“Oh no. That’s not necessary. I’m feeling better already.”

“Too bad,” Ethan said, his tone making it clear he wouldn’t accept an argument.

“I agree.” Ian patted her hand. “Given everything in your past, better safe than sorry.”

Her glare at him could cut ice, and Ethan knew he wouldn’t be getting an explanation about what Ian had been referring to. Not that he wouldn’t try for one later.

Right now he was worried about Sienna.

“What’s going on?” Olivia rushed out of the office at the far end of the hall and joined everyone surrounding Sienna. She and Ian shot each other concerned glances which made Ethan uneasy.

Finally, the paramedics showed up, took her blood pressure, pronounced it low, and at Ian’s insistence, they took Sienna to the hospital for tests. Because he whispered with the paramedics, Ethan still didn’t know what the main concern was; however, he agreed she needed to be looked at by a doctor.

It was on the tip of his tongue to insist he’d ride with her in the ambulance, except he realized how ridiculous he would look and that doing such a thing would shine a spotlight on his relationship with Sienna. The exact thing he’d been trying to avoid by suggesting a secret affair.

He scowled, watching as Ian climbed into the back with his half sister and accompanied her to the hospital. Although Ethan was worried about how it would look, he headed to his car and drove directly to the emergency room anyway, wanting to know if she was okay. Considering she’d collapsed in his arms, he didn’t think anyone would question his presence there.

In the waiting area, he met up with Olivia and Ian. Obviously the family phone chain had been active on the ride over because, one by one, men and women with the familiar Dare features strode into the room and were filled in on what they knew so far.

Which was nothing yet.

He noted that everyone in the room was young, which meant they were siblings. Over time, others arrived, too, spouses of Sienna’s brothers and sisters. This family definitely hovered over one of their own. Then again, if Sierra ended up in a hospital, all of her brothers would be there in a heartbeat.

Finally, there was a slightly older woman with blonde hair, who definitely resembled Sienna, sitting in the corner. Ethan pegged the woman as Sienna’s mother. Only Alex Dare, who Ethan recognized from his football-playing days, and a blonde woman Ethan assumed was his wife, comforted her.

Recalling the family dynamic and explanation he’d been given last night, Ethan realized the full-blooded Dares might be close with Sienna, but her mother was still the outsider. The other woman. The dirty little secret.

He muttered a curse aimed at himself, as he realized just why Sienna had reacted the way she had to his proposition.

Now that the excitement of her initial fainting had worn off and the large group of Dares congregated together, Ethan was left alone with his thoughts, and they weren’t good ones. Hospitals reminded him of Mandy. There had been her shoulder surgery and the opioids she’d been given as painkillers after.