Page 83 of Dance for Me

Regret flickered in hazel eyes. Faraday laid her hand on his, squeezed gently. “I’m afraid her reality is changing. The severity of the break has left the bone weakened. While the pins and plates will hold her weight for non-strenuous activities such as walking, I’m sorry to say the odds of her dancing again are little to none.”

Connie squeaked in distress.

Braun just stared at the doctor, sickness churning his belly. “Physio?”

“Physical therapy is something she’ll need. The team will come by in a few days and sit down with her, discuss her options and what needs to be done in order to make her recovery easier.”

“When...when can I see her?”

“We’ll take her to the ICU when she’s out of surgery. I wouldn’t imagine you’ll be able to visit her before morning. My advice would be to go home and get some sleep, but from previous experience, I know you’re not going to take it. I’ve got to get back, but I’ll ask the nurses to keep you updated through the night.” Faraday pushed to her feet. “If you have any questions, ask one of the nurses. If they can’t answer, they’ll get in touch with me and I’ll do my best to respond quickly. You have an extraordinarily strong woman, Mr. Fitzpatrick. This will shock her, but she’ll bounce back.”

“Thanks, Doc,” he murmured.

Jesus fucking Christ. The prospect of losing her lightened, fluttered away to hover in the back of his mind. He didn’t think it would ever leave him now he’d almost suffered the loss, but it wasn’t the sole weight on his shoulders now. It was replaced by the haunting sense of grief for her talent, for her passion.

How the hell was he supposed to tell her she’d never flow with the music again? That her father had not only come close to ending her life, but had succeeded in crushing her dreams of dancing?

He’d rather bite his tongue off.

Abraham.

Braun shoved to his feet. The furnace of his temper was roaring, prodded into life once more, and the fires of vengeance were burning too hot to extinguish. He faced his friends, the Masters of Avalon, and their faces mirrored his fury, his devastation.

“Atticus, we have a job to do.” His voice was low, hoarse.

“Braun, this is the wrong time to consider doing anything stupid.” Connie gripped his arm, her eyes intent on his, but there was no stopping him now. “Bodie needs you here more than she needs you running around out there trying to right a wrong you had no control over.”

He shook her off, as carefully as he could manage. “I’d say this is the perfect time to do something. He damn near killed her, Connie. We were a hair’s breadth away from burying her six feet under the fucking ground. Now she’s left with a ruined leg and months of pain ahead of her. Where I come from, an eye for an eye isn’t just a quote from the New Testament; we fucking live by it. I’ve not lived in the country of my birth for a long time, but that’s something I find astonishingly apt right now.”

Atticus stepped up beside him, phone in hand. “You can’t win this one, Connie. I’m standing by Braun on this. The fucker hurt our little girl, and it’s not the first time he’s beaten a woman to death.” He waggled the phone. “I did some digging via some contacts of mine. Abraham McGee is the scum of the earth, and his wife’s just as bad. We’ll be doing the world a favor.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Connie yanked on her hair. “With that reputation, how the hell do the two of you think you’re going to do this? You’re Doms. Not assassins.”

“Three.” Jasper spoke up from behind them. “Three of us, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make this nightmare come to an end. It’s not happening again. They don’t get another chance to do this to Bodie a second time, or to anyone else.” Still seated, Jasper patted Anarchy's head. “Close your ears, little girl.”

Anarchy’s eyes were fierce when she gazed up at him. “Let me help.”

“See? Now we’re dragging innocents into unscrupulous activities!” Connie threw her hands in the air. “I love you guys, but you’re not white knights galloping across a barren wasteland to avenge the damsel in distress. You may think your cocks are swords, but they’re not. All you’ll end up doing is rotting in an unmarked grave somewhere!”

Loki rose from his chair, Liam right beside him. “Five against one ought to even the odds.”

Braun shook his head. Liam wasn’t in the right frame of mind to tie his own goddamn shoelaces. The boy was wrecked, shaken down to the soul, and Braun appreciated that. His best friend, a woman he’d known and loved for years, had almost died—loving her for weeks and nearly losing her had fucked with Braun’s head, so he dreaded to think what it had done to Liam.

“Liam’s staying here. He’s too well known to the family, and if there’s any backlash off this shit, it’s not coming down on him or his family. No arguments, boy,” he snapped when Liam tried to object. “You’re in no fit state for this. I want you here in case Bodie wakes up.”

Incensed, Connie puffed herself up to her full height. “If Liam’s staying, I’m going. No, don’t you argue, mister,” she snarled, jabbing Braun in the chest. “Someone who isn’t jacked up on testosterone and revenge needs to make sure you don’t pull some insane shit and end up spending the next twenty-five years of your life in a prison cell with a hardass named Bruce.”

Braun laughed. “And what exactly do you intend to do? Glare him into surrendering to the cops?”

She bared her teeth. “Ways and means, Braun. I can have any one of you on your knees, crying like a bitch and begging for your mother, in thirty seconds.”

Dominance rammed headfirst against dominance as they went nose to nose. An impressive standoff by anyone’s standards, Braun mused, but one Connie wouldn’t win. He had righteous fury at his back, a need for blood he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Stay. Here.” He ordered, thickening the words.

“No. You want to leave me and drive off on your macho boys' adventure, go right ahead. I came here in my own car and you can bet your last cent I’m fucking capable of tailing you. I go where you go—think of me as the angel on your shoulder, whaling on the devil telling you to act like selfish, irresponsible fuckwits.”

Time was wasting, and Braun wasn’t going to let Abraham live a moment longer than he had to. The man couldn’t be allowed to breathe the same air as his Bodie. “Fine, you want to come, keep up.”

---