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“Why would you do that?” I whisper, feeling a flurry of activity in my boxers. “Jesus, Pearl.” I look over my shoulder and past her, checking the coast is clear, before walking her to a wall and pinning her there.
“Brad,” she gasps, hands on my chest, looking each way.
“Fuck.” I release her and move back, just as Doc swings his door open.
“Ah, there you are. Do you want to see me now?” He looks between me and Pearl, and I cringe, knowing she’s wondering why I would want to see Doc.
“Pain meds,” I say, walking off, giving Doc the eye.
“Hey, Doc, mind if we talk later?” Pearl calls, making me stop in my tracks.
“Of course. Looks like I’m a busy man today, huh?” He chuckles, and I chuckle too, as he wanders into his room. I look back over my shoulder, eyebrows high. She’s not wasting any time. Fine by me.
She blows me a kiss and backs away, her eyes dancing. Fuck, she’s beautiful.
I follow Doc into his room, and he points to a chair where a needle has been placed on a cloth beside a pot. “Blood first, or pee?”
“Blood.” I take my jacket off and roll up my sleeve, lowering to the chair.
“Wow,” Doc murmurs, taking in the scratches. “You have been knocked around.”
I look down at the endless marks. Feel them on my back. Smile on the inside. “How long for the results to come back?”
“I know a man who will do anything quickly for the right price.”
“Drop by the boatyard. I’ll let Leon know you’re picking up some stock.”
“Guns or money?” he asks, and I smile.
26
DANNY
* * *
“For God’s sake, Rose,” I hiss, lifting Maggie onto my shoulder.
“What?”
“I told you to act normal.”
“I tried.” She shows the ceiling her exasperation. “What do you want me to do? Ignore him? Shit, Danny, he’s going to—” She frowns. “I don’t know, but I haven’t got a good feeling.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say for the sake of it. I honestly don’t know how Brad’s going to take the news. He seems so volatile lately. But this morning? Definitely a bit lighter. Maybe a second brush with death was what it took to bring the old Brad back.
“I hope so.” She sighs, thinks for a moment, then goes to the freezer, pulling out some milk and transferring it to the fridge.
“Just try not to smother him.”
“Beau did exactly the same,” James pipes in.
“I’m sure Esther will too,” Otto says, not looking up from his laptop.
“Great.” The poor bloke looked confused as fuck, especially since the girls have been up his arse recently about every little thing. I didn’t sleep a fucking wink last night, and it wasn’t because Maggie was playing her usual nocturnal games. Nolan? Brad’s son? We’ve had some shockers in this family, some curveballs thrown, but this floored me. I did the math. He was fourteen. Some girl from the other side of the tracks, a no-hoper who was an easy lay. She died of an overdose when Nolan was fifteen and he fell into the system. Poor fucker didn’t stand a chance. Until he found Brad. And the more I looked at him while he spilled his miserable, shitty life, the more I saw Brad. I pull my phone out and text Otto. He looks up at me in question when his phone dings.
See what you can dig up on Bean.
I haven’t told Rose some of the finer details of our latest revelation. Like Nolan being blackmailed and who’s blackmailing him.
