The Guardian Mist by Susan Stoker Page B

being related to Roman in a heartbeat if she didn’t already know they were going to be showing up. They were both tall and handsome with dark hair, just like their brother. They had the same noses and seriously looked alike enough to almost be triplets.
    They burst through the doors like their Roman namesakes might have done when entering into battle. Mouths drawn into tight lines, worry furrowing their brows. Rin didn’t move, feeling awkward for the first time. She didn’t know these men, they didn’t know her.
    Luckily, Cassia didn’t have any reservations.
    She approached the two men, introducing herself as the mother of Roman’s girlfriend, and telling them that anything they could find out from the hospital staff would be appreciated, since they wouldn’t tell them anything because they weren’t related to Roman. The two men were obviously stressed out and devastated after hearing their big brother had been shot, but after they’d glanced over to where Cassia indicated, and saw Rin, they merely nodded in agreement before heading to the counter to speak to the employee sitting there.
    Rin knew she looked like hell, but she couldn’t imagine leaving the hospital for even a moment to go home and change. She glanced down at the ring, which she’d been obsessively turning on her finger over and over. Still crimson. Thank God. It gave her the small spark of hope she needed to know that Roman was still alive.
    After speaking with the nurse, Roman’s brothers came over to the corner of the room where Rin and her family were waiting.
    “You’re with Roman?” one of them asked, holding out his hand.
    “Yes. I’m Varinia. I’m guessing you’re his youngest brother, Gus?”
    He nodded. Pleasantries taken care of, he got down to business. “Can you tell us what happened? All we have are sketchy details.”
    Rin swallowed. The last thing she wanted to do was get into it all again, especially before knowing how Roman was. She wished she was meeting his brothers under different circumstances. “Of course. But first, please…can you tell me what you found out about Roman? They wouldn’t talk to us.”
    “He’s in surgery,” the other man told them. “The nurse said the bullet went into the top of his lung and bounced around inside his chest cavity. Her words, not mine.”
    Rin swayed in her seat as the imagery his words evoked raced inside her head.
    “Easy, Varinia,” Max told her, obviously seeing the impact his words had on her. He knelt in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “You’re as pale as the tiles on the floor. Take a deep breath.”
    Rin did as Roman’s brother suggested, feeling the blackness at the sides of her eyes recede. “He’s going to live though, right?” Her words were whispered to Max, a question, but more like a plea.
    “He’s going to live,” Gus confirmed from above them in a voice of steel. “My big brother isn’t a quitter.”
    Rin nodded. “He was protecting me. The guy was threatening to kill us both if we didn’t give him all our money and valuables. When the guy wouldn’t back off, and looked like he was about to shoot us, Roman rushed him.”
    It was as if Gus expected her words. “I figured as much.”
    Max held out a hand. “It’s good to meet you, Varinia.”
    She shook his hand solemnly. “Where are your kids? And wives?”
    “They’re on their way. We chartered a plane to get here as soon as we could. It only had two seats, so we grabbed ’em. Our parents, and the others, will be here as soon as they can. They’re driving out.”
    Rin nodded, relieved that she didn’t have to meet the whole Reese clan right this second. As kind and patient as his brothers were being, this wasn’t the way she really wanted to meet his family. “This is my mom, Cassia, and sister, Tina,” she told Max and Gus, gesturing to them.
    They all nodded at each other.
    Gus pulled a chair over from nearby and Max did the same. They sat huddled in