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“This way. There’s a first aid kit upstairs,” she said.
Dana took a step toward the office. She hesitated for a moment, then offered him her shoulder for support. Together, they made their way to the office, Cross leaning heavily on her.
He groaned softly as she helped him into the swivel chair, the first sound of agony he had allowed to escape. It was nothing short of a miracle that Cross hadn’t fainted from the pain.
“I can bring you to the hospital—” Dana started, but he cut her off with a grimace.
“No hospitals,” Cross gritted out through clenched teeth, and the urgency in his voice left no room for argument.
Dana quickly realized he was right. Sending him to the hospital would be the equivalent of a death sentence. The Crimson Crows had their spies everywhere, and once word got out that the hospital was harboring an enemy of the Crows, they would descend upon Cross without mercy. He’d never stand a chance of escaping. Dana quickly retrieved the first aid kit. Dana unfastened Cross’s belt.
“Well, this wasn’t what I expected—” he started, but she swiftly cut him off with a glare.
“Shut up,” she said sternly. “I need you to bite into something while I extract the bullets.”
Cross, momentarily taken aback, nodded in agreement. Drawing on the scant knowledge she’d picked up from medical school, Dana went to work. It was a gritty, tense few minutes, however, Cross proved to be a good patient. By some miracle, her steady hands managed to extract the bullets from his arm and leg.
Cross observed her quietly as she worked, breaking the silence with his observation. “This isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this,” he said aloud.
Dana paused, wiping the sweat from her brow with a clean rag.
“It is,” she replied. “I studied to be a nurse, but I had to quit at the end of my first year.”
Cross reached out, lifting her chin with two fingers, and she found herself drawn to his piercing blue eyes.
“Why did you quit? Pressure got to you?” he inquired.
Dana shook her head, annoyed he was prying into her past. She didn’t owe this man any answers, but told him the truth anyway.
“My father had debts to the Crows. He needed my help running this shop,” she explained tersely.
Dana had a gut feeling that he was about to start probing with more questions, but she cut him off with her next words.
“You’re fixed. What’s next?”
Cross considered for a moment, his gaze distant.
“I need to make a phone call and lay low for a few hours, until one of my MC brothers picks me up,” he explained.
It dawned on Dana with trepidation that by “lay low,” he meant hiding in the garage.
Cross seemed to sense her hesitation, and he reached for one of her hands. Her fingers were stained with grime and fuel marks under the dim office lights.
His touch, though rough, felt surprisingly warm.
“Dana, I understand that what I’m asking is a lot,” Cross said softly, locking his eyes with hers. “But it would only be for a little while.”Dana was going to regret this. “Fine. You can rest up here and use the landline. Meanwhile, I’ll head back downstairs and hide your Harley. It’s not exactly subtle.”
“Thank you, Dana,” Cross told her.
The grateful look in his eyes made her heart flutter a little. What was this man doing to her? The sooner Cross exited her life, the better, she decided, as she headed back to the front of the shop.
Chapter Three
Dana moved to the Harley, draping a ragged piece of cloth over it to protect it from prying eyes. She couldn’t help but admire the care and attention that Cross had given to the motorcycle.
Dana’s thoughts drifted to the injured and sleeping biker currently holed up in her office. She wondered what had possessed her to help a stranger in this way. Perhaps it was her own form of rebellion against her father, who had made their lives miserable by associating with the Crows ever since she her mother died.
Hearing the rumble of motorcycle engines outside, Dana’s heart skipped a beat, and she froze in her tracks.
