Page 39 of Diamond In The Rough

Instantly, my gaze jumps to the four lanes of cars heading north.

“I can keep my distance, boss, but it’ll mean more risk of losing them.”

“Stay a hundred yards back. Give them space.”

My phone rings, the chime bleating in my hand and bringing my eyes down.

It’s not Felix’s name flashing back at me. Nor Christabelle’s. Not even Archer’s. Minka Mayet, my sister-in-law and resident doctor, commands my attention.

And because she so rarely does, I accept her call and bring the device to my ear while I keep my focus on the surrounding traffic. “Is Archer alive?”

“Yeah. He’s still sleeping.”

I envision the doctor padding around her apartment in the dark, in skimpy pyjamas; not to be seductive, but because it’s filthy hot, from our side of the country to theirs. And their apartment is older than the universe itself, which means the cooling they have is pitiful at best.

“Why are you up so early?” I ask.

“Because I’m hungry. And since I’m up, I was thinking of you.”

“How does Archer feel about his wife scamming on his brother?”

She snorts, dismissive and cruel, yet the sound elicits a genuine smile from me. “I’m exhausted with the Malone I married. I live next door to another. I’m babysitting a third. And Felix has yet to stop flirting with me, despite his commitment to Cannon. I assure you, I’m not interested in adding another Malone to my tally board. How’s your hand?”

I look down at the appendage, taking stock of what’s left after a prick took garden cutters to it. “I have a fuckin’ stub where my finger should be. It’s the ugliest shit I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Not the ugliest I’ve seen.” She opens her fridge, sending bottles rattling in the otherwise silent background. “I’ve seen a lot of bad shit in my life. Your finger doesn’t even rate in the top fifty. Healing?”

“Coming along.”

“Functional?”

I lift my hand and flex my fingers—all but the one that no longer exists. “Nope. It’s dead.”

“Necrotic?”

“No. Like, the skin is pink and healthy looking, I just meant?—”

“Then it’s not dead. Pain?”

I exhale through my nose. “None in the stub itself. But I get stabbing pain in my palm most days. It burns all the way up my arm when that happens.”

“Could be a nerve thing,” she ponders. “Fixable, maybe, with proper surgery. Is the rest of your hand functional?”

“Yeah. Things are still a little tender, so I defer to my right side often. But I make sure to do those exercises you told me to.”

“Boss?”

I look across to Stovic, then out the windshield when he peers that way.

“That white one,” he nods. “They’ve taken every turn Lix has for the last three minutes.”

“What’s going on?” Minka’s voice turns hard. Controlled. “Is there an issue?”

“None we aren’t handling. My hand is fine, I’m not dying of sepsis. And you can stop checking in on me now. I’m okay.”

“You don’t want me to call?” She clicks her tongue in disappointment. “Seems you’re the only Malone not obsessed with me.”

“Just keeping you humble.”

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