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My cheeks burned again. “Levi had me get rid of it. It made me a recognizable target.”
“I’m sure he did.” She snorted and began to clean the wounds on my right arm. “Though, he’d be right. This may hurt, and probably not a little. I want to check all these abrasions to make sure you don’t have any splinters or shrapnel. You weren’t shot anywhere, were you?”
“No.” I winced as she went about her work. She was careful, but firm with her grip.
“Thank God for that.” Kathryn dropped the first bit of cotton in a trashcan and carried on with a second one. “Senator Grant is in the ER with two major wounds. Evander is with him at the moment with his own injury. I’m surprised they only were hit once from what I heard went down.”
I sat as still as I could as she tended to me. “It was crazy. There were so many gunmen, and they followed us to the yacht.” It had been a war zone, and I was so glad it was over. My chest tightened hearing that Evander had been shot too, but then I chastised myself. It was his job. I should be worried about Carson. “You said the senator is in the ER? How serious is his condition?”
“I don’t know, dear. I do believe he is stable, though. You don’t need to worry. He’s safe with The Praetorian Guard watching over him. Oh, pardon me, just a moment.” Kathryn hurried into the bathroom to stop the water running.
I didn’t breathe out a sigh of relief. I didn’t like Carson, but I also didn’t wish ill upon him. No doubt his PR team was already finding a way to spin this to his advantage and make him seem like a hero. All I remembered was him acting like an asshole, and it was Evander who saved his life.
Kathryn returned and cleaned my wounds, pulling out a few tiny pieces of shrapnel. She then redressed my feet before taking my vitals.
“Everything looks good. I didn’t bandage your arms so you could soak them in the tub, but the ones on your feet are waterproof and now have more cushion. Nothing will leave a scar. I suggest you stay off your feet for a couple of days and get plenty of rest.” She removed her gloves and tossed them in the trash can. “No matter Levi’s teasing, you did do amazing today. I see no signs of shock, and you did as the men told you to do when it needed to be done. Talis and his team are very experienced, and whatever they ordered you to do, it was for your own safety. Now,” she clapped her hands together and offered her hands. “Let me help you to the bathroom, so you can enjoy the bath while it’s hot. There’s a robe you can wear, but I’ll find some clothes and leave them for you in the room.”
With her help, I stood and found it easier to walk. Though I did put most of my weight onto my heels, I could get around with little pain. “Thank you so much for everything. You’ve been incredibly kind and patient with me.”
“You’ve been the best patient I’ve had in years. These men might look tough, but you should hear them whine when I’m fixing them up.” Kathryn chuckled and led me into the big bathroom where a huge clawfoot tub sat against one wall and a wooden rack with two fluffy towels stood next to it. The water was steamy and fragrant. “I’ll let you have your privacy. I’ll come back with clothes and a phone so that you may call your family. I’m sure they’re terribly worried about you.”
I thanked her again, but I highly doubted my family, other than Kienna, was worrying over me. My father would be much more concerned with Carson as he’d invested so much into the senator.
Once I was alone, I stripped off my bra and panties and sank into the hot water. I wasn’t sure exactly what Levi had put into it, but there was calming lavender, and perhaps a hint of chamomile. Whatever it was, it wasn’t making my arms sting and helped as I scrubbed off the salt from the ocean.
I tried to focus on what I was going to say to my parents when I spoke to them, and when would be the right time to call Carson. That would be expected of me. If he wasn’t badly injured, we’d likely reschedule our night out for him to claim me.
My stomach churned at the thought. No matter what happened, I was still the Omega daughter of the esteemed Birk family, and I had started my first heat cycle. My father would have to pair me off with an Alpha much sooner than any of us anticipated now.
Kienna had said that Carson wasn’t the worst of Alphas to be claimed by, but for me, he was the cold-hearted prince of the most horrible of fates. I pushed him out of my head as I did every time the subject of Carson came up.
As I washed, my body had other ideas for me. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining Evander’s big hands soaping up my back and reaching around to knead my breasts, and Levi massaging upwards from my feet and spreading my thighs with that sexy grin on his lips. Oh yes…
And suddenly I was hotter than the water, thrusting two fingers fast into me, aching for two Alphas that I would never be able to have.
Chapter Nine
First Grant yakked at me and wouldn’t shut up. Even when the asshole was shot, he kept blathering on. At the hospital, the nurses nagged me to get medical attention. Then Talis and the rest of the team barked the same crap over the radio.
I wrapped a bandage around my arm, stopped the bleeding, and stood guard as the doctors worked on Grant. The guys on Team B died today. Compared to that, my wound was just a scratch.
When Smith and Whittaker showed up, I kept guard with them until two more of their team arrived and the doctor assured us Grant would recover. The moment Grant was lucid after surgery, he had a team of PR dicks in his room. I explained to him to remain under the radar until those behind the shooting were found, but he ignored me.
Not once did Grant ask about Callista Birk. He didn’t care about anyone other than himself.
I wasn’t going to try to hammer it into his thick head about needing to stay safe. Talis could do it. My replacements had showed up. I was fucking done with Grant.
Taking an Uber to the waterfront, I hired a water taxi to ferry me out to Haverhill. Talis was still on the mainland doing his thing and wouldn’t be able to fly me out in his seaplane. So he couldn’t complain that I charged the company for the ride.
Just after it got dark, I tipped the taxi driver and hopped off at the dock to be greeted by two of our guards popping out of bushes nearby. “Van, you’re back soon.”
I fist bumped Williams. “Couldn’t stand to be another second near that fuckhead, Grant.” I glanced around and noted that all our cameras and early warning systems were on. “You guys are on high alert.”
“Talis’ orders. He’s taking no chances after the yacht was blown up.” Piper fist bumped me too and started us on our way up to the house. “We’ve doubled the guard here.”
“The yacht blew up?” I frowned and clenched my hands. Levi had taken Callista there. I silently prayed they were okay. My best friend and an Omega who was the sexiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on. “Who was on it?”
“Perez and Miller are dead,” Williams said through clenched teeth. “None of Team B made it either. Whenever we get our hands on the fuckers who did this, they’re dead.”
