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“Haverhill is secure. You weren’t followed, but Talis has us on high alert. He doesn’t like how things went down today.” One of the men with tattoos curling up from under his collar replied in a clipped voice.
“None of us like how it went down.” Levi grunted, and I mentally seconded that. As he started up the stairs, an older woman with wisps of gray in her short black hair opened the door further.
She glanced around outside, clutching her hands together, and motioned for Levi to hurry. “Don’t dawdle now, Levi. Get yourself and Miss Birk in here.” The second we were through the door, her jaw dropped as she looked me over. “You poor thing! She’s a mess.” She shot a glare at Levi. “What did you do to her?”
“I rescued her.” Levi huffed and then gave me a smirk. “There’s no way you could look anything less than gorgeous.” My face heated at his flirty comment, and I wanted to hide under the blanket again, but he continued to make introductions. “Callista, this is our housemother, Kathryn. She takes care of us, the house, and basically the whole island.”
“And now I’m going to take care of you,” Kathryn spoke gently to me before motioning to Levi. She easily took charge of the situation, and Levi didn’t question her, but followed along behind her. “Bring her to the blue guest room. I’ve got my kit in there already.”
Her kit? I nipped my lower lip. I didn’t want to be a burden on anyone. They all had jobs to do, and I was just along for the ride. “It’s lovely to meet you, Kathryn. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
From the foyer, we entered an open common space with plush couches and chairs, a huge flat screen TV, and a massive stone fireplace. Windows let in light from every angle and the ceiling rose almost three stories. Yet there was nothing pretentious about its grandness. Compared to my home which felt cold like a museum, this was cozy.
“Nonsense, dear. You’re a guest, and clearly you’re hurt. What happened to your feet?” Kathryn glanced at my bandages as she took us down a hall which curved to the right.
I flexed my feet as she mentioned them and sucked in a breath with pain. Levi reflexively pressed me more firmly against him. The bandages were still on. He’d done a great job tending to me. Was he still that worried about me? I wanted him to be. I didn’t know exactly why, and that scared me a little. “Oh, the driver of the limo protecting Carson told me to run when the shooting started, and I did. I took off my heels to do so.”
“Van did the right thing.” Levi bobbed his head.
“Evander had you running by yourself with guns going off everywhere and in your bare feet on pavement?” Kathryn didn’t seem to think it was the right thing and harrumphed about it. “I’ll have a word with that man when he gets back.” She turned into a room on her left. “Don’t you worry about a thing now, Miss Birk.”
So the handsome driver was named Evander. A wave of wanton warmth went through me at how just touching his hand had made every inch of me zing. “Please, call me Callista.”
Levi carried me into the bedroom. It wasn’t as big as mine at home, and the king sized bed was covered in a quilt with patches of various shades of blue. Another door sat open leading into a bathroom. There was a dresser and a small ornate desk, and paintings of various lakes and rivers on the walls. Blue was the theme, but it wasn’t overly done, and it created a soothing atmosphere.
Tenderly and slowly, Levi sat me on the end of the bed. His hands lingered as if he didn’t want to let me go. My own fingers itched to grab him and hold him there too. Having him next to me was at the same time calming and an incredible turn on.
Kathryn systematically drew items out of a large first aid kit which sat on top of the dresser. “Callista, I’m going to check your injuries and clean you up. Levi, start a bath for her and then go check in with Talis. He’s been asking where you were.”
“Right.” Levi’s lips momentarily thinned but then he flashed a sexy smile at me. “You’re in good hands with Kathryn. She stitches us all up here when we come back from missions. She was a medic in the army like, what was it?” His eyes glinted mischievously. “Fifty years ago, Kathryn?”
“Get your ass out of here, or I will kick it out.” Kathryn glared at him as he laughed. She rolled up the sleeves of her blouse and continued to stare him down until he started moving.
“I’m going.” Levi chuckled and then caressed my cheek. “I’ll come back later to check on you and bring you some dinner. How does that sound?”
My stomach tightened with hunger and either with the fact he was leaving or that he said he’d come back. Probably both. “Sounds good. Thank you.”
“My pleasure, sweetling.” His fingers slid down my shoulder to my back as if he wasn’t willing to stop touching me. Part of me was screaming for him to touch me a lot more and in all the most sensitive places. With one more grin, Levi turned and went into the bathroom. The water immediately started to run.
“That man.” Kathryn sighed and then gave me a kind smile. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through today, dear. It must have been horrible for you.”
Before I could reply, Levi exited the bathroom and headed to the bedroom door. “She was absolutely amazing, Kathryn. Callista is not only beautiful, but brave too.”
He winked at me before leaving the room, and my cheeks heated up again. Just a few sweet words from a hot Alpha I barely knew made me feel all gooey inside. It was silly, but I couldn’t help myself.
Kathryn went to the door and closed it. “Well now, he’s quite impressed with you. You must have done very well today.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I squirmed on the bed. I just ran, swam, and hid. It had been the scariest thing in my life, but surely Levi and all the guards had been through worse. “Levi seems like the flirty type and would treat any woman this way.”
“Levi is a flirt.” Kathryn returned to her kit and donned a pair of latex gloves. “He is also a bluntly honest man. He’s never called a woman amazing or brave before. Most of the females he associates with are pretty and that’s about it.”
A sudden spark of jealousy had me gritting my teeth. Why did I care so much what kind of company Levi kept? We’d only met today. He was doing his job when he saved me. Everything he did was part of his job.
“Let me take a look at you now, dear. No one will walk in, so you can take off the blanket.”
I shouldered off the blanket and goose pimples sprung up on my arms. Everything was dry, even the life jacket. I unbuckled it and took it off, careful of the reddening wounds on my arms. A few of the abrasions started to bleed with my movement.
“Where are your clothes?” Kathryn gasped and immediately grabbed some cotton and doused it with alcohol to swab my wounds.
