Page 19 of This Thing of Ours

“She fell. I was trying to help her up.”

“That didn’t look like you were helping her.” Marco took a step forward, putting himself between her and the doctor.

“Maybe we should talk about this in the other room,” Greene suggested.

Gabby heard low whispers between Nico and the doctor before they were cut off by the closing of her bedroom door. She stepped out from behind Marco. “Thank you.” She hugged her arms around herself.

Marco grunted, acknowledging but not accepting her gratitude. His eyes were locked on hers, and she had to fight not to look away. “You’re tired. You need some sleep.”

She shook her head. “Not while the doctor’s still here.”

He moved to the side of her bed and pulled back the covers. “Get in. I won’t let him near you.”

“Promise.”

He gave her another grunt, this one accompanied by a nod. Not a sworn declaration but close enough.

She climbed into the bed and let Marco pull the covers over her. “I’m not sure if I can sleep.”

“Just try.”

She closed her eyes. “I’m too amped up to fall asleep,” she said around a yawn.

But if Marco replied, she didn’t hear it.

Chapter Eight

Nico was loungingon the sofa when Marco entered the living room, but thegooddoctor was nowhere to be seen. “He gone?”

Nico stretched his arms across the back of the couch and crossed an ankle over his knee. “For now.”

“I don’t want him touching Gabriella.”

Nico raised a brow at that. "She needs to be looked at."

Marco held firm. "Not by that quack. He treats gunshot and stab wounds."

"He's been our family doctor for more than twenty years."

"Because he was stripped of his license and can't practice legally." Marco expelled an uncharacteristically frustrated sigh and knew Nico noticed by the lifting of that damn single brow again. He took a breath, and stated calmly, "You can't tell me you're okay with this."

Nico conceded, "No, but we need to know what happened to her."

"And she'll tell us."

"Are you sure about that?"

“Yes.”

Nico was silent a minute. “What’s going on with you, Marco?”

He slipped his hands in his front pockets and shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do.” Nico and that damn fucking eyebrow. He’d never noticed how much the fucking trait pissed him off before.

Not wanting to make things easy, he said, “Be specific.”

“Okay, I’ll play. Where’s your head at? You’re acting out of character. Why the sudden concern for Gabby?”

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