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But this felt like a big deal because it wasn’t just blood. It was Ed’s blood. Ed was bleeding, and someone had done this to him.
“Max? Max, are you okay?” Alexei’s voice sounded like it was coming to him from the bottom of a deep pool.
He lifted his head, turning toward Alexei to find him standing next to Soren, his smooth brow furrowed with concern. How had he gotten over there? Wasn’t he just sitting at the computer?
“You’re lookin’ a little pale. How about you sit down?” Soren prodded, but Max quickly shook his head. Sitting moved him farther away from Ed, and that was the last thing he wanted. No, he needed answers.
“I’m fine. I just want to know what happened.”
Ed reached out and caught Max’s hand. He pulled and Max easily went with him, landing in his lap, one strong arm wrapped around his waist to hold him in place. Okay, this was nice. Much better than standing. Cozy and comfortable and got him Ed’s undivided attention. He didn’t give a shit how it appeared to the others.
“There,” Ed declared with a happy sigh. “That’s much better. I don’t like doctors and needles. You’ll distract me from Doc Will’s needles as he stitches me back up.”
“Uh-huh,” Will muttered as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves and started removing the towel. He didn’t sound as if he believed a word of what Ed was saying, but Max didn’t care. His head was clearing now that he was seated in Ed’s lap.
“What happened? Why are you bleeding? Where did everyone go?”
Ed winced, his grip tightening on Max’s waist. “Soren might have managed to get a meeting with Mironov today. It went about as well as we expected. They got pissy when we said that we needed to think about whether we’d be willing to sell you and your information to them.”
“And pissy means what? They shot at you,” Max cut, his voice flat while his fingers tightened in the front of Ed’s button-down linen shirt.
“Um…yeah, there was some shooting, but I was not shot.”
Max turned his gaze on Will, who was in the middle of cleaning up Ed’s arm. “Is that a gunshot wound?”
Will’s eyes darted up to Ed’s face and then rolled far enough that Max was sure they were going to be stuck in the back of his skull. “Ed has sustained a long laceration across his left biceps by what appears to be a bullet.”
“Graze,” Ed interjected. “It’s just a little graze. I was grazed by a bullet. That doesn’t count as being shot.”
There was snickering around the room, but Max ignored all of them and narrowed his eyes on the man who was looking quite well despite being shot or grazed or whatever the fuck they wanted to call it. The only important thing was that Ed was doing okay.
So he could kick his ass later in private.
“You promise you’re okay? Not grazed anywhere else?” Max inquired.
Ed smiled broadly and pressed a kiss to the center of Max’s forehead. “Just hot and sweaty. I don’t know how you survive in this heat when you’re doing all those digs.”
“Lots of water,” Max mumbled.
“Oh! I’ll get you some water,” Izzie suddenly cried out and darted for the kitchen.
Max relaxed on Ed, partially watching Will clean the wound and close it up with some quick sutures. Max counted. Ed got five stitches.
He waited until Ed guzzled down a bottle of water. That was just enough time for Charlie and West to stroll in, looking a little sweaty and dirty, but in good shape otherwise.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were meeting with Mironov today?” Max asked quietly as the guys caught up with Charlie and West. The only other one who could possibly hear Max was Will and he was doing the good doctor thing and pretending he couldn’t hear anything.
Ed pulled him in closer, tucking him into his right side while tipping his head so that he could meet Max’s gaze. There was only sweet warmth and concern filling those perfect amber-brown eyes. “You said that you were close to getting the final information you needed and that you believed you could have the location today. I was afraid of distracting you, especially if this turned out to be nothing.”
“Hey! When have any of my meetings turned out to be nothing?” Soren shouted from across the room, proving that the man had insanely good hearing.
“Do you want me to list them chronologically or alphabetically by location?” Ed fired back at him without a beat of hesitation.
Soren made a dismissive noise and flipped Ed off as he turned his attention to Charlie.
Ed smirked in triumph, but his expression almost instantly morphed into one of excitement. “I forgot to ask! Do you have any news? Do you know where the tomb is?”
