AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Donovan stops me outside the sliding doors of the ER. His hand on my chest halts my progress. “I need you to hear me.” He pushes, forcing me back a step.
I’m bigger, stronger, but damn he’s been a good friend the last few months. And not only because he’s a cop and it’s his job to get to know the new fighters in town. He and Liliana have become family. His brothers are a pain in the ass and funny as fuck. His dad… Well, he’s the retired chief of police—enough said. And his mom, she’s a saint for having put up with them all. And Liliana and her skydiving crew have a special place in my heart—burned and calloused as it is. Once she heard I was an ex-Army Special Forces Combat Medic with parachuting training, she was a force to be reckoned with until she got me jumping with her every few weeks.
For him, I squelch my bulldozing tendencies with clenched fists and flared nostrils. “I’m listening.” I’m thankful he called. He knows I’m protective of Frankie. I’m an ass to her face, but behind her back, I’d never let anyone treat her like I do. Donovan knows it too. The intuitive SOB.
“She’s going to be fine.” His stare is intense, burrowing into mine. I nod and take a breath, which seems to be the answer he was looking for before continuing. “She’s got a dislocated shoulder.”
My step falters, and I lean against the brick pillar to keep me on my feet. “How the fuck did he dislocate her shoulder?” Austin called me, and I was too busy getting my rocks off to pay him any mind, other than to use his words to fuel thoughts of Frankie now free to be mine.
Jesus, fuck, my asshole mode was in full force.I die a little thinking of our last interaction, the cruelty of my words. I called herslut meat. Jesus.
Donovan clears his throat, looking over my shoulder. “Jimmy.” He nods.
I don’t have to look to know the Jimmy he’s referring to. Captain Jimmy Durant, the Black Ops MMA gym owner, my boss and head asshole. I give him a chin nod. He pats my shoulder before grunting, letting me know he’ll be inside.
I return my attention to Donovan, waiting for him to tell me how Austin managed to dislocate her shoulder.
He puts his hands up. “She’ll have to tell you that.”
“Fuck.” It can’t be good if he’s not saying. I scrub my face with my hand. “Did he beat her up? Can you at least tell me that?” My heart races, and my anger threatens to tear this place apart to get to her.
“If you’re asking if he hit her, then, no. He didn’t hit her.” He looks through the doors and back at me. “You want to see her?”
“You’re seriously asking?” Like he could keep me from her.
The asshole laughs and claps a hand on my back as we step through the parting doors. “Yeah, I am. She’s scared and won’t let anyone see her.” He stops at the front desk. The lady behind the glassed-in counter buzzes us in with hardly a glance. “You’re not her favorite person, you know. She may not want to see you.”
“Like she has a choice,” I scoff.
He scans the hall as we walk past the curtained-off beds of the emergency room, coming to a stop before a closed door. His eyes finally land on me. “Be nice.”
A smart-ass remark on the tip of my tongue, I simply nod, reach for the door handle and pause. “You sticking around?”
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”
“And Austin?” The knob squeaks as I strangle it in my grip, my murderous stare on the door in front of me as I picture my Angel lying in the hospital bed on the other side, banged up by the man who supposedly loves her.
“He called 9-1-1 and then disappeared. We’re looking for him.”
“You’d better pray you find him before we do.” Donovan doesn’t have to ask who theweI’m referring to is. He knows. I put the word out to the team on my way here, woke up some grumpy-asses, but it had to be done. We take care of our own. Though Austin is one of us, he went rogue on Frankie, who’s also one of us, and a woman. We don’t disrespect women. We may fuck ‘em hard with barely a thank you, and we may fight for a living, but the two don’t mix. Austin forgot that. We’ll be happy to remind him.I’llbe happy to remind him.
I hear Donovan’s silent struggle. He’s a cop, but he’s also a friend.
“You do what you do. We’ll do what we do.” I meet his gaze over my shoulder. “And hopefully we end up on the same side.”
I turn the knob and step inside.
IHEARD VOICES IN THE HALL,but when Gabriel steps into the room, he freezes when our eyes lock. I want to run away from him nearly as much as I want to run to him. His blue eyes, normally cold and intense, flash with heat, threatening to burn the flesh from my bones. His clenched jaw could crack diamonds, and his hands fist at his sides. His black hair is a mess, like he just got out of bed. Given the hour, I’m sure that’s exactly where he came from.
“Angel.” His rasp is so quiet I hardly hear his shocking endearment. He’s never, I meannevercalled me anything other than Francesca. He’s made it painstakingly clear he views me with little regard. Yet when he moves closer, each step silent and agile as he takes in my pale blue hospital gown, the scorn I’ve come to expect from him is absent.
Leery of this change in demeanor, using my good arm, I pull the blanket higher, feeling all too naked around a man who exudes testosterone like he drinks it for breakfast, wears it like a suit of armor topped off by a cleft chin to reinforce his masculine genes.
I sink back as he steps closer. Raw and scared is not the right frame of mind to deal with the larger-than-life presence Gabriel exudes like breathing. His shockingly tender eyes, which deeply contrast the coolness I found in Austin’s as he left me broken on our living room floor, take me in. I gasp when Gabriel runs the back of his hand down my tearstained cheek.
I tried to be brave, holding in my screams when they popped my shoulder back into place, but I failed horribly. The doctor wanted to sedate me, but I refused. I need to keep my wits about me, especially if Austin comes for me. I’ve never been afraid of him, but I saw a different side of him tonight. If I ever doubted his love, his faithfulness, he shattered everything the moment he fucked me hard enough to tear my arm out of its socket and left me broken, naked, and passed out, only coming to when the EMTs rolled me onto the backboard to place me on the stretcher.
“I’ll kill him.” Gabriel’s intensity has never scared me, not even his asshole ways, but I flinch at his murderous tone. I don’t doubt him.
