Page 96 of Under His Guard

When we step out, Clara hangs a right, and I can tell she’s heading to the parking area out front.

It’s broad daylight, and other people are standing around, so I deem it safe enough for a chat—begrudgingly, though.

As we walk past the main door, she leads me over to the side where there is a bit of construction going on near the main entrance.

Scaffolding frames us in, and there’s a small bench just up ahead. Clara stands in front of it, but neither of us actually uses it.

I’m too restless to sit right now, and she’s feeling the same, apparently.

“What did you want to say?”

Clara’s voice is quiet as she asks, not looking at me.

“What happened with the Cobra? What did he do, exactly?”

“Seriously, Luke? I just went over all of this with the cops. Can I please just not think about all this anymore today?”

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair, but we don’t have time for this. I need information to go on if I’m going to be setting up a counterstrike…counteraction, whatever.

Keeping the Cobras at bay, at the least, is required. I can’t do that without details.

And yeah, ending them for good is the ultimate goal. They can’t keep getting away with this shit.

I bet they never even find the guy who murdered Clara’s mentor.

“Clara.” I meet her eyes, my hands going to my hips. “They got into the hospital. That’s serious. I need to know what happened so that I can?—”

“What? So you can what, exactly?” Clara glares at me, exhaustion tugging at her entire body. “It’s done, Luke. The cops have the info, and…Dr. Carter…I just want to go home.”

In a huff, she plops down onto the bench. Clara’s head goes between her hands as she sits there.

Not daring to move at this point, I feel a familiar spark of frustration bubbling up through my blood.

I feel useless and guilty. It’s clawing at me, and I’m too impotent in the face of it all.

My stomach twists. I can’t fucking do this. Why did I think this was a good idea?

“The cops aren’t going to be enough to stop these guys. You know that, Clara. You already lost a friend. I need details if I’m going to set up an operation to stop them.”

Her head shoots up, her brows knitted together. “An operation? Absolutely not. We’re letting the authorities handle this. You have other things you should be focusing on.”

The good doctor might as well have kicked me in the nuts. We both know exactly what she’s talking about, and I’m beginning to wonder if this is what being gutted feels like.

My gut clenches as I pull into myself, and I can’t stop the snap as I react defensively.

“I’m fine. This is my priority. This is what I know how to do.” I start circling, pacing around the small area. “How could you just let that asshole follow you in there? Why didn’t you?—”

I cut myself off.

Shit. That came out real fucking bad. Dammit.

But I’ve already stepped in it, and Clara is glaring up at me, anger—and worse, hurt—written all over her face.

Of course. Of course, you fucked this up. It’s what you do, Luke. What did you expect?

When I try to meet her eyes, Clara shakes her head, rising up from the bench, and starts to move away.

Clara walks forward, trying to maneuver past me, but I stand in front to stop her.

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