Page 38 of Cruel Ice

“Marley. You don’teverhurt without telling me, understand?” Then his thumb was gone from her mouth. And—and his lips were pressing against her. But this wasn’t like the rough and demanding kiss he’d given her in the alley. This was different. Soft. Careful. As if he feared hurting her.

“I’m not glass. I don’t shatter,” she whispered against his mouth.

“No, you’re my guardian angel. You don’t shatter. But you sure as hell bleed.” He pulled back. “Understand that he’s a dead man.”

Her brows scrunched as she attempted to follow along after that incredibly tender kiss. “Uh, Keith? Yes, I know he didn’t survive but?—”

“The man who shot you. He won’t go inside a jail cell. He’ll pay for hurting you.”

Marley could only shake her head. “That’s not the way things work.”

He sat back in his chair, but his fingers tangled with hers. The fingers of her left hand. “That’s the way things work in my world.”

His world was a very scary place. She stared into his eyes, searching for some hint of softness. Of—ofsomethingthat would reassure her. But there was just cold, hard intent. A deadly focus.

She was staring at a man who was not afraid to kill.

“Do you see me now?” he asked quietly.

A rap sounded at the door. She jumped, and her head jerked toward the hospital door just as it swung open. Her helpful and bubbly nurse didn’t appear. Instead, Parker stood in the doorway. Looking extra grim. He shot a thumb over his shoulder in a quick, rough gesture. “I see you have two guard dogs in place.”

“Security,” came Declan’s easy reply. “For my fiancée. Can’t risk her being hurt again.”

Parker stepped inside and kicked the door shut. “Still singing that BS line, are you?” A tired shake of his head. His gaze zeroed in on Marley. “Didn’t learn your lesson the first time, did you? How many brushes with death will it take for you to realize that there are some people you should never, ever get close to in this world?”

The hospital gown was too big. It started to slide off her right shoulder. She hurriedly pulled it back into place. “I’m doing well, Parker. Thank you so much for your concern. Not in any pain. All stitched up. Ready to go.”

“She’s not going anywhere tonight.” Declan’s cold and dark promise.

Parker ambled toward the bed. His gaze swept over Marley’s face. Then to the large bandage on her arm. “Now you’ve got a bullet wound to go with the knife?—”

“Did you find out anything about the bouncer?”Marley cut through his words. No sense in him airing all her personal business at the moment. “I assume youdidfollow up on the lead we gave you? Because before I was forced into that ambulance, I told you that Keith indicated the bouncer who worked last night’s shift at Abyss was possibly involved in everything that happened to Declan.”

“Yeah. I found him. Hugo Webb was dead along with an ex con buddy of his.”

She straightened in the bed. “Dead?” The oversized gown slid down her shoulder once again.

Before she could fix it, Declan was there. He grabbed the material. Started to haul it back up, but…

He stopped.

His fingers brushed across the small scar on her upper right collar bone. A scar that was normally covered, just as the others were. “Marley?”

Her head turned toward him. His eyes were on her scar. And he was pulling at the material of her gown, trying to see more.

“No.”She slapped a hand over her chest, holding the thin material in place. “This isn’t a peepshow.”

His gaze never left the old wound. “That looks like the scar from a knife.”

Apparently, the man had an eye for scars.

“Who put a knife in you?”

Parker cleared his throat. “So, I just announced that I found not one, not two, but…threedead bodies tonight. Perhaps we should focus on that news for the moment?”

Declan’s eyes glittered at Marley.

“Dead body number one belonged to Keith Long, bartender extraordinaire at Abyss. Body two was that of Hugo Webb, one of the bouncers at Abyss. Hugo was the bouncer who called in sick tonight and who apparently gave Keith the special drink you ordered last night.” Parker was right beside the hospital bed now. “And dead body number three was Hugo’s former cell mate, David Berry. Thought you’d be interested to know that Hugo was shot in the forehead and heart. A professional takedown if I ever saw it. His buddy must have tried to flee the scene. David took a bullet to the back of the head. Crime analysis guys said it tore through the back of the skull and then erupted out the front of his head. His blood was splattered everywhere.”

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