Page 13 of Pure Vengeance

“No.” I shake my head and wave Dmitri to let the doctor in. “You should get going. I have a meeting this afternoon, so I need to get this done.”

He shakes his head again. “You’re being reckless, Anton. Keeping a woman who wants to kill you in the bedroom next to yours. How do you know she won’t slip in there with a knife while you’re sleeping?”

“Maybe I should move her into my bed then. I can keep her chained up so that won’t happen.” I grin.

He laughs.

“I don’t doubt you’d do it.” He gets to his feet and heads to the door just as Dmitri lets the doctor inside.

“Mr. DeMarci.” The doctor crosses the room to me with his hand outstretched. I take it when he’s at the desk.

“Thank you for coming this morning.” I gesture to the chair.

“Oh, I can’t stay long. I have to get to the hospital. I just thought you’d want to know how the girl is.”

“I do.” I nod, staying on my feet. “Her knuckles looked pretty bad.”

“They are. Nothing’s broken, but she scraped off a good few layers of skin on both hands. I applied medicated ointment and bandaged them. They’ll need to be changed this evening, but they can stay off after she showers in the morning. I left an antibiotic ointment with her to apply twice a day.”

“And her foot?”

“Another deep laceration. Luckily it didn’t need stitches. I used more ointment and a bandage. That one she’ll need to keep bandaged when she’s wearing shoes. It will make it easier for her.”

“All right.” I nod, taking the mental notes of what needs to be done.

“The cut on her cheek is pretty superficial, already has a scab forming. It will heal pretty quick,” he continues.

“Good. Did she cooperate all right for you?” She’s a fighter. No doubt she would argue with him even if he is a doctor.

“Uh.” His gaze drops a fraction. “She did, but she also told me that you’re keeping her hostage. She asked that I take her to the hospital or at the very least call the police for her.”

I grin. For someone so smart, she really doesn’t think things through.

“And you said?” I prompt. He wouldn’t be in my house right now if I didn’t have every confidence that he could be trusted.

“I told her she didn’t need the hospital.”

“And the police? Should I be preparing for some officers to come banging down my door?”

He smiles a little. “No. I avoided that question all together.” He fumbles for his phone in his suit jacket and looks at the screen. “Damn. I do need to get to the hospital though. If you’re done with me?”

“Of course.” I gesture toward the door and start walking him out. When we step into the hallway, a maid that’s carrying a basket of clothing, hurries her steps to get out of my sight.

Dmitri was right. I’ve scared the staff by dealing with Claire where they could hear.

“Uh.” The doctor pauses when we get to the front door. “I did learn something you might not be aware of.”

“What is that?” I slide my hands into my pockets.

“She takes a daily medication for migraines.” He frowns a little. “She said she had a bottle in her car, but her car’s not here. I can send a script to the pharmacy, and have it delivered here if you’d like.”

“We have her car here; she wasn’t aware of it. I’ll have the medicine brought in. Does she need any other care for the headaches?”

“So long as she takes the medication, she should be able to avoid them. However, if she gets one, she told me they get quite severe.”

“Severe enough to need to go to the hospital?” I question, already seeing her plan forming. The woman needs to up her game if she’s going to be battling against me.

A ghost of a smile closes the doctor’s lips.

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