"Mrs. Bradford said they've just landed and are heading to the house." Sarah pokes her head in to tell Blake the latest.

Blake nods to Georgia's new assistant. Sarah's been a part of the family for years and now she's Georgia's left hand. Laney is still Georgia's right hand. She has been since she came to America from Ireland. But Georgia is busier than ever between the company and my father's drama and the rest of the family. Georgia is one on a very short list of people who will never let me down, Blake and Emma fill that list at the top. The rest of my family is there too. Except my dad. He's let me down at every turn.

"Thanks Sarah. Let Ma know I'll get Aiden to the house as soon as he's released." Blake quietly informs her.

"I should be there now." I grumble again as Sarah leaves us.

"Knock it off. You didn't know what happened to her dad. You thought she was coming to the game." Blake growls, having heard me bitch about this all night. "Stop the fucking sulking!"

"I was pissed off at her for it!" I can't help kicking myself for getting mad with Riley. I should have known she would only not show because something was wrong.

And it did go very wrong. All of it. Riley's dad is dead. A drunk driver hit him. I'll be missing the combine. My right arm is in a sling. It hurts like hell because I wasn't focusing on the game. My mind was on Riley and Williams kicked my ass right there for all to see. Now I'm still seeing stars, thanks to that bastard.

The results came back this morning according to Lance and Cade. He was on some steroids that put him in an aggressive state. The guy's got a bad temper to start with adding this to a volatile personality, he was a bomb waiting to blow. And he did, my situation is the result.

I could have struggled through the combine with my shoulder if I'd been able to go. I could have at least made a decent show and gotten drafted. Now my entire career is up in the air. Who wants a quarterback with a bum arm? Who wants a bad boy who gets into fights on the field with his own teammates? No one.

"Good morning, boys!" Grace waltzes in with a beaming smile on her face. I've never seen anyone who enjoys their job more than she does. "Well, good news for you, kiddo. You're going home today. But no football for a while. You have to have surgery, Aiden. If you don't listen this time, you won't play again."

"I know. I just want to get home for Riley. She needs me." I haven't heard from her. I haven't talked to her since yesterday morning, before everything hit the fan. I should have called her. "I need to see her."

Grace reaches over and takes my hand. Gently, she begins to massage it. Acupressure, she helps alleviate the stress with pressure points. She did the same thing for Blake many times over the years. I have his temper. The Bradford temper.

"Georgia has her. Trust me, she's in good hands. You'll be home today and can be there for her once they're back. You can't change what's happened, Aiden. But you are right, Riley needs you. She's lost her family. She has us. But her dad's gone, she needs you to be strong for her." Grace calmly encourages me in the right direction. She's always done that. Kincade was lucky to have her for a mom.

"When can I get out of here?" I ask as Grace starts examining me. Looking at the cut on my head, the bruises on my face, my ribs, my shoulder. I wasn't kidding about getting the shit kicked out of me. I was lucky my family was there to pull Williams off me before he killed me.

"Soon. I'm just waiting for the doctor to sign off. But I mean it, Aiden. You need to take it easy." She raises her eyebrows at me, knowing I'm not good at doing nothing.

"I promise, Grace. I just want to get to Riley." It's a promise I'll keep. I just want to lay in bed and hold my girl. I want to take away her pain.

"He won't get a choice, Grace. Between all of us, those two won't be able to lift a finger without us knowing it." Blake assured her.

"And no wrestling around with the boys!" Grace puts that mothering tone into her voice.

"I just want Riley." Muttering to myself, Blake gives my good shoulder a squeeze.

"You better learn some patience. From what Ma said, Riley isn't taking things so well. She might push you away." The warning isn't the first one I've heard since last night.

Hunter told me that Riley was a wreck when she had called her. Grandma was already with her and answered Riley's phone. She said Riley has barely said anything, won't talk, won't eat, doesn't sleep. Her world just imploded. I'd be the same way if I lost Blake or Emma.

"She doesn't have to talk. I just want to be there when she's ready." I hope she'll talk to me but if she doesn't, I'll still be there. I'm not giving up on her.

"Riley is going to need time. The pain isn't going to go away overnight but it will get easier for her to deal with. Just tell her you love her, Aiden and keep telling her until she can say it to you." Grace advises me. She would know. Grace lost both her parents at a young age. She was alone when she was diagnosed with cancer and Jake fought for her when she pushed him away. I trust she knows what she's talking about.

"I'll be back as soon as I can with your release papers and your instructions for the next few days." Grace touched my hand and nodded to me. "Don't lose hope."

One of the most caring and smartest women I know. Grace has been through hell, yet she's always positive and encourages me to keep moving forward. I'm lucky. All of us are to have these amazing women in our lives. The Bradford women have to be strong to deal with us. Even my mom, who I haven't seen since last night. She's strong in her own way.

"She's at the house with the others, Aiden. Your mom's been through the ringer too. Watching you get your ass handed to you last night was hard on her. It scared her and Em." Blake has always been able to read my mind. It's a little scary to know that.

"I'm sorry." I mean that. I would never want to scare them or hurt them that way.

"You need to get your mind in the right place before we get to the house. Riley's gonna take one look at your face and freak when she sees the bruises. Make sure you can tell her you're okay and mean it." Blake knows what this is like. He's not going to steer me wrong.

"I will. Thank you, Blake. For being here, for always being here for me." I mean that too.

"I'm always here for you, kid. Always." Pulling me into a hard hug, something Blake rarely does, I hold on. "You scared me too. Don't do that again, okay? Just don't."

I hope I never do. It takes a lot to get Blake freaked out and I'm just realizing what last night did to him. The adrenaline rush is gone now, the emotions of the night are taking hold. I scared the entire family, it's probably good Riley wasn't there.

It was longer than I hoped and by the time I nagged at Grace for a fourth time, I was getting released. Blake and Emma were bringing me home and Matt was already at work to get me a chance of getting drafted. He has been working on it but he's pushing even harder now that I won't be at the combine.

By the time we got back to the family house on the cliffs, my family had converged. They were all there waiting for us. Mom and Isabelle are with Viv in the kitchen cooking a feast, the guy's are down in the game room playing Assassins Creed, and the girls are huddled together upstairs with Riley.

"Oh my lord!" Grandma puts her hand over her heart as she rushes over to me. "What did that boy do to you? Cade! Tell me that child is in custody for assault?"

"Yes, ma'am. He was arrested last night after we got the tox results. He doesn't remember doing it." Cade elaborated telling us that Williams cried like a baby when he learned the damage he'd done. Serves the jerk right. Hopefully he won't be stupid enough to do drugs again.

"Good! My baby, you come back to the kitchen and we'll get some food in you. Emma said you wouldn't eat at the hospital." Georgia linked her arm through mine and started to pull me through the house.

Stopping at the base of the stairs I looked up, knowing that's where I want to go. I want to go to Riley. Grandma turns to me, understanding what I'm thinking about.

"Honey, she's sleeping right now. She's had a rough night. Jake gave her something to help her get some rest. She needs it. Hunter and the girls have her. She's going to have a hard time for a bit. But she's not alone. She's one of us now." Grandma makes sure I know she's going to take care of Riley.

"So you brought in another stray." The cold voice from behind us, made me curl my hands into tight fists. Looking at my father standing in the doorway, I glared, turning to face him. "You need to let her deal with her own problems. We aren't a fucking charity, Mother."

"What are you doing here? Haven't you done enough damage to this family? Are you drunk?" I could smell the liquor five feet away on my dad's breath.

"You look like hell. Guess you're not going to the combine." He ignores my questions and goes to the wet bar and pours himself a drink he obviously doesn't need. "Good. Now you can focus on the company. You've got a place there, an office at the top."

"The company isn't your concern. I fired your ass, remember? You should have come to the hospital last night to support your son! He needed you then. What is wrong with you!?" Blake storms into the room, knocking the drink out of his hand and slamming my dad against the wall. "You've got a lot of balls coming here after what you've done."

"I would have been there, but I was out of town, dealing with my unappreciative son's other problem. That girl doesn't belong here. She needs to go home, so Aiden can get his life back." Dad ignores us as if everything is just as it used to be.

"What do you mean you were out of town? Where were you?" Blake asked as my stomach dropped, churning with dread.

"You." I knew the answer before I asked the question. "You went to see Riley's dad?"

"I was only going to offer him enough money to get his daughter out of our lives for good!" Adam mumbles but all of us heard him.

"What!? You were what?" The sheer astonishment that he tried to do this is appalling. Blake grabbed dad by his lapels and slammed him into the wall. "What did you do?"

"What I had to!" He pushed Blake away from him. Straightening his jacket and tugging on the cuffs. "It's not like you were going to do the hard stuff, the ugly, the necessary. That girl is below Aiden. It's time he moved on."

"That girl is my future. She's not going anywhere. And she's better than you are. She's better than me!" Waving my anger aside, dad bends down to get his glass.

"You're settling again, Aiden. I would expect you to play with those kinds of girls but not to think of them as a future. I can still make the deal with Greer work, and save the company." He's delusional. Completely out of his mind if he thinks I'm going to walk away from Riley.

"You were the driver." Grandma whispers, not wanting to believe her son would do this. "Riley couldn't understand why her father would be out driving on the freeway. But you were why. You were the one who hit Ben, you killed that poor girl's father."

The accusation sat cold in my stomach making me sick to my stomach and my head swim. My father killed Riley's dad.

I shouldn't have left. I should have never left my dad. If I had stayed, if I had just settled for what he had, my dad would be alive today. I never should have gone away to college.

I'm so tired but I can't sleep anymore. Jake gave me something to help me rest. He was trying to help. It did for a couple hours but I'm awake again. Numb but awake.

I just want to stay where I am and sleep. I want to forget about the last twenty four hours. I want to curl up and bring my dad back. I don't want to remember that I'm alone now.

But I'm not alone in here. I haven't been alone since I saw Georgia at the hospital. Since I got the news that my dad is gone. I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't want pity or sympathy. I just want my dad back.

"They just left." Hunter says, coming into the dimly lit bedroom.

"I can't believe Adam did this." Colby is sitting on the bed next to me. "He's just like Grandpa. I know he died before any of us were born but I heard the stories of what he did to Grandma. I don't know how she dealt with it all. The lies, the affairs, the underhanded business deals."

"Grandma is the strongest of all of us." Emery agrees.

"Riley is going to wake up soon. We're going to have to tell her. She's going to need us to be strong for her." Hunter touches my hair, brushing it out of my face.

"How? How do you explain something like this? She just lost her dad, Hunter. This is the last thing Riley needs." Colby defends me. It's nice to know she's a loyal friend. They all are.

"We just make sure she knows that we're on her side. We stick together. She's not alone. How is Aiden doing?" Emery asks.

"He's not handling it well. Grace and Jake are doing their best but. He's going to miss the combine. The surgery is scheduled for next week but it's not going to be enough for him to get drafted. Williams really messed him up. He's got a gash on his head, twenty stitches Grace said, a black eye, his arms in a sling, two cracked ribs. And now this. Dad's doing everything he can to help him through it." Hunter details Aiden's injuries and I feel worse. This all happened because of me.

I should have called him and told him what happened. But I couldn't think of anything but getting to dad. I never should have gotten involved with Aiden. It seems like I've only brought trouble into his life.

"At least Williams is behind bars with Adam. Maybe we can get lucky enough that Williams will beat the shit out of him too." Colby grumbles getting off the bed.

Wait! What? Aiden was in a fight with Williams? I don't understand. He was playing last night. He had his game, I was supposed to be there. Did something happen after the game? God, did he go back to his old bad boy ways and get in a fight because I hurt him?

"I don't think we're that lucky. Dad did a good job on him though. Adam had a split lip and a broken nose when they hauled him out." Hunter moved around the room, pacing. "Riley is going to be devastated. Grandma and Grace said to get them as soon as she wakes up. They want to be here for her."

"Maybe we should wait to tell her. Give her a little time to come to grips with her loss." Colby suggests.

"I'm awake." My voice is raspy with sleep. "Tell me what happened."

The girls only looked at each other, the worry and fear on each of their faces came across clear as day. Sliding up against the pillows, I lean my head back against the pillowed headboard.

"Just tell me." Closing my eyes, I rub the throbbing pain in my temple.

"I'll get Grandma and Grace." Hunter walked out without another word. Maybe it's worse than I thought.

"If I've lost my scholarship, it doesn't matter now. I'm not going back to school." I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You didn't. You have to come back, Riley. Your dad would have wanted you to finish school." Colby, the one who listened to me the most, sat again next to me. "We're your family now, Riley. You aren't alone."

Looking down at our linked hands, I feel empty and lost. Not realizing I'm crying, my eyes blur as the door pushes opens and Georgia rushes to me with Grace right behind her.

"Here now, sweet pea. It's all going to be okay. I've got you, honey." Her arms wrap around me and I feel something crack, shattering inside me.

"Out now. Let us help her. Go on, get Aiden." Grace whispers as she ushers the girls out. "She's going to need him."

Blubbering on Georgia's shoulders, the dam breaks and my tears fall again, harder than before. I have no control over them, and just let them fall. A second later, there's a thudding of feet up the stairs and coming quickly toward the room.

"Riley?" Aiden looks panicked, staring at me from the doorway. He looks like a boxer who just lost his fight. "Riley, I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."

Crawling up the bed, he pulled me into his arms, tugged me to his lap and rocked me, soothing the pain that's etched into my heart. Slow and steady, he held on to me, whispering words I couldn't understand but gave me the strength to keep holding on to him. I don't think the worst is over. I don't think the worst has begun.