Page 69 of Day Shift

I winced at the sharp pain, but Conan’s touch remained steady. He patted the area dry before reaching for the Steri-Strips.

“Stay still,” he murmured, carefully aligning the edges of the cut. He meticulously placed each strip to close the wound and ensure the skin stayed together. Once he was satisfied, he wrapped my hand with a clean bandage, securing it until it was snug but not too tight.

“There, my pretty Angel. That should take care of it.” He lifted my palm to his lips and gave it a chaste kiss. Lucian’s eyes darkened at the endearment, but he said nothing.

Hoping to ease the tension, I made some quick introductions. “Conan, this is Lucian. This is his brother Lachlan, and these two are Julian and Gabriel,” I said, gesturing to each one.

Lucian’s lips curled into a smirk. “Conan, huh? Are you thick in the head like Conan the Barbarian?”

“Stop antagonizing him, Lucian,” I snapped.

Conan looked Lucian dead in the eye. “My real name is Constantine. I picked up the nickname Conan in high school because, in my senior year, I was the biggest guy. Not because it came naturally, but because I’ve always put in the work. Physical fitness is important to me, and I’ve enjoyed mixed martial arts for many years.”

Conan’s real name surprised me. There was so much I didn’t know about him. Despite the time we’d spent together, our relationship was still new.

The guys were eyeing him suspiciously. His presence here demanded an explanation. “Conan was on duty in the ED the day I had the wreck.” I looked from Conan to Lucian. “He was the one who first treated my injuries.”

Conan nodded. “Her injuries were pretty severe. The trauma to her brain resulted in a form of amnesia where she couldn’t remember anything from before the wreck. We feared she might never regain her memories or be able to return to her previous life.”

“It was awful. I had no clue who I was for almost a month,” I said. “Just a black hole where my memories should have been.”

“Yeah, Ana said something about almost dying…and losing her memory,” Lucian said.

Conan’s face tightened with anger. “And none of you assholes thought to look for her when she disappeared out of the blue?” he spat, glaring at Lucian and then others.

Lucian raised his hands defensively. “Whoa, man. Her mob uncle had one of his thugs beat the crap out of me and threatened to kill us if we went sniffing around. He said she was away on family business. Nothing about a car wreck on the other side of the fucking country.”

Just then, Braxton burst in, a little disheveled, with Slade trailing behind him. Annoyed, Gabriel quipped, “What?! This is the second guy who’s burst in here. You’re just allowing random dudes in when we’re closed now? What the fuck?”

Slade, who was sporting a busted lip, rubbed his jaw and shrugged. “Sorry, boss. Wasn’t expecting them, and this one got the better of me,” he said, pointing to Braxton.

The guys eyed Conan and Braxton with a newfound respect. “Slade, you’re one of the toughest guys I know,” I said. “Didn’t think anyone could get the better of you. Looks like today neither of us fared too well.” I held up my hand and smiled.

Slade dropped his chin and shook his head.

Lucian reached behind the bar, filled a towel with ice, and handed it to Slade. “Here, take care of that jaw.”

Just then, a few of the club’s employees came in.

“Let’s head up to the office,” I suggested. “We need to talk about what’s going on with me and my family. You guys deserve to know all the ugly details.”

We headed toward the elevator, leaving Slade to return to his post at the entrance of the club. The tension was thick as we made our way up. I could almost taste the unease and the unspoken questions hanging in the air.

Chapter thirty-two

Once we were in the office, we gathered around the small, round conference table. All eyes were on me. I took a deep breath and faced the men. “Okay, I admit that I rushed off—without a solid plan—to the Volkov estate in Tacoma because my brother didn’t show up on our birthday,” I began. “But, for the last fourteen years, Nik has never missed coming to see me, and I panicked when he didn’t respond to my messages.”

Lucian crossed his arms. “That was reckless, Ana. You should’ve told us. You had to have known it would be dangerous to go off like that in search of a guy involved with the mafia and not tell anyone. When you called me that morning, I offered to help you in any way you needed, but you blew me off.”

Conan leaned back in his chair. “What I want to know is why did you run from the police? Braxton said they clocked you doing double the speed limit, running away like you robbed a bank. What the hell were you thinking?”

Their disappointment tore at my conscience. Having them pissed off at me would have been a much better alternative. Anger I could have dealt with, but not this.

“I didn’t have time to think it through,” I said, meeting Conan’s eyes. “I was desperate to find Nik, and when I showed up at the house and saw it covered in police tape, the yard unkempt, and the place practically ransacked, it freaked me out. I didn’t know what I was walking into. I hadn’t been inside but maybe twenty minutes when I heard police sirens. I ran because the fact that the Volkovs are my biological family has been a closely guarded secret since I was a young girl.” I looked at each of them in turn. “I had no explanation for why I broke into that home. They would have assumed I was a thief, arrested me, and checked into my background. Keeping my identity under wraps is crucial for my father’s plans. If the authorities learned who I really was, it would have blown everything up. He’s obsessed with gaining a stronghold here in the states and has spent years setting me up to help make that happen.”

“So, bottom line, you’re a part of not one but two mafia family crime syndicates, and you didn’t think we should know about it? Damn, Ana, you could get us all killed,” Julian grumbled.

“She was protecting you, dumbass. You know, the whole ignorance is bliss sort of thing,” Conan shot back.

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