Page 7 of Fracture

“But he doesn’t know her. Does he? Do you? Do you know Lorelei?”

Vinnie shook his head. “No, ma—Raina. I don’t. We’ve never spoken before this. I was on the SWAT Team that helped bring in Trevor Davis, and I’ve been called in for some of the other things happening, but Lorelei doesn’t know me. Traumatic brain injuries are complicated, and most people who suffer from them take a while to figure things out. When one person imprints on them, it’s encouraged for that person to be their buffer. Their contact. I have no intention of keeping any of you from seeing Lorelei or from negatively affecting her at all. I only have her best interests at heart.”

“And you think the best thing for her is rest?” Braden asked.

Vinnie met his gaze and nodded. “I do. She will need lots of help. She will need every single one of you to be there for her. I know you’re all anxious to see her tonight.”

“We thought we lost her,” Jessica whispered.

“I understand. And I know it’s important to all of you to see for yourself she’s alive. I will ask her if she’s up for visitors, but I reserve the right to throw you all out as soon as I suspect she needs a break.”

“We can respect that,” Cade said. “We’re not going anywhere. We will be around to do whatever Lorelei needs.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. She’ll need a lot of help. But her recovery needs to be on the doctor’s timeline so she has the best chance at healing.”

Raina snorted. “You definitely don’t know her if you think she’s going to wait for anything.”

“I’ve seen her in action. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. I have no doubt she will push the doctor’s orders and will be back at it before she’s supposed to be because Lorelei Sloane is not the kind of woman you can keep down. But that also means she’s at risk for setbacks. If she ignores what the doctors say, she’s at greater risk and could never fully recover.”

“He’s right,” Braden said. “We learned a lot about TBIs in our training. Lorelei is going to hate it, but she will need to take some things slow.” Braden turned to Adam. “We trust him?”

Adam nodded. “Without a doubt. I’ve read his whole record, and it’s impeccable. He’s on SWAT because he’s damn good at what he does. Never even one mark on his record. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s the only one Lorelei will listen to, too.”

“I find it hard to believe she’ll listen to anyone,” Jessica said.

“You’d be surprised.” Adam turned to Vinnie again. “Will you go back in and see how she’s doing and if she’s up to anyone else seeing her?”

Vinnie nodded, moving through the group with the awareness that it was an excuse for them to talk about him without him in the room. Not that they had any trouble talking about him while he was there, but he didn’t want to know what else they were going to say.

Besides, being away from Lorelei, even for fifteen minutes, made him anxious. He wanted to see for himself that she was okay.

Lorelei stared at the door when Vinnie walked out. She felt like a piece of her was missing without him by her side. She couldn’t explain it, but she figured that was part of her injury. Another thing she couldn’t explain.

“How are you really doing?” the woman in the chair asked. Karli. Her cousin.

Lorelei didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel like. “I’m okay,” she settled on, knowing it was a benign answer that would likely appease her cousin.

Karli pursed her lips. She was familiar, like the woman Lorelei saw in the mirror, but any memory of the woman was out of reach. “Want to tell me about the hottie who found you?”

“Back off,” Lorelei blurted.

Karli smirked. “So you do like him. I thought so. The way you looked at him told me. You always wore your expressions on your face. You learned to hide them over the years, and the training, but I could always read you.”

“You’re wrong. And Vinnie is just doing his job. He found me because I was missing.”

Karli’s brows went sky high. “You don’t know, do you?”

“I thought we established I don’t know a damn thing.”

Karli snorted. “Sorry. And true. But about Vinnie. He didn’t come here because he was ordered. His boss is pissed. He left. Didn’t tell anyone where he was going or what he was doing, just came here because some instinct told him to.”

“I thought he was sent to find me.”

Karli shook her head. “Nope. He came on his own.”

“But he saved me. He helped me. He’s… he’s police, right? Isn’t he?” The machine beeped faster and faster. Lorelei struggled to breathe properly. Everything hurt, like she was trapped.

Who was she supposed to trust? Who was really there to help her? To make sure everything was okay? Was she even who they said she was? What if everyone was lying to her?