A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

looked straight ahead, and continued pacing. Fuck, he hated this place. The smell made him twitch. He wasn't sure if it was the smell of Jessie's blood on his shirt or the chemical stench inherent in the sterile setting he hated so much.
    Why the hell couldn't someone give him an update? Something.
    He paced, over and over, watching the clock tick away the seconds, minutes, an hour. The walls seemed as if they had shifted, somehow closing in on him. He shook his head and crossed his arms again. His pulse sped and his heart pounded against his chest, urging him to escape. Fucking hospital. Spending six months by Ty's side while he lay in a coma after the accident was enough hospital time to last a lifetime. How he had managed to stay sane while waiting for his brother to wake, he still didn't know.
    A scream from the television snapped him back to the here and now with jarring speed. Damn, he hated that stupid show. He wrapped his arms around himself, hoping to hide some of Jessie's drying blood on his crisp white shirt. He just needed peace and quiet right now. Silence. No, he needed senseless white noise to set his mind right. Anything other than the screams from the TV or the worried faces cycling through the waiting room.
    And he needed a fucking update.
    He was going to go insane.
    Julian Capeletti walked in through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room, towering over the night-shift nurses. Aidan sighed and his body sagged. Finally, a familiar face. He'd never been happier to see the prickly man. Julian quickly scanned the room and his pale green gaze locked with Aidan's, sending Julian on a beeline path toward him. He reached Aidan, grabbed him behind the neck, and pulled him into a hug without saying a word.
    "I swear, if you tell me everything happens for a reason, I'll fucking rip you apart," Aidan said, his words muffled against Julian's muscled shoulder. He screwed his eyes shut as he took each strangled breath, trying to hold back the emotions that shook his body.
    After a few seconds, they finally separated from the embrace, clearing their throats.
    "Did Cole call you?" Aidan asked.
    Julian nodded. "He told me to get my ass over here right now because you needed me to sit with you and be quiet until you told me to leave."
    "Where's Matt?"
    Julian sat in one of the waiting room chairs. "He's at home. I figured you didn't want a crowd. I'll text him updates."
    "Thanks," Aidan muttered, sitting next to Julian, grateful he hadn't asked for details. Aidan wasn't sure he could handle retelling what he'd seen with the storm of emotions twisting his gut. And somehow, the quiet presence of Julian at his side did ease his mind.
    During the last year, he had managed to build a slow friendship with Julian and his partner, Matthew Doner. They both owned and ran a halfway house, aptly named Halfway House, in the business district. He had first met the couple when his brother-in-arms and best friend, Hunter Donovan, had needed help with his new partner and then resident of HH, Cameron Pierce. That first encounter started a domino effect in Aidan's life. He'd finally been able to do something to repay Hunter for a debt he could never really settle, and through the course of working the case, he had met Jessie, Hunter's assistant at the state attorney's office at the time.
    Seemed Julian and Matt had also played a role in returning some balance to Aidan's personal life with another one of their residents, Ty's current partner, Cole—his self-proclaimed future brother-in-law. How Cole had managed to pull Ty from his shell was still a mystery. But Cole had single-handedly restored Aidan's brother's inner strength and the laughter Aidan had missed after the accident that stole their parents from them and nearly claimed his brother's life. That house and these men had all played a role in guiding Aidan's life to the point where he was at that very moment. If it weren't for these men and that house, he never would have