“Is he mad ‘cause I didn’t say hi to him either?” Doc raised his brows.
Instead of getting into the bullshit of why Duke and Doc didn’t get along, he made the drink Doc wanted. His brother and the other man spoke when needed, and that was it. Duke had a thing for Doc’s daughter, but Doc had told all of them she was off limits a long time ago. She’d gone off to college on the East Coast and come back...different. Lennox Rouland was a gorgeous mix of spicy Latin and Norwegian. Her ice-blue eyes and caramel skin, along with her petite form, were Duke’s kryptonite.
“Fuck, Doc, what’re you trying to do? Take out the muscle?” Traeger growled.
“I thought you were supposed to be the tough one?”
King shook off the memory of Duke’s face when he’d listened to Doc’s words. The anger and pain that had flashed over his younger brother’s face had nearly made him tell Doc to fuck off. Only Duke’s nod and agreement had kept him silent. “Doc, if you make him cry, I’ll give you a hundred dollars.”
“Kiss my ass, King.” Traeger lifted the arm that wasn’t injured, his middle finger raised.
“Is that any way to show respect to the President? Pretty sure that’s insubordination.” King sat the glass filled with amber liquor next to Doc and a bottle of beer next to Traeger.
“Yeah, well, next time you get shot, I’ll see how you feel having Hannibal Lecter cut you up.”
“You realize that Hannibal Lecter was based on an actual doctor in Mexico. A surgeon by the name of Alfredo Ballí Treviño. He was convicted of murdering and chopping up his gay lover?” Doc took a vial out of his bag and opened a package with a new syringe inside, showing it to him with a grin. “This is gonna hurt you more than it’ll hurt me.”
“The fact you know that is creepy as fuck. What’s that?” Traeger nodded at the vial Doc was filling.”
“This is an antibiotic to help fight off any infection. Plus, did you notice the connection between that sick fucks last name and those sick fuckers? You know the drill by now.” Doc ran an alcohol swab over Traeger’s good arm. He looked over his wire-rim glasses at his patient, taking a deep breath, muttering to himself a curse. Without another word, he jabbed the needle in.
Kailani and King stayed silent as Doc finished. Doc took the needle out, showing how the sharp end was gone. “No longer need to worry about pointy little fuckers any longer,” Doc said.
“Am I good to go?” Traeger asked, looking at the bandage on his arm before shooting a glare at Doc as if it were his fault.
Doc nodded. “Yeah. I don’t suppose me telling you not to do any bullshit would work?”
“I’m so glad I’m not really a Trevino,” Kailani muttered, her words breaking a little of the tension.
Traeger stood up. “Thanks, Doc. Sorry about that.” He indicated his arm with a nod, pointing at the device without a needle with his other hand. I’m gonna take Kailani home and get cleaned up. Holler if you need us.” He squeezed the older man’s shoulder as he stood, pulled Kailani to his good side, and walked out.
“She’s gorgeous. She’ll be good for him,” Doc said.
“Yeah, and she’s got grit.” King took the empty glass and returned to the bar, opening the register. The familiar cha-ching echoed in the large room. He took out what he knew was a fair amount for a house call, plus the meds, and handed it over. “Thanks for coming out. We’re gonna have some trouble in the coming weeks. I might need your services more than usual.” He let his words sink in. Although he hoped like hell they wouldn’t need the doctor, the reality was, in any given situation, there was a chance more than one of them would be hurt or possibly killed.
“Why the hell don’t you just let it go and...I don’t know, just do normal shit?” Doc turned away from him, pacing toward the bar. “Shit, I can’t have another, or I’ll need a DD.”
They both turned at the sound of feminine voices coming from the open door to the kitchen and the scent of bacon. “Hey, King, breakfast is done. Oh, sorry,” Ayesha said, pink highlighting her cheeks.
King lifted his hand, waving her toward him. “Come here. I’ll introduce you to an old friend. Doc, this is Ayesha and her sister Tiana. Ladies, this is Doc. He’s the one we call when one of us gets stupid and needs to get fixed up.”
“Which happens more often than is healthy, if you ask me,” Doc groused.
“Don’t listen to him. You want some breakfast?” King narrowed his eyes, warning the other man to shut the fuck up without saying it out loud.
“Thanks, but I gotta go. Think about what I said, King. It was nice meeting you two.” Doc nodded, picked up his bag, and left with a wave over his shoulder.
“Is he a real doctor, or do you just call him Doc?” Tiana asked, squinting toward the doorway.
“Oh, he’s a real doctor. He's got fancy letters to go in front of his name and everything.” King inhaled. “Let’s eat before it gets cold. I don’t like cold eggs.”
Tiana laughed. “I think there’s a Dr. Seuss book about that. I don’t like green eggs and ham or something like that.”
“First, I got the Doctor telling me about a real-life Hannibal Lecter doctor; now you’re quoting Dr. Seuss. I’m seriously going to need to reassess my people,” he said, tugging Ayesha into him. “What about you? You got a doctor to quote me?”
Ayesha licked her lips. The action made him wonder if she tasted like the bacon he could smell. “The only doctors I’ve seen lately have been my dentist and my lady doctor. Pretty sure you don’t want to hear about them.”
King waggled his brows. “I don’t know. I’d like to discuss the latter in great detail.”