Page 81 of Steady and Strong

A few minutes later, the police arrived. Harper was relieved when Kayden walked in, quickly introducing her to his partner, Seth.

Kayden asked her a few questions as Seth stood next to Bradley. She told him about the surprise visit, his attempts to get her to return to New York, even her suspicions that he’d been the one sabotaging the renovation. After she’d given her statement, Seth reached down to pull Bradley from the floor. He winced, claiming he needed to go to the hospital.

Seth didn’t respond. Instead, he cuffed him and read him his rights before leading him out of the room.

Kayden shook his head as he looked at Luca. “Looks like he needs medical attention.”

“He was beating Harper,” Luca replied darkly.

Kayden raised his hands in surrender. “Not saying you did the wrong thing. Just saying you Moretti brothers have a tendency to take matters into your own hands when someone threatens your girl.”

Harper looked at Luca for an explanation, even though she was secretly thrilled by the way Kayden had called her Luca’s girl.

Luca grimaced. “Jess was working as a maid in a seedy hotel when she first met Rhys and Tony. A guy attacked her, and Tony broke down the door and beat the fuck out of the guy.”

Harper glanced at her destroyed door. “I’m sort of sorry my head hurts so bad because this knight-in-shining-armor thing you’ve got going on is a total turn-on.”

Luca didn’t laugh.

Kayden laughed. “Where’s Conor?”

Harper wondered how on earth Kayden could know the status quo between her, Luca, and Conor had changed.

This time, it was Kayden who offered the explanation. “Luca, me, and a bunch of the guys have lunch together every Wednesday. Luca showed up this past week looking like the cat who ate the canary. It didn’t take me three minutes to wear him down and get him to confess to what had put that shit-eating grin on his face.”

“A good cop always gets his confession,” she joked.

It was another miss, she realized, when Luca’s frown grew more pronounced.

“Hey. I’m okay now.” She reached for his hand and squeezed, stopping when he winced. Looking down, she saw his knuckles were split, bruised from the beating he’d given Bradley.

When the EMTs arrived, Luca rose. “I’ll call Conor. Have him meet us at the hospital.”

Harper wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but as the adrenaline began to wear off, fear was creeping in. She wanted both her guys with her, and she didn’t care if that made her sound helpless or weak.

The EMTs confirmed what she knew. Nothing was broken, but they suspected the cut on her head would need a few stitches. They were also concerned about a concussion.

Luca returned. “Got his voicemail. Left a message. I’ll try again when we get to the hospital.”

Hotel security assured her they would secure the door—and all her belongings—and Luca rode to the hospital with her in the ambulance.

After three hours of pokes, prods, scans, and stitches, Harper found herself in a private hospital room, with Luca dozing next to her in the chair. She’d tried to convince him to go home, but he wasn’t budging.

He tried to call Conor at least a dozen times, every attempt going straight to voicemail.

The two of them had decided Conor’s phone battery was probably dead, and he had no idea they were trying to reach him.

It was a pretty lie they were telling themselves because one look in Luca’s light brown eyes told her he was thinking the same thing she was.

Something still felt weird.

And wrong.

Chapter Fourteen

The first thing Conor noticed when he woke up was the sharp pain in his neck. The second was the smell of coffee.

He slowly pried his eyes open, blinking a few times before twisting his head, grimacing as his stiff muscles protested.

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