when AJ entered the room with his supervisor. The man didn’t look like he had slept for a year. AJ had taken residence at the hospital On-Call room. He was never too far from his sisters whenever they needed him.

“I see she’s still being stubborn,” AJ teased. “Hey, piggy, wake up or I’m going to shave all your hair.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Reno put in.

“If she doesn’t wake up, she’s going to end up bald.”

“Don’t worry, mija, I won’t let your brother do that to you,” Rosalinda said. “How is Catalella?”

“She’s asking for you.”

“I’ll be right back, piccolina. Reno will protect you from your brother’s threats.” Rosalinda gave Lisette a blessing then left.

Reno saw the looks AJ and his supervisor exchanged. There was something they didn’t want to tell Rosalinda. She didn’t take the news of Lisette’s drinking well, so whatever they were hiding was bound to drive her off the edge. “All right, let’s move past the bullshit and you tell me what is really going on with her.”

“Reno, you are like my brother. I just want you to be honest with me.” It was obvious AJ was struggling with what he wanted to say. “Are you and my sister sexually active?”

The question hit him like a ton of bricks. He took a step back. For a moment he thought about lying but he couldn’t. What if Lisette was pregnant? He couldn’t claim the baby as his. When Lisette woke up, she was bound to call him out on the lie. “No, we are not. Why?”

“I want to do a rape kit.”

“What?”

“Lisette had traces of Rohypnol in her blood. We were so busy trying to stabilize her we didn’t look at the lab reports. I’m so sorry,” AJ said.

“You think she was raped?” Reno could hear the hard beating of his heart fill his ears. Had he left Lisette alone after she had been assaulted by Michael? He thought back to that night…she had seemed to be out of it.

But Reno had thought the surprise of him finding them out was what had her in a daze. He could punch himself. No, not himself, but the bastard who had done this to her. “I’m going to kill him!”

“Who?”

“Michael Mathews.” Reno dropped into the chair his hands covering his face from the shame of looking into AJ’s eyes. His sister had been his responsibility. AJ had entrusted him with his little sister and Reno had let her get raped. Then he didn’t even stick around to make sure that she was all right. He had left. And now Lisette was lying in bed, a brace around her neck, her head and back. Lisette had fractured her spine, had a head injury. She had a broken arm, leg, and a couple of broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a tiny rip in her heart muscle. While he had been away pining about his broken heart, Lisette was literally broken.

“We have to tell the police,” The doctor put in.

“No, that’s not what Lisette would want. Catalella is sick and Lisette would want to protect her,” AJ said.

“She wouldn’t be against us taking matters into our own hands.” Reno and AJ exchanged a look—and that let him know AJ was on board. There was one thing he had to ask of AJ and expected the man to go against him. “Don’t do the rape kit. I know she’ll feel violated.”

“What you mean to say is that you don’t want it confirmed. You don’t want to upset my parents by making it public. I’m angry at you, Reno, but I know that there are things taken out of our hands.”

“She wouldn’t call me back, and when I found Michael with her, I assumed—”

“You assumed she was cheating on you. She hates Michael. Anyway, I’m glad you gave him a beating, but he’s due for another.”

“Agreed. Do you know when she’ll wake up?”

“The swelling in her brain has gone down. We reversed the medical coma we put her in. Now it’s up to her.” AJ stroked her hair lovingly.

“What about the body brace?”

“That will have to stay until her spine has healed. She needs to be as still as possible, to prevent further damage and allow her body to heal.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Reno growled.

“It’s a good thing he is in a hospital.”