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And this was exactly where I needed to tell him that this wasn’t work at all and definitely not a job. I’d rather not have an audience for this talk, but I also couldn’t keep ducking it. “Thanks. I—”
Duncan’s phone cut me off with a loud trill. “Fuck. Phone’s been blowing up all day. Late for a meeting too.”
“You can go.” Danny’s voice was firmer than I would have expected as he pointed at the courtyard gate.
“Nah. Family first.” Even as he said the words, Duncan still glanced down at his phone and frowned.
“Seriously.” Danny repeated his go-on gesture. “Cash, Harley, and this fancy new security system are here. And it’s not like I’m going anywhere with the media parked out front either.”
“If you’re sure…?” Duncan hedged, but his gaze was on the gate. Damn it. There went my chance for a talk.
“I am. I’m fine. I can take care of Cash too.” Danny was showing an impressive amount of backbone, and I didn’t want to counter him by telling Duncan to stay. I’d simply have to catch him later.
“I’ll help,” Harley added. “We’ll make him take it easy. You go handle your business, LT.”
“Fine.” Duncan gave a defeated sigh. “I’ll check back in later.”
“Thanks. For everything.” Danny stepped closer as if debating whether to hug Duncan and settling for biting his lip.
“No problem.” Duncan clapped him on the back, not exactly a hug but enough to make Danny give a small smile. “Consider it an early birthday present.”
What? This was the first I’d heard about any birthday. Damn it. Felt like the sort of thing I should know by now.
“Ha.” Danny’s smile turned crooked and more than a little sad. “You’re probably the only family who will remember.”
“Fuck ‘em. I’ll get you dinner to celebrate, okay?” This time Duncan gave him an actual fast hug with another slap on the back. “Take care of Cash. And you too.”
Fuck that. I wasn’t the one who needed taking care of. And I was totally going to have words with Danny about not telling me he had a birthday coming up. But I managed not to say anything until after Duncan left. Danny and I stood near the door to the house, neither of us moving, gazes locked on each other.
Behind us, Harley coughed loudly. “I…uh…how about I do a perimeter check of the property, let you two talk after Money here gets cleaned up?”
“Good idea.” It needed to happen, but whether it was a good idea or not remained to be seen, especially when Danny’s expression shifted like a thundercloud moving in as Harley strode away.
Chapter Thirty-One
Danny
“You still look like you’re going to fall over,” I said to Cash, who truly did look awful as he made his way down the stairs after a fast shower and change of clothes. Harley had found him a plastic bag to cover his stitches while he washed up, but now that he was in a fresh T-shirt, I couldn’t look away from the big white bandage on his arm. Or the scrapes on his face, pale skin, and exhausted eyes. He’d looked bad enough when they’d first arrived, battered and torn clothing and streaks of blood, but somehow now that he was clean, he looked even more injured, a sort of fragile vulnerability I’d never seen from him before. “Come here and sit down.”
Not waiting for him to comply, I steered him from the stairs to the couch in the family room.
“I’m fine.” He held out his hands like he was proving a point, but his wince said the opposite.
“Uh-huh.” I pushed him to sit on the couch, but I was too keyed up to join him. I’d had jangling nerves since we’d pulled into the police station, made worse by the incident and media response, and with every passing hour, my restlessness got worse, not better.
And now that Cash was finally back, I had no idea what to do with all my conflicting emotions. I wasn’t ever getting over seeing him dive tackle that kid with a knife. Cash had run headlong into danger, exactly how I’d feared, putting me first and his own safety last. Fear and anger warred with relief that he wasn’t hurt worse. I paced in front of the couch until he grabbed my wrist.
“You’re making my head spin,” he complained, drawing me to sit next to him.
I groaned, sagging against the cushions. “Feels both like I could run a marathon and sleep for a week.”
“Adrenaline. It’s a bitch.” Cash nodded sagely, no doubt from vast experience, and that only wired me up more, the reminder that days like this were all too common for him.
“I don’t like it,” I said stubbornly.
“You don’t have to.” He leaned in like he might kiss me, then glanced at the bank of windows behind us in the dining area that led to the backyard. While I was happy Cash’s friend had wanted to help, the not-alone part sucked in large part because this was the beginning of the end. Cash was afraid to kiss me after so many days of easy affection. Honestly, I’d known this the moment I’d dialed Duncan, but I couldn’t not tell him Cash was injured. I’d been surprised when Duncan dropped everything to be with me, not Cash, and he hadn’t even lectured me about putting Cash in danger in the first place.
