Page 53 of Dangerous

Groggily, I opened my eyes. Bright, fluorescent light and the smell of antiseptics made me grimace and shield my eyes, but when I lifted a hand to cover my face a pang of dull pain from my side made me gasp.

“Doc says it’s just a nasty flesh wound. You and the wee one will both be fine.”

I slowly lowered my hand from my face to peer in the direction of the speaker. He was sitting in a chair next to my bed, his flaming red hair brightening up the otherwise sterile hospital room.

“Liam?”

“Louis,” he corrected me, a wicked smile curving the corner of his mouth. “Liam went home with a nurse a few hours ago, left me to the incredibly boring job of waiting for you to wake up on my own. No offense.”

“Sure,” I said, frowning with confusion. “But why? Where’s Blaine?” My heart dropped as I remembered the gunshot. Had I not managed to push him out of the line of fire after all? Oh God,no.“Louis,where is he?”

“Calm down, he’s fine. Got held up at the police station after bashing Clery’s head in. Our dad’s working on getting him out. Until then, Liam and I have been tasked with keeping you safe and sound.” The redhead stretched lazily. “So far, it’s been a supremely tedious task. How long until you think you can manage a half-arsed escape attempt?”

“What do you mean, ‘bashing Clery’s head in’?”I asked, ignoring his playful dig. Waking up after getting shot and finding out the man who rescued you has been arrested doesn’t lend itself to playful banter. “Did hekillsomeone?”

“Nah, the police got there in time. Your dad’s… well, he’s not fine, but I guess he’s gonna live. Sadly.” Louis gave me a somewhat apologetic look. “Sorry.”

As if I cared if my monster of a father lived or not. The only reason I felt a stab of relief was that I didn’t want Blaine to get charged with murder. I doubted even Steel connections could have gotten him out of that one.

“So what happens now?” I looked at Blaine’s brother with some hesitation. He didn’tseemupset that I’d run away and effectively damaged the Steel’s reputation, but I doubted I was in anyone’s good graces.

Louis shrugged. “Once you get discharged, you’re coming home with Liam and me until Blaine gets out. Marcus offered to look after you, but lucky for you, Blaine refused. And after that—well, I guess it’s up to whatever you and Blaine work out. I wouldn’t expect another vacation to the Mediterranean anytime soon, though. My brother was ever so upset after you gave him the slip, and that was before he knew about the baby.”

I took in a deep breath and let it seep out slowly, taking some of my leftover anxiety with it. If Blaine’s brother was this relaxed about the whole thing, then perhaps the rest of the family was too.

“And the Family? Blaine ratted my— the Clerys out to the police. I know how big of a deal that is.”

Louis winced, somewhat ruining my beginning sense of calm. “You really don’t need to worry about that, Mira.”

“It’s kind of hard not to,” I said, my voice more than a little dry. “Seeing as this all happened because of me.”

“Nah, sweets, it happened because of the Clerys. You didn’t ask to get kidnapped, did you?” He offered me an easy smile. “And no one gets to hurt a Steel and walk away. Whatever it takes, we protect our own. No matter if my idiot brother gets things ironed out with you or not, you’re a Steel now.”

I was dischargedthe next day. Though I was still sore, I was able to move around okay, as long as I took things slow.

The twins turned out to be decent hosts. They set me up in Liam’s bedroom with fresh linen and my bottles of medicine and vitamins laid out on the night stand. When I asked where Liam would sleep, feeling bad about putting him out of his bedroom, I got a cheeky wink and a “Don’t you worry about that, sweetheart,” as response. I figured it involved the pretty nurse he’d picked up while hanging around my hospital room and didn’t ask any more questions.

Marcus showed up a few hours after the twins took me home. He let himself into the flat and sat down in an armchair close by the door—and proceeded to not speak a word to me nor the twins.

When I got up the next morning, he was still there, staring straight ahead into the turned-off flat screen TV that decorated most of the near wall. The twins’ flat was a bachelor pad through and through.

“Just ignore him,” Louis—at least, I thought it was Louis—yawned as he came around the corner from the hallway and saw me looking at his brother. “If he doesn’t want to speak, it’s best to just leave him alone.”

I frowned in confusion and followed Louis—still wasn’t completely sure, the twins were impossible to tell apart as far as I could see—to the kitchen.

“Why is he here?”

“Dunno,” he shrugged. “Possibly thinks we can’t look after a pregnant lady, or he’s making sure you don’t escape. Or he’s just in the mood for company. He’s my brother and I’d die for him, but he’s nuts as fuck. To tell you the truth, back when he called Blaine and said you were at his place, we were all a bit concerned he’d done something to you. Eggs?”

I blinked at his nonchalant tone. “Er… sure. Thanks.” I sat down at the small cafe table in the corner by the window overlooking the river while the twin began to cook breakfast. “He was quite nice to me, actually.”

“Marcus? Huh. That’s a first.”

“That’s not very nice, Louis,” I chided, feeling a bit protective of the man who had shown me kindness when I’d needed it the most.

“Liam. And maybe not, but it’s true. There’s a reason Blaine noped right out of having you stay with him. Again, he’s my brother, but if I had a pregnant wife I wouldn’t let him within fifty yards of her, either. You think Blaine’s bad? He’s a fucking puppy dog in comparison.”

Huh. “What happened to the nurse?”

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