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She wasn’t sure whether that was the truth . . . but then again, she didn’t know that it wasn’t either.
“Is your man okay? I’ll call the cops.”
“He’ll be fine,” she said quickly. “I’ll call the cops myself. Thanks.” She had an inherent dislike of the police and didn’t want to be on their radar. “It’s all good. Really. The city is getting to be a dangerous place.”
“Uh, yeah. You sure you don’t need my help?”
“No, thanks. You’ve done enough. I appreciate it.”
“What about your guy?” He moved toward Maxim.
Maxim held up his hand. “Good thanks. Just winded. I’ve got it from here. Thanks.”
With another wary look at them both, he left the alley. They didn’t have much time to get out of there. She didn’t want those guys to come back, but she also didn’t want their rescuer to call the cops.
“Maxim! Maxim, are you all right?”
He was sitting, leaning against the wall, and his hand was over the side of his stomach.
She stared down at him in horror. There wasn’t much light back here, but there was enough to know that things weren’t right with him. He definitely wasn’t just winded.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” She kneeled next to him, reaching for his hand.
“Baby. I’ve been stabbed.” His voice didn’t sound right. It was fainter than usual. Like he was fast losing energy.
“Oh God.” She hadn’t panicked while he was being attacked. Or while she was fighting a man twice her size. But she could feel the panic looming. “I need to get you to the hospital.”
“No hospital.”
“Maxim, now is not the time for you to be Mr. Macho.”
He let out a low laugh, then groaned. “Don’t make me laugh, baby.”
“Sorry,” she replied. “I’m so sorry. Maxim, you need the hospital.”
“Just need to be stitched up.”
“Yeah! At the hospital!” she screeched. “Shoot. We should get out of here, though. Before those guys come back.” She wished she hadn’t sent their good Samaritan away now.
“What did you do to the one hitting me?” he asked.
“Not important. Can you move?”
“Yeah, baby. You help me; I can do anything.”
She rolled her eyes at that. She would be lucky to get him to the street, let alone the hospital.
Shoot! Where was her phone? She’d had it in her hand when she’d gotten down here.
“I need my phone.”
“Take mine. Search for it.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She used the flashlight to spot her phone and picked it up before returning to him.
With his arm flung over her shoulder, somehow, Aston managed to get him onto his feet, though she stumbled under his weight.
“Holy heck balls. You don’t look like you weigh this much.”
“It’s all this muscle, baby. Pure muscle.”
“Uh-huh, come on, muscle man. Let’s get you out of here.” After that, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with him. But she’d figure it out.
She had to. Because she wasn’t about to let him bleed out.
She was not losing him.
“You’ve got to get me to my brother.”
“What?” she asked.
“My brother. Get me to his place. He’ll get a doctor.”
She wanted to protest, but she wasn’t a fan of hospitals, either.
“You’re sure?”
“Sure, baby.”
“All right. I need to call a taxi.”
“We’re taking my car.” They’d reached the road by now, and she was looking around in worry. She really didn’t want to stand out here and wait for a taxi, but what choice did she have?
“Uh, Maxim, hate to tell you, but you’re barely standing. You can’t drive.”
“You can.”
“I don’t know how to drive!” She couldn’t do it. No way. What if she crashed? What if she hurt him?
“Baby, it’s automatic. Easy-peasy.”
“Easy-peasy? You’re nuts. You’ve lost too much blood, which is obviously affecting your brain.” After saying that, she felt ill. How much blood had he lost? They were under the streetlights now, so she could see that his navy blue shirt was damp with blood.
Shoot. She needed to stop arguing and help him.
“I’m going to drive you,” she muttered.
“Thanks, baby. You’re being so brave.”
“Don’t be nice to me right now. I’m freaking out. You can’t be nice or I might cry.”
“All right, baby,” he murmured. But she could tell he was just humoring her.
Jerk.
They reached his car and he leaned against it with a groan, studying her. “Baby, you all right?”
“What? Yes, of course.”
“You don’t look okay. They hurt you? I’ll kill those bastards.” Maxim tried to move, as though he seriously thought he was going to go after some guys that were long gone to punish them for hurting her . . . when he was the one who’d damn well been stabbed. Not to mention the beating he’d taken.
The guy was nuts!
“I’m fine. Where are your keys?”
“Pocket.”
Oh boy. She moved around to search in his back pockets, but he shook his head. “Front, baby.”
