Page 39 of An Indecent Longing

One look from Gennady Marcov and the guy shut his mouth with an almost audible snap.

Barely containing her smile, she grabbed gloves and pulled them on.

“How are you, Gens? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

An anomaly among the hulking tribe of men her father employed as muscle, Gens stood a solid six-two but was built like a runner rather than a brick outhouse. His light brown hair and warm blue eyes gave him an air of approachability. But she had no doubt he was just as deadly. Maybe more so because he looked so…normal.

“I’m good.” A faint smile graced his handsome face. “Everything okay here?”

Dorrie knew exactly what he was asking and why he couldn’t elaborate. Not many people knew he and Blank were friends. A security measure put in place by her dad.

“Yes. No problems.”

Gens nodded. “Good to know.”

“So now that you two are all caught up, can you get back to my fu—uh, shoulder now?”

Ah, yes, her surly patient.

With a sigh, she tilted her head toward the door. “I can take it from here, Gens. Why don’t you wait in the back?”

Where he could spend a few minutes with Blank, who was going stir-crazy and threatening to leave the second her back was turned. Since she’d left him here alone for several hours with only a nurse, she figured he knew he needed more rest.

Gens’s narrowed eyes sliced to her patient. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll just shoot him up with tranqs if he doesn’t behave.”

The scowl on the young guy’s face deepened while Gens’s smile widened.

“You have my permission. I’ll be back in a few.” Then he turned to the gangbanger again. “You get out of line and it won’t just be me you’re dealing with. Best advice? Keep your mouth shut. It does you no favors.”

With that parting shot, Gens left the exam room and she turned her full attention to her new patient, who now watched her every move with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t look old enough to be a doctor.”

Not exactly what she’d expected as she began to poke and prod at the wound. And since it wasn’t a question, she ignored him. She provided care for her dad’s men because that was the agreement, but she didn’t have to talk to them.

Which makes you a total bitch.

Suppressing a frown, she stood in front of the guy, who watched her with the wary gaze of someone expecting to be hurt.

“How did this happen?” she asked.

He meant to shrug but winced instead and the pain on his face made him look about twelve years old.

“Asshole with a knife and a bad attitude. Didn’t move fast enough. Story of my life.”

The tone of his voice tugged at some string inside her as she ran through her examination and began to clean and dress the wound.

She’d already noticed the network of scars all over his body. A pattern of abuse, probably from childhood, if the age of the scars was anything to go by.

“Maybe you need a different line of work.”

“Yeah, and maybe I need to win the lottery but for now I gotta eat and feed my kid.”

Jesus, this kid had a kid. “How old?”

“Me? Twenty.”

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