The Unbreakable (Ghost #3)

Chapter 57

It doesn't take long for the situation to escalate and we all watch stunned as Blake rushes to Lia and pulls her to him, rocking them gently on the swing as he calms her down.

"What the hell?"

"Shit, she's having a panic attack." I bemoan, but Ashton stops me from going to our sister.

"Let Blake take care of her. He knows what he's doing."

"What's going on?" Silas implores, sounding utterly confused.

"Like I said, Lia went through a lot and it left her with scars. Physical and mental scars." I sigh heavily, feeling my heart ache for my baby sister. She's been doing so well lately I wonder what made her snap.

I ignore my cousins questioning me about Lia's condition, having no right to reveal her life to them without her permission. It's up to Lia to let them in or not.

I keep watching Lia during the whole dinner, trying to see if she's really better or she's just acting. From what I can tell, she seems fine, though I don't miss how tired she looks. It must be overwhelming for her to be suddenly thrown into this.

Maybe it was a bad idea to drag her here. Maybe it would be better if she didn't meet everyone all at once.

Much to my surprise, Lia agrees to spend the night here, even though she and Blake already have a room booked at a hotel downtown. Our grandpa's mansion is three stories high and has enough rooms for everyone, but some of our family members, namely Harry and Frank, live nearby, so they're going to go to their homes instead of staying here.

Our grandparents have their rooms on the first floor; Ethan, Rob, Luke and Oscar are staying with their wives in the guest bedrooms on the second floor along with our mom and the youngsters are going to stay on the third floor. I'm bunking over with Ryan across the hall from Lia and Blake's room, Ashton is staying with Adrian, Zach is with Nolan, and Silas, Ryder and Emmett are taking the bedroom at the end of the hall.

The only problem here is that there is only one bathroom on this floor, which means all of us have to take turns to use it. Of course, since we're all gentlemen, we let Lia go first. While she occupies the bathroom, we all go to see Blake, per Ryan's request. I know exactly what he wants to do, even though I already said it's useless.

Blake is not going to be intimidated. At all.

"Wow, what a surprise. – Blake chuckles when he opens the door – Let me guess, you're going to warn me to not hurt my girl." He smirks knowingly, casually leaning against the wall as we stand in front of him.

"You're correct. We may have just met Lia, but she's family. You hurt her, we hurt you." Ryan states sternly, making Blake shake his head at us.

"I know, I know. Actually, I'm glad you brought this up. Cause if you hurt my girl, I will hurt you. – Lia's man suddenly gets serious, staring us all down – And I'm not bluffing. I don't fucking care how many of you come at me, I won't tolerate anyone bringing harm to my woman. She's been through enough and she doesn't need to go through more. You may call yourself her family, – he sneers – but I've already seen that it means shit to some of you."

"Blake-" I start, only to be cut off by him.

"No, Aiden. I know you guys care about Lia, but that doesn't mean everyone else does. We've seen that firsthand, haven't we? Your mother betrayed her child to save her own ass, so who's to say any of you will be different? I'm not going to blindly put my trust in you unless you prove yourselves." He grits out. I can only sigh at this. He's right. What mom did was unspeakable and he's right to hold it against her.