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life, and now it was too late. Ryder was in a much worse place than he’d ever been before. And before had left him desolate. How did Tommy convince him that life was worth living when he woke up?
    When Tommy walked into the room, Ryder lay on his bed looking as pale and still as ever. Tommy would have never guessed his brother had been fighting for his life over the past few days if not for all the medical equipment surrounding him and the tubes leading to his nose. His beautiful, all-American, sweet little brother simply looked like he was asleep.
    Tommy ran a hand through his hair. His mother would never forgive him if she knew how far he’d let Ryder slide. He should have been there more for him. This was his fault. At twenty-five, Ryder should be in the prime of his life. He should be developing laugh lines, not lying in ICU of the hospital, fighting for his life.
    He grabbed hold of Ryder’s hand. “I’m gonna do better for you. I promise. I need you to come back to me. We’ll figure all this out. Together. You and me, Ry, we can beat this, but I need you to come back to me. I love you, and I need you, bro. Please.”
    Tommy lay his head on the side of the bed, so fucking tired he couldn’t think anymore, but then Ryder squeezed his hand. Tommy automatically returned the grip and then jerked his gaze up to Ryder’s face. Not a twitch there, but he was waking up.
    Oh, thank fuck. Relief flooded him, and Tommy wanted to weep.
    The doctor had been right. His brother was waking up.
    ***
    Mac let himself back into Tommy’s store. Nothing like a little breaking and entering to kick off the holiday season. Although he had the key, could it still be considered B and E? Probably, since he’d most definitely stolen the key. Well, if he got caught, that was one of the reasons he hired a good legal team, right? Not that he made a habit of doing things like this.
    In fact, the more he considered it, the more he wondered if maybe he’d suffered a mental break.
    But considering that possibility meant that he still had the ability to reason, right? So, that would be no. No mental break happening here.
    “Yeah, that will work for your defense,” he muttered quietly.
    When he came in the first time, he’d been more focused on the studio area that made up the open space at the back of the store, but now he focused on the store in the front. It was an old storefront with the twenty-foot high, dramatic pressed-tin ceilings, exposed original brickwork, and huge arched paned windows with the trim painted black. The large windows allowed in lots of light from the front.
    In the store area, the lighting had been done dramatically. Hanging clusters of old-style light bulbs highlighted the vignettes of product...almost all of it reading or book-themed. Why would someone who claimed he never read choose this subject matter for his business?
    Tommy was a puzzle Mac wanted to solve. Maybe working here would give him at least a few of those answers.
    He hefted his leather messenger bag onto the counter next to the register and pulled out a yellow legal pad to start making lists. He needed to prioritize, because he had a lot to get done and a finite amount of time in which to do it. As he glanced around the darkened store, he decided he needed to call Emily and get her help.
    But then he saw a flash of grey dart across the floor. Was that a small cat or a large rat? He gave a shudder, suddenly questioning his commitment to this project. If rats were involved, that may mean the end to his involvement. He tiptoed across the quiet store and ducked down to look under the table where he’d seen the creature disappear.
    Peering out at him were the big golden eyes of a tiny cat. She couldn’t be much more than a kitten from what he could tell. “Hey beautiful,” he coaxed, using his most soothing voice. “You’re a pretty little thing. Do you belong to Tommy?”
    She gave him a tiny mew.
    “I know, but his brother’s sick, so he can’t