Page 60 of Full Moon Frenzy

“I don’t mean now,” he cut her off. “What did you do to him in school? Because I’ve never seen him so . . . not himself. You’re a thorn in his paw he can’t shake off. What did you do?”

“I wonder why you automatically assume that I did something? Maybe your brother—”

“Cut the crap. We both know Trapp isn’t capable of hurting a fly, unless that fly takes a pretty good chomp out of his ass first.”

She grinned in spite of herself, a genuine smile. This wasn’t a professional conversation, but then again, he wasn’t exactly a very professional patient. He wants to know? Fine.

“I went to Mercycrest with Trapp. I was there on an academic scholarship and a needs-based grant. I earned my place there.” She paused, waiting for his look of surprise.

Instead, he made a gesture of impatience with his other hand, giving her a one-shouldered shrug. “You want a medal for that or something?”

She blew out a breath of exasperation. “The majority of our cohort were legacies. Right from the beginning, Trapp and I were at the top of the ranking. He asked me to be a study partner pretty early on. And it made sense, because we were at the top. Why would we want to work with anyone else? And once people realized that I’d earned my way to the top, they wanted my help. To share resources. To study together.”

He didn’t flinch when the needle went into his skin, delivering a local anesthetic.

“I made an altered set of notes. Just in case any of them tried to take my work.”

“Of course.”

That brought her up short. Adriana sat back, eyebrows raised. “What do you mean, ‘Of course?’”

Another shrug, his expression still inscrutable. “It’s a competitive program. Your entire future depends on your rank. Of course you protect that. No matter what.”

“Right?! Thank you!” She forced herself to breathe, realizing her outburst was, again, not exactly professional. Someone gets it, though! “Trapp . . . I don’t know how he got one of my altered packets. I genuinely do not remember ever giving it to him. He might’ve picked it up from my bag, or . . . I don’t know. I never meant for him to have it. But I’m not going to apologize for it. My family name isn’t on any benches or statues. My grandfather didn’t have a painting of himself in his own house, let alone a university library. I had to do what I had to do to take care of myself, because no one in life is going to do that for me. Places like Mercy, places like this town . . . everything is about who you know. And I don’t know anyone. So no, I’m not sorry. I’m sorry he got caught up in it and that he was hurt, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.”

They were both quiet then, as she stitched his hand closed, keeping her sutures meticulous.

“Why did you hit him?”

“To stop the fight. He was out of control. He has been on quite a tear across town. All for you, it would seem. So what happens next?”

She could feel heat burning up her neck. “I-I don’t know what you—”

“Yes, you do. Let’s do each other the courtesy of knocking off the bullshit. If you’re not planning on fixing things with him, I’m going to need you to make it a clean break. And end it for good. What’s done is done.”

“And here I thought Trapp was an adult,” she shot back, matching his snideness. “Do you fix all his problems?”

“Yes,” the big wolf said bluntly. “I’m the family fixer. That’s what I do; I fix the problems. And you have become a problem for me, Dr. Brunelli. I need you to stop being a pain in my ass. If you’re not interested in fixing things, you need to let him go.”

“And what if I want to fix things?” She didn’t know where the question came from. She didn’t want to fix things with Trapp Hemming. Do you?

“Then hurry up and do it before he breaks someone else’s jaw. I kept him out of jail once. I can’t promise either of you I can do it again.”

She was tying off the last stitch when a knock came at the door; Dr. Marsh peeking his head in without waiting for her response. His eyes were wide as he slipped into the room. “Dr. Brunelli. Is everything all right?”

“What is that?” Trapp’s brother snapped, eyeing the coffee cup and Dr. Marsh’s hand. “Is that from the Beanery?” Adriana watched in amazement as he reached out with a huge hand, his arm stretching across the small room, snatched the coffee from her boss, and pitched it into the wastebasket in the corner. “No. Absolutely not. We are on a strict ban, Shay. They will be apologizing to my brother, or I’m going to make sure this whole fucking town starts drinking tea.”

“I just got that!”

The big wolf rolled his eyes, examining his stitches critically. “Shay, why are your nurses down here so aggressive? I’m detecting a hostile work environment. How do you expect her to focus on patient care when they’re so busy whispering about her out there they can’t even raise their heads? You need to get on that. Maybe worry less about buying coffee and run your staff a little tighter.”

Adriana gaped, her eyes moving back and forth between the two men.

“I don’t like hearing that at all. We will be discussing this, Dr. Brunelli. So you’re on babysitting duty, or what?”

Trapp’s brother blew out a hard breath. “He refused to be left at home. Is he causing trouble out there?”

“You left a child unattended?” she demanded, no longer feeling cowed by this particular Hemming. “That’s so irresponsible!”