Page 64 of Sinful Surrender

“You just outed Aubree to her brother! Whatever she and Tim are, whatever they choose to be, they had the right to figure that out on their own, and then for her to tell others when and how she wanted.”

“This isn’t high school,” he laughs. “They don’t need to announce they’re in love.”

“No, but you’re from New York. Thedangerouspart of New York. And you’ve just told the dude that Aubree’s boyfriend isyourbrother.”

“He is my brother.”

“I know! Fuck. Buthedidn’t, and now Aubree will never be able to talk to him about it without his pre-judgment. You’ve just announced she’s dating a fucking criminal, asshole.”

“And once again,” he murmurs oh-so-fucking-casually, “I come back tothis isn’t high school. Who gives a fuck?”

“Shedoes,” I sneer. “She’s not like us, Lix. She’s an educated fuckin’ professional who comes from a regular family from the ‘burbs. Now you’ve told Eli her business—except, what you’ve exposed her for isn’t even real, since they’re not dating.”

“Eh.” He flicks his blade and runs his gaze along Minka’s battered body. “She’s got sass, Arch. And she’s strong. If she wants Tim, then she’s gotta step up and be brave enough for that life. And if her big brother being mean to her is the worst thing to ever happen to her…” He shrugs. “Well, she needs a little toughening up, doesn’t she?”

“It’s not for you to decide.”

But the fight has already left my body. The burn for what’s right. Because Minka sleeps, and her fingers don’t curl around to hold me the way mine hold her.

So instead, I ask, “Why are you really here?”

“For her.”

He says it so easily, so assured, that my pulse jumps.

“She and I don’t get along, Arch. Some could even say she feels a smidge homicidal when we’re in the same room. But…” Blade open. Blade closed. “Mayet’s my family now. Which means Slade didn’t just fuck with a pretty doctor last night… he fucked with the Malones.” Slowly, a sly smile curls along his lips. “He screwed up.”

My stomach jolts from the reality of his words. The war he’s declared against Parker Slade.

“Leave it to the cops,” I say tightly. “It wasn’t a hit on the family, and you know it. It was a wrong place, wrong time situation that ended with my wife in a hospital bed.”

“So you think he can just walk? Whether he targeted her or not, she was caught in the crosshairs. And you’re just gonna let it happen?”

“I’m gonna let the cops deal with it. And I’m gonna sit right here beside her till she wakes.” I look up from beneath my lashes and catch his eyes. “I’m letting the law do its job. So if you’re here to cause a mess, I’m gonna ask you once to get back on a plane and fuck off back east.”

“Just once?” he taunts me with a smile. “Why only once?”

“Because I’m not wasting my time beyond that. If you don’t do as I ask, Micah will need to step up and lead the family, because you’ll be swimming with the fucking fishes.”

Snorting, he slips his knife back into his sock and steeples his fingers. “You sound hard, Arch, but I know you don’t mean it.” Then he looks toward the door and turns on hisI’m-gonna-fuck-you-while-your-husband-watchessmile. “Hey there, Doc.”

Turning just my head, I find a familiar face dressed in bloody scrubs. “Nicki?” Straightening in my seat, I twist in her direction and watch on as she grabs Minka’s file and flips it open. “What the f—”

“How’s she doing?” Nicole Cleary was a woman I once dated. Dinner. A drink. Thenbam, she meets her forever and goes home with him instead. There are no hard feelings between us. No awkwardness. There’s just a friend who got the man she deserved, and me, eventually, marrying the woman I adore. “Not awake yet?”

I shake my head and risk a glance toward my brother, to make sure he keeps his mouth shut. “Not yet. But she twitched. And she’s breathing on her own. So that’s good, right?”

“It’s great.” Nicole snaps the file closed again and drops it back into the holder. Then moving around to Felix’s side of the bed, she grabs a penlight from her pocket and peels Minka’s eyes open.

Behind her, Felix stands with a salacious grin and lifts his hand the way he might when he wants to spank a woman when they’re fucking. I close my eyes and drop my head back.

“You look beat, Arch.” I open my eyes in time to catch Nicole tucking her pen light away and switching it out for her stethoscope. Setting the ends into her ears, she lowers Minka’s gown and presses the other end to her heart. “When was the last time you ate?”

Felix scrunches his nose and pretends to bite the doctor’s ass.

“I don’t know.” I pinch the bridge of my own nose and work to keep the exasperation from my voice. “Yesterday sometime.”

“Eat now.” She reaches into her pocket and takes out a protein bar made of chocolate and mint pieces. Tossing it so it hits my chest, she goes back to listening to Minka’s heart. Her lungs. Whatever else is in there. “If you fall on your face and hurt yourself because you’re dizzy, you help no one.” Setting her stethoscope in her pocket, she gently wraps her fingers around Minka’s wrist and watches the clock on the wall to count beats. “You’re gonna want to be able to help her when she wakes. Don’t be stupid and starve yourself between now and then.”

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