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“No, but I’m a fast learner. Just point me to YouTube.” Nathan chuckled as Vander’s face contorted into that hard mask again. My mouth pulled into a smile at the sound. I enjoyed making him laugh. He seemed to always be serious.
“I have a medical doctorate with a specialization in emergency medicine. I worked at Sayton City hospital in the ER for two years. Until a few months ago, I treated gunshot wounds, battered women, injuries from car accidents, and knife wounds almost daily.”
“Why did you quit?” Nathan’s question had the breath sticking to my lungs.
But I was drawn to his curiosity. To the shine of it behind his eyes. They seemed to look deep inside me. Pulling at the strings that held me together.
I should tell him the truth. It may be connected to the guys after me. But the words clung to the roof of my mouth. The memories crept in from the dark corners of my mind. Threatened to consume me if I let them.
“Problem.” The door swinging opened stopped me from having to answer. We all turned to the blonde guy walking in, Nathan’s brother. He paused when he noticed me, but a grin played on his lips as he saw my hand intertwined with Nathan’s. “The Doc is back. Perfect.”
I raised my other hand, giving him a friendly wave. Vander ignored our exchange. “What’s the problem?”
“Matt was in a fight. He was trying to kick a guy out. The fucker’s friends got the jump on him. We should take him to the hospital.”
“No need.” Vander’s gaze swung to me. “You’re up, Doc.”
14
Lark
Still holding Nathan’s hand, we followed his brother into the hall. Having him so close sent a warmth up my arm, soothing any of my worries about Vander’s reluctance to this agreement.
“Can you explain who everyone is?” I asked as we headed towards the makeshift doctor’s office we used last time. “Is Vander another one of your brothers? How many do you even have?”
“He’s in charge of the family and my cousin. He makes all the decisions.” Nathan squeezed my hand, almost as if he was reassuring me. “I have two brothers. Cole.” He nodded his head towards the man we were following. “He’s the middle. He runs the club and oversees the rest of our legitimate businesses.”
I knew from reading news articles online that they owned a few historic hotels in the city. I wondered what other businesses they had.
“Angelo is my older brother. He avoids people because of his scars. And his job keeps him busy. He takes care of… problems.”
My throat bobbed as I swallowed down the acid coating my tongue. I hoped I never saw him. I didn’t want to know about his scars. And I really didn’t want to be a problem that needed to be solved by him.
“They’re all married. You’ll like their wives. I’ll take you to meet them soon.” My chest constricted as he spoke casually about introducing me to the rest of his family. It was as if we were a couple instead of… I wasn’t sure how to categorize what we were.
There was an attraction to him. And he’d been kind to me. But we were nothing more than strangers thrown together. What would happen when we didn’t need each other anymore?
“Well, you saw Grace already.” His voice pulled me from my thoughts. An image of the pretty redhead I’d met the night Nathan had been hurt popped into my head.
“The pregnant one?”
“Yes.” He nodded, a smile pulling on his lips like he was happy I remembered. I remembered too much about that night.
How quickly he’d stepped in to help me. How calm he’d been. His looks. His touch. All of it replayed in my mind when I tried to fall asleep. Tried to forget him. It had proved impossible, and needing his protection wouldn’t change that.
“And she’s Vander’s wife?” I asked, trying to get the family dynamics straight.
“Yes, but she used to be married to his brother.” I stalled in the doorway, looking at him in surprise. Nathan seemed to understand. “It was confusing for me, too. But she said their happiness was more important than what people thought.”
Hmm… smart girl. I wished I was brave enough to act on my desire instead of trying to impress people. “I like her already. And what do you do?”
The curiosity thumped through my veins. The yearning to know more about the man who’d saved my life twice.
“I’m in charge of filtering the dirty money through our businesses so it becomes clean again. I maintain the books and invest to keep it growing.”
I was impressed because I wasn’t great with money. Probably because I never had to worry about it. I was lucky. “Sounds like a lot of work.”
He shrugged. His head tilting towards the floor almost in embarrassment. “I’m good with numbers.”
