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However, Maxim needed sleep.
His body desperately required sleep in order to start repairing itself. He’d lost a lot of blood. And she knew that he was more likely to sleep if he wasn’t worrying about her.
So she curled up next to him, holding him carefully.
He was silent for a long time, so she figured he’d fallen asleep. She should get up and shower. She was wearing some of Gracen’s clothes, but she’d really like to get some of her own. She felt exposed like this. Her clothes were part of her armor and being without them left her vulnerable.
Should she stay here? She didn’t want to leave Maxim. However, she couldn’t get what they’d told her out of her head.
Was Dayton doing something illegal? Had he sent those men to hurt Maxim?
If he had . . . she wanted to know. Needed to know.
Which might mean that she needed to do some investigating on her own.
Which wasn’t going to go down well.
These Malone men were really something else.
“Do you have nightmares often?” he asked in a rough voice.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I was dozing. Baby, do you often have nightmares? You were having one earlier, just before you just woke up. You called out my name, so I’m guessing that nightmare was about what happened last night. But do you have other nightmares often? Is that part of why you have trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah, I have a lot of trouble falling asleep,” she confessed. “I can’t seem to turn my brain off. I get into bed and I start going over everything. All the stuff that happened in my day. Things I could have done differently. All my regrets. Stuff about my family. And yeah, sometimes when I do get to sleep, I have nightmares.”
“What are those nightmares about usually?”
She stiffened.
“Anything you tell me is safe with me,” he told her. “I’d never use it against you, never tell anyone else without your permission. You’re safe with me, baby.”
“I know. You . . . you make me feel safe in a way I never have before.”
“Except for what just happened when I couldn’t protect you,” he said bitterly.
She leaned up on one hand to glare down at him. She had to brush back her hair, which was such a tangled mess that she knew it was going to be a real pain to tame it. But that was a problem for later.
“Maxim Malone, it was three against one. Those odds weren’t in your favor, and you were still more worried about keeping me safe than you. I’d say you protect me just fine.”
He opened his mouth.
“And I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
A throat clearing had Maxim looking over at the door as Regent, then Victor, walked in. Regent looked serious, while Victor was grinning. Which was decidedly strange.
They were followed by Doctor Edwards, who Regent kept on retainer.
Immediately, the doctor moved to his side, checking his vitals and then taking a look at his injury. Which hurt like a bitch, but he didn’t let on because he didn’t want to upset his girl.
Or his brothers. Who could be over-protective.
Regent had his gaze on the doctor. Victor winked at him.
Seriously. What was wrong with him?
“You should have called me the minute he woke up,” the doctor snapped at Aston, who tensed and tried to climb off the bed.
He held her tighter to him and then turned to scowl at the doctor. “Get out.”
“What?”
“You’re fucking fired. Leave now. And be grateful that I’m in no state to throw you the fuck out.”
“Maxim,” she whispered.
“Hush, baby. Let me take care of this.”
“You can’t fire me!” the doctor blustered. “I don’t work for you. And you need me.”
“I don’t need you,” Maxim retorted. “I can go find another doctor. One who knows how to talk to a Malone woman. And that means with fucking respect. You’re fired. Leave now before Victor makes you leave.”
The doctor swallowed heavily, growing pale. Then he glanced over at Victor. And he grew even paler.
“Mr. Malone?” The doctor turned to Regent. He was probably panicking because he realized his cushy job was about to end. Regent paid him well to be on call. And he wasn’t called on that often. So, he spent most of his days dining out and playing golf.
So yeah, he was likely panicking.
“You heard my brother. You’re fired. Take anything that belongs to you and go. But I know I paid for most of this equipment, so I expect you to take very little,” Regent said coldly.
“This is . . . this is ridiculous!” he almost shouted. “I saved your brother, stitched him up, and now you’re going to fire me just because she should have used her brain and called me in once he woke up.”
“If I was in pain, feverish, feeling ill, she would have called you,” Maxim told him. “But I’m none of those things and she could see that. Because she was using her brain. Unlike you. You were not using your brain when you snapped at my woman or when you just insulted her. So now you can get the fuck out. Now!”
