Page 75 of Say it Ain’t So

“Jen?” Out in the hallway stood our very pregnant accountant and her husband, Vinny Leonetti. “What’s going on?”

Jen gave me a smile that felt off. “Hey Joss. Mind if we come in?”

“Sure, sure. Come on in.” I stepped back immediately, worried something was wrong with her or her baby. “Are you doing okay? Do you need help?”

Vinny shut the door behind them, then turned his attention to me. “Why don’t we sit down?”

I glanced at my second-hand couch, then at the too-fancy-for-four-a.m. clothes that Vinny was wearing, and self-consciousness hit me like a baseball bat. This millionaire was too far removed from my measly lifestyle to be here right now, asking to sit on my ratty furniture. I motioned that way, my gut churning as I waited for Jen to take a seat. She patted the cushion beside her, then motioned to me to join her on the couch.

Once I was seated, she gave me another of those smiles, and it had my shoulders rising toward my ears even as I clutched my hands in my lap.

“What’s going on?” I repeated. “Is everything okay?”

“There’s been a, umm… an accident,” Jen started before she was reaching to cover my hands with one of hers. “Everyone’s okay, but…”

“But what?” I asked as a chill raced through me.

Vinny tugged at his shirtsleeves and cleared his throat. “Rylan was shot in the leg.” He held up his hands and stepped forward before I even realized I’d stood up. “It’s okay, Joss. He’s going to be alright.”

My legs shook and I felt like I was going to collapse. I could barely speak through the ache in my throat. “What happened?”

Jen grabbed my hand again, holding it gently as I lowered myself to the couch. “There was a shootout at the warehouse they went to. Rylan caught a bullet as they were advancing on the room they had Levi in. But they had a doctor with him, Joss. Rylan had medical treatment within minutes of getting hit. He’s going to be okay.”

He’s going to be okay.

Could I believe that? When everything inside of me told me this could happen, could I believe that I could keep Rylan now that I finally had him again?

I wasn’t sure I could.

My mind raced. I glanced toward my fish tank and saw Gary tucked in the corner, asleep. No one knew about Rylan and I being together. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about it since I confessed my love for him, because that in itself seemed monumental. I couldn’t let on that we were anything more than friends, not without talking to him first.

“Is everyone else okay?” I asked, dragging my gaze back from the tank, my voice barely squeezing out.

Vinny gave a smile that was somehow more comforting than the one his wife wore. “Everyone else is fine. They found Levi and brought down a financial scheme that could have cost thousands of people their livelihoods.”

My eyes burned and I blinked repeatedly to try to stem the flow of tears. “Good. That’s good.”

“Oh, Joss.” Jen wrapped her arms around me, and those damn tears drenched the fabric of her coat. “He’s going to be okay.”

“No…I…” I pulled away and wiped the heel of my palm across my cheeks. “I’m just…”

I couldn’t even force myself to say it. That I was glad no one else was hurt. There was no room for that gratitude in my heart. Not right now.

Still. I summoned up the lie. “I’m glad no one else is hurt. Thank you for coming to tell me.”

Jen’s face crumpled for a split second before she was looking over her shoulder at her husband. Vinny perched himself on the arm rest at her back, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay, Joss.” Jen grabbed my hand again. My hand, which was wet with tears.

“I’m sorry.” I pulled away and grabbed a tissue out of the box under the coffee table. “It’s just… overwhelming. And I’m…” I wiped my eyes and blew my nose. “I’m just really emotional right now. The guys are my family. I’d feel this way about any of them.”

“Would you?” Jen asked, and that one question had my eyes going wide as my heart thudded in my chest.

“Of course!” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Of course, I would!”

“It’s interesting,” Vinny said, tugging at his sleeves once more. “Zoë and I were digging into backgrounds—it’s something she does for fun.” Zoë, the hacker who’d unearthed the truth about Levi’s whereabouts and found him when Lee, Vinny, and their friends hadn’t been able to in over a year. “And we happened to find that Rylan Dennis is married.”

It felt like someone was squeezing the life out of me, my entire body growing heavy and weak.