Page 32 of Lethal Game

The deaths of his battle buddies required a response. Could he do that and fulfill his responsibilities to Sophia as well? He hated using her like this. When he interviewed for this assignment, he was sure he wouldn’t like a persnickety genius doctor. However, now that he knew her, he found her to be funny, smart, and more honest than anyone he’d ever met. He didn’t want to feel something for her—not friendship or a gut-deep connection that was starting to invade his dreams.

Remember the motto before you become another moron.

Professional. Distant. Hands-off.

Con headed toward his room. He rounded the corner at the end of the hallway to find Sophia already outside her door, but not alone.

Two men dressed as construction workers had her crowded against the wall in the space between her door and his. One of them had her by the arm. The other had his hand over her mouth.

They were attempting to drag her away from her room while she kicked and punched like crazy.

Con’s body dumped liquid rocket fuel into his bloodstream, and he was moving—silent, focused, and bracing his body for the fight ahead.

He’d crossed half the distance when she bit the hand over her mouth and shouted, “Security.”

Con reached them the next second and attacked the closest man from behind, breaking his arm in a precise, controlled movement. The other man let go of Sophia and reached for something on his belt. Con elbowed him in the gut, pivoted around him then swept his feet out from under him and took him to the ground. Fierce pleasure at taking an attacker to the floor surged through him and he ignored the man’s yells of pain. Facedown with Con’s knee on his back and his arms in Con’s grip, he couldn’t move.

Con looked at the first guy, expecting him to be attacking with a weapon, but he was on the floor, groaning, as tightly wrapped around his broken arm as a body could get.

The guy underneath him tried to buck him off, but Con shifted his weight along with his captive and leaned harder on his back. He stopped trying to get away and settled for just breathing.

“Are you hurt?” he asked Sophia, riding the emotionless plateau of the adrenaline high. Emotionless, but dangerous in a way few people understood. He could kill both men easily, without hesitation or remorse.He wanted to. They’d put their hands on her and would have taken her away and hurt her if he hadn’t arrived when he did.

Sophia stared at him with big eyes for a long moment, then closed her mouth and shook her head. She straightened up and said in a shaky voice, “I’ll go find security.”

“No.” His shout sounded rusty. Worse, his hands shook like he was an alcoholic who hadn’t had a drink in a week. He needed to focus. She was his responsibility and he’d bedamnedif he let anyone else hurt her. To do that he needed her in sight, close enough that he could cover her if he needed to. “You don’t leave my side.” If he could see her, and know she was okay, he’d keep it together. Otherwise... “Give another shout, but this time yellfire.”

She blinked, then hollered it twice.

Down the hall, a couple of guys stumbled sleepily out of their rooms. They looked at Con and the men on the floor.

“Call the MPs,” Con ordered. They were probably officers, but he didn’t give a shit. “These men were assaulting a member of the medical team.”

The attacker with the broken arm tried to get up and run, but Con kicked his feet out from under him. He fell, landing on his side.

That had to hurt.

One of the two guys they’d woken up ran down the hall while the other approached carefully.

“Can I help?” he asked.

Help?Con opened his mouth to tell the useless fuck to go back into his room and not come out until he’d found his balls.

Sophia put her hand on Con’s shoulder and stroked him as she asked, “Can I borrow your handcuffs, Roger?”

Con hadn’t believed anything could disarm his fury, until Sophia did it with one completely serious question.

Roger looked scandalized.

Con actually felt sorry for him.

“Ah, no,” Roger replied, rubbing his face and giving her a brief, stiff smile. “Someone else already borrowed them. What happened?”

“Those two guys tried to grab me,” Sophia said.

Broken Arm tried to run again. This time Sophia tripped him. It wasn’t smooth or coordinated, but it worked.

The guy landed on his broken arm with a crack that was very audible.

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