Page 33 of Dark Medicine

“Your apartment?” growled Adam. “Your apartment? Listen, Fiona. I appreciate your independence, and I, in no way, want to interfere with the strong woman you are, but you are not fucking going to your apartment! You almost died back there, and so did I! So, help me God, woman, if I have to kidnap you, I will, but you are coming with us!”

The car was quiet as they waited for Fiona’s explosion of emotion. Her eyes went wide with his statement, and then she breathed in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. Yet anger didn’t come. Instead, she roared with laughter, her head tilting back against the seat, tears bubbling in her eyes.

“Adam Thorn, you are an insufferable man. You do know that, right?” she laughed. “I want to go to my apartment to get my things. It’s clear I can’t stay here alone any longer. When you all go back to America, I’ll be going with you. I’ll find someplace to live when I get there and a job of some sort.”

Flip smiled at Spook, who nudged the back of Adam’s head. Aislinn giggled in the front seat and smiled at Fiona.

“Oh. I-I’m sorry,” said Adam, blushing. “But, Fiona, you can stay with me. I have plenty of room, and we can find work for you easily. Hell, I could always use someone to manage my practice.”

“Or,” said Kane from the driver’s seat, “maybe we should all think about working in the business, expanding it, and incorporating some new avenues of revenue.” Kane’s investigation business was thriving with the addition of Aislinn as his partner and Flip and Spook chipping in when needed. Even Adam was a part of the team.

“How would that work?” asked Flip. “I mean, I love helping out on a contract basis, but full-time? What would that look like?”

“I don’t know. I do know that we’d all be equal partners. We would make decisions on which cases we take and which we turn down together.” Kane followed Fiona’s directions and pulled up outside her building.

“I’ll need help,” she said, looking at Adam and Flip.

Flip grinned at his friend and stepped out of the cramped vehicle. He stretched and heard his back and shoulders pop. Adam winced and smiled back at the big man, his own body cramping.

Fiona unlocked the outer door and walked up the flight of stairs to her loft. Standing at the outside of her door was Mr. Malone.

“Mr. Malone! What are you doing here?” Fiona was shocked to see her boss standing outside her door, and if she was honest, she was scared. Adam and Flip stepped up behind her, Adam placing a possessive hand on her shoulder.

Malone eyed the man and then glared at Fiona, hatred filling his eyes. The teasing little cunt! How dare she go off and find another man! Months of making advances on her to no avail, and this weekend, he was going to convince her to go to his country estate, where he would make sure she understood what he was offering. Now? Now, he was angry and wouldn’t make anything easy for her.

“I needed to discuss some business with you, Fiona. I thought we could go to dinner and discuss the Kilkenny project.”

The Kilkenny project was the biggest accounting project the firm had. Fiona asked for the account on several occasions, only for Malone to say it was too important and too big for her meager talents. Her stomach flipped, and for a moment, she contemplated accepting the offer, but something about the way Malone looked at her made her think twice.

All these months of trying to gain the business, and he would refuse. She’d practically begged for the opportunity to handle the account, and he’d always said ‘no.’ Why the sudden change now? As if she didn’t know!

“I’m sorry, Mr. Malone, I won’t be having dinner with you, nor will I be able to work on anything for at least the next few weeks. I need to take leave for now. I have an emergency.” Fiona pushed past the man to insert her key into the lock. He reached for her arm and grabbed it firmly, only to find his own forearm in the grips of a murderous vice. His grip immediately released from Fiona’s arm, concentrating instead on the pain radiating up his body.

“You will never touch her again,” said Adam, leaning close to the man, his hot breath brushing his flushing round face.

“Let go of me, or I will call the police,” he squawked like a little girl. His face reddened, and Adam could feel his blood pressure rising to a dangerous level. He also spotted what Fiona already knew, a large tumor on the wall of his chest. As if on cue, the man coughed violently.

“You should really get that looked at,” said Adam, grinning. “If you’d like to call the police, I’ll wait right here so I can tell them how you’ve been harassing Fiona. Showing up here at her home to try to push your way through her door, and we both know it has nothing to do with business. You’re a sick perverted little shit. I’m good at spotting men like you and my friend here,” he said, pointing a thumb at Flip, “my friend is good at handling men like you.”

“I’ve done no such thing!” he squealed. A massive hand gripped his shoulder, and he turned to see Flip standing behind him. His gaze was hard and intense, but it was the danger lurking just below the surface that made Malone quiver.

“Actually, that’s exactly what you were planning. You were hoping Fiona would be alone so you could force your way into her loft. If you couldn’t convince her to go to dinner, your plan was simply to rape her. Isn’t that right, you pathetic sick little weasel?”

Malone’s face reddened further, the hacking cough coming in gasps now.

“Get out of my sight, little man,” Adam was mere inches from Malone’s face. “Fiona will not be returning to your firm.”

Adam stepped inside the loft where Fiona was packing her things. She pulled two large suitcases from the closet and, in one, packed all of her photos, toiletries, and personal articles of importance. In the other, she packed her meager wardrobe, which consisted mostly of running clothes, a few pairs of jeans, leggings, big sweaters, and three skirts with blouses for work.

“I don’t have much,” she said, shrugging. “I’m not really the girl that lives for clothes except running clothes. I just never saw a reason.”

“You have plenty, honey, and if you need anything else, we’ll get it when we’re finally home.” He hugged Fiona to his chest and kissed the top of her head.

“I have money saved, Adam, and my parents left me a nice little trust. I don’t need you to buy me things, and I’ll find work right away once I get a work VISA. Crap! I need a work VISA,” she said, grimacing.

“Don’t worry about that,” he smiled. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Malone gives me the creeps,” she said, staring at the door.

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