Page 28 of Ozzie

“Sure,” I say, then shut down my computer. I grab my purse and crutches and swing myself to the door.

He goes out to make sure it is all clear. “It’s good,” he says.

Fortunately, he was able to park close because I’m not moving very fast on these crutches. We are almost at the car when we pass a man on the sidewalk.

“Excuse me. Are you Piper Moreau?”

Durango spins around to the man. “Who the hell are you?”

I manage to half-turn around.

The man is holding an envelope. “I was told to give this to you,” he says, holding it out to me.

I take it while balancing on my crutches. “What is it?” I ask.

“A lawsuit. You have been served,” the man says. Heglances at Durango, who growls. The man turns and runs away.

A lawsuit?

I rip open the envelope and scan it. “John’s suing me.”

“Let me see that.” Durango takes the papers from me. He scans it, and his body tenses. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. John is suing you, claiming you caused him bodily harm.” Durango shakes his head. “I’ll fucking show him bodily harm.”

“No. You can’t. His family will sue you for everything you have. How do you think John learned to be this way?”

Durango shoves the papers back into the envelope. “Let’s go home. I need time to calm down before I call Reed to see if his dad can help.”

Reed’s dad, Jerry, is the company’s attorney. He’s a very nice man, but I doubt I can afford him. On the ride home, I read over all the papers.

“If John thinks this is his way of getting my parents’ money, he’s sadly mistaken. They cut me off.”

My cousin glances over at me. I hadn’t told him that part. He assumed I wasn’t willing to take money from my parents. I wouldn’t. Even if they offered.

“John is doing this to control you. I’d bet money on it. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

I lean my head back. He’s right. John is controlling. And I won’t give him the satisfaction of giving this ridiculous lawsuit my attention. Well, other than finding an attorney who can get it dismissed.

“You understand what you are doing is trying tocontrol me too?” I glance over, and Durango grasps the steering wheel tighter.

“It’s different.”

“Is it?” I ask. “It’s my life, and while I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe, trying to prevent me from dating who I want is going too far.” I stop short of telling him my plans to move out.

He’s silent for the rest of the drive back. When we get back to the house, Durango leads me in, and while he might appear as the doting cousin to anyone else, I don’t miss how his eyes roam over every space, looking for anything out of place.

“All good?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah, all good. I’m going to call Reed, then make us some dinner.” He leaves without a word about what we discussed in the car.

I check my phone. No new messages from Ozzie. Not that I should expect any. We talked last night, and he told me he would be leaving for an assignment early this morning and wasn’t sure how long it would be.

Ozzie told me he likely wouldn’t be able to check in. I secretly hope he can. Although the last thing I should do if he does call is mention John and what’s going on. He’d stew on it, and according to my cousin, the guys need to be focused on their assignment.

I haven’t spoken to my sister since all of this happened. John might have told our small town the lies he has in this lawsuit. News travels fast there. When I was in middle school, if I sneezed in the grocery store, my mom would be waiting at home with some cold medicine for me to take.

For a moment, I let myself sink into memories of when my mom actually seemed to care about me. She hasn’t called to ask how I’m doing at all. It’s possible Durango didn’t tell her I was shot.

My head falls back, and I stare at the ceiling. No, I need to not let my mind go there. As much as I hope one day my parents will treat me as a daughter they love, that’s unlikely to happen. All I have to do is look at how they treat my sister to confirm that. I’m sure they know and simply don’t care.

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