Page 56 of The Doctor

It was my brother’s gun.

He heaved out a long breath, then tucked the gun into the waistband at the back of his pants. Pivoting to face the men at the end of the hall, he said, “Clean this shit up.” He turned a scowl my way before reaching forward and tearing my panties out of my mouth. “I’ve got my own mess to clean up.”

20

Zeno

It may have been the change in the weather—the drop in temperature that signaled the oncoming thunderstorm—that had my skin chilled and goosebumps rising on my flesh. It may have been the squeal of tires and the flash of red as Stephano’s car raced around the corner and thundered my way.

Or perhaps it was my little hurricane about to make landfall after the absolutely horrifying phone call I’d just received.

Stephano squealed to a stop in the middle of the street in front of my house, not even bothering to pull into the open spot at the curb. He rounded the car without looking my way, pulled open the passenger door, and reached in.

His hand came out latched onto Clara’s beautiful hair, her screams piercing the late-night air and her body followed shortly after. Without the care this girl deserved, he threw her onto the sidewalk and walked away, yelling, “Stay out of my fucking club!” as he did.

My chilled skin was no longer anywhere to be seen. Hot rage furled through me so fast, I feared I might burst. I rushed down the steps, chasing after the asshole kid and ready to put him in his place.

But he didn’t give me a chance.

Stephano was behind the wheel and his car was zooming away before I even got to Clara’s side. Kid was lucky I didn’t have my gun, because I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have used it on him for what he just did.

I knelt beside Clara and carefully rolled her over, my concerns eating me from the inside out. Her head had a large, red goose egg near her temple, and her cheek and forehead were bleeding from their run in with the sidewalk. Her hands, elbows, and knees didn’t fare much better. Black streaks ran in rivers down her face and only her blood-red lipstick came away unscathed.

Raindrops fell like tears as I scooped the girl off the sidewalk and into my arms. I rocked back on my heels, then stood, holding her tight against my chest. “Come on, kid. Let’s get you inside.”

My phone rang incessantly the entire time I took care of Clara. From the moment I stepped foot on the third floor of my home, through undressing the both of us and guiding her into a warm shower. I put it on silent before I stepped in behind her, but the buzzing could still be heard as I washed every inch of her body, taking care with each of her wounds.

After drying her off and tucking her into my bed, I finally turned the damn thing off.

This girl needed the quiet. I was sure whatever noise was going on in her head was loud enough.

When I couldn’t get her to talk, I curled myself around her, holding her tight until she fell asleep. I closed my eyes and hoped with everything in me that she’d still be there when I woke up.

There was no sleep for me. Not with my worries for Clara. Not when someone pounded on my door in the middle of the night like they thought they could get in. Not when my dick didn’t get the message that this girl had been through something horrible, and it got excited about how close Clara’s naked pussy was to its head.

The most I could do was hold onto her. To give her what little comfort I could bring without knowing what happened at Stephano’s club.

An “incident,” he’d called it. Clara had snuck in and found herself deep in something she shouldn’t have been in. His anger at his little sister had seemed righteous, right up until he threw her on my curb.

Whatever had happened had left Clara in tears and quite possibly in a state of shock. There was no excuse for the way he treated her. And if history were any indication, I didn’t want to field calls from Berto just for him to berate his daughter for something she might not have done.

I needed to talk to her first. I needed her to wake up and speak to me. I needed her to tell me she was going to be okay so I could put my worst fears aside and focus on trying to heal her.

“Zee?” Clara raised her head, then let out a groan before lowering it gently back down onto my chest.

Smoothing one hand over her back, I curled the other around her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

A breath shuddered out of her, and she curled the arm draped over my waist tighter around me. “Not good.”

“What can I do?”

For a long moment, she didn’t respond. Finally, after my patience was about to run thin, she lifted her head and looked up at me. “You’re already doing it.”

A gentle smile curled my lips. “And what is it I’m doing?”

“Taking care of me.” Her fingers drummed against my side, and it made me feel like she was about to get up and go.

Like she had last night. She’d drummed her hands all over the counter as I tried to walk her through my files, then tapped them against her legs right before she bolted out the door.