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Officer Giordano crossed his arms over his chest. “There was an incident in one of the ballrooms. We got one guy with a knife wound, two possible concussions, and the perp’s crying that he has a broken wrist.”
My stomach dropped to my feet. Tony had said his team was working an event in one of the ballrooms. Before I could ask any more questions, the elevator doors opened. Officer Giordano led me down the hallway, and I saw exactly where we were headed, judging by the three police officers standing outside the door.
He walked me to the doorway and told the officers standing there, “This is Liam O’Neil. He’s gonna help with the injuries until EMS gets here.”
One of the officers nodded and said, “Lieutenant Harris is inside interviewing the victims. The suspect is under guard but not handcuffed because he’s whining that his wrist is broken.”
Giordano rolled his eyes. “Maybe he shouldn’t attack someone with a knife when an ex-Navy SEAL is around.”
My chest tightened and I had trouble drawing a breath. I swallowed hard. “I should probably go in,” I croaked.
Officer Giordano opened the door for me and followed as I stepped into barely controlled chaos. Chairs had been toppled. There were broken dishes and food on the floor. Elegantly dressed men and women were clustered in groups, talking quietly. I heard at least one person crying. Several tables had been moved from the center of the room, and a makeshift infirmary had been set up. Two people lay on the floor—a twenty-something man with blond hair and one hell of a black eye and an older woman with graying hair and a sizable lump on the side of her head. Was the blond guy in his underwear? Another twenty-something blond man sat in a chair flanked by two police officers. I looked between the two blonds. Were they twins?
Standing in the middle of it all was Marco D’Angelo, arms crossed over his chest, a bloody towel wrapped around his left upper arm, talking to a man I assumed was Lieutenant Harris. I breathed a sigh of relief, and the tightness in my chest eased. He was okay.
Marco wore a white dress shirt, and the rolled-up sleeves revealed muscular forearms. His black tie was undone and draped on either side of his open collar, emphasizing his broad chest. I’d forgotten how tall he was. He had a good four inches on the police lieutenant. I’d also forgotten how big he was with all those yummy muscles. I wondered if everything about him was big.
Giordano’s touch on my arm startled me out of my lusty reverie. “I have to introduce you to my lieutenant so he knows what’s going on.” I nodded and followed him toward the two men. Marco saw us first. The only change in his expression was a slight furrow of his brow as he tracked our progress across the room.
Lieutenant Harris noted Marco’s shifted attention and followed his gaze to Giordano and me. His eyes flicked down to note my black medical bag before he met my gaze. “Who’s this, Officer Giordano?”
“Lieutenant,” Giordano began, “this is Liam O’Neil. He’s a nurse practitioner. He was downstairs getting his car when he heard we had a medical emergency up here and offered his services.”
Lt. Harris held out his hand to shake, and I took it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. O’Neil. I hope you don’t mind if I ask for some credentials.”
“Of course not,” I replied. I put my bag down and pulled my wallet from my jeans pocket. I handed the lieutenant the wallet-sized copy of my APN license and my driver’s license.
The lieutenant looked over my documents carefully before handing them back to me. “Looks good. What are you doing up here on a Tuesday night?”
“I dropped my brother off at JFK and decided to head into the City instead of going straight home. I haven’t been here in a while,” I replied.
“Well, welcome back,” the lieutenant said with a smile. He gestured to Marco. “You might want to check out this guy first. That cut looks pretty deep.”
I turned toward Marco for the first time. “Hey, Marco.”
“Hey, Liam.” His eyes searched my face. “You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Lieutenant Harris looked between the two of us. “You two know each other?”
“Marco got me out of a rough spot a few months ago,” I said. “Plus, his company sometimes does security for my brother’s hotel.”
I didn’t listen for the lieutenant’s reply as I reached for Marco’s injured arm. The towel was wrapped around his upper arm, just above the elbow, and it was saturated right over the area of the injury.
Marco put his hand gently over mine to stop me. “I’m good for now. You should check on Emily.” He gestured with his chin toward the man sitting in the chair. “That asshole knocked her over, and she hit her head on the table pretty badly going down.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure that’s going to need stitches, judging by how much you’re bleeding.” I saw the stubborn set of his jaw, so I huffed a breath and shook my head. “Can you at least get a fresh towel until I get back to you?”
“I’ve got one right here,” I heard Tony say from behind me.
I turned to face the other man. “Hey, Tony.”
“Hey, Liam. Didn’t think I’d see you up here.”
I shrugged. “I heard there was a medical emergency up here, and I had my bag in my car.”
Tony squeezed my shoulder. “I appreciate you showing up. Thank you.”
