Page 15 of Ruthless

But they didn’t budge, and the guy who had thrown the phone at me—and then taken it back—shook his head at her.

“I don’t think so, doc,” he growled. “We don’t know what she might try. She already ran once.”

She looked over at me and let out a sigh. “You gonna run while I’m trying to help you?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “No.”

She turned back to the men. “See, there ya go. She isn’t gonna run. She’ll at least let me fix her up.” There was something almost amusing about her talking to the men in that tone. It was like she actually didn’t give a shit about what they thought… and I liked that.

“I’m not leaving,” Ghost Eyes grunted. “I’ll stay here with her.”

“No, you won’t. You’re the reason this fucking happened,” the leader chided, his tone even more sharp than it had been before. There was some animosity growing between the two of them, and I didn’t care, really…as long as it didn’t end my life.

“Everyonecan leave,” Doc—or whoever she was—said to them, pointing to the stairs. “You all are being absolutely idiotic right now. I’m going to clean her up and make sure she’s okay. You have enough to worry about based on what I’ve been told.”

I could feel the tension rise in the room, but I stayed silent—as did the men. They filed up the stairs and slammed the door behind them, leaving me alone with the woman. She let out a heavy sigh and sat the bag down on the bed beside me. I watched her quietly, observing the massive rock on her left hand…

Maybe she’s married to one of these guys.

But it wouldn’t be any of the ones that had been in the room. I knew that biker gangs often included powerful women, oftentimes ones that benefited them—and if this woman was a doctor, that was definitely a benefit.

“Let’s get this bloody shirt off,” she said in a much softer tone, pointing to my camisole. “Do you think you can lift it over your head?”

“I can pull it over my head,” I said quickly, wincing as I peeled it off the cuts along my torso. I didn’t want to see just how bad it was, so I didn’t look down after I had removed it. I tossed it to the floor, knowing that it would leave stains on the comforter.

“What caused these?” Doc asked me as she started dabbing at the blood. “You need stitches in this one for sure.”

“Broken glass in the window.” I swear she smiled at my response. “My left hand is pretty bad too.” I held it out for her to see, blood still running down my arm.

“We’ll use adhesive on it.”

“Okay.” I took deep breaths as she continued to clean me up, and she worked quickly, much faster than Ghost Eyes had when he was cleaning my feet. He was slow and tender, which was the opposite of the vibe that he gave off… And that intrigued me more than I wanted to admit.

“I’m going to numb this area while I stitch it up,” Doc said, pulling out a large needle. I eyed her wearily, not sure if I should trust her or not—but what choice did I have? “I promise, I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“Okay,” I nearly whispered. I wasn’t the kind of woman that bowed down, but to be honest, at this point, I was so fucking tired, that I wouldn’t have minded if she had put me out. I wouldn’t have complained.

“You know, you really shouldn’t try to run again,” she began, working closely enough to me that I caught a whiff of her Jasmine scent. For some reason, it was comforting. “From what I’ve heard, the guy, uh, Victor, I think they said his name is, is a really bad guy, yeah?” She looked up at me, and I met her eyes, struck by how bright they were.

“Yeah. I spent a good chunk of my life running from him,” I admitted, not sure how much I should really let her know. “He’s a bad guy.”

“And he’s worse than these guys, Ipromise.”

“They kidnapped me.”

“Yeah, and they haven’t killed you—they haven’t done anything to you. The last I checkedyouwere the one who punched out a window and tried to run. And for the record,” she breathes out a heavy breath. “I don’t blame you at all for it. I’m just saying that…they’ll protect you.”

She sounded insane to me.

“They’ll fucking leave me in a ditch,” I said, shaking my head, not even feeling her working the needles through my skin. “I know what happens in cases like this. I’m nothing but a pawn.”

“No,” she countered, straightening herself as she finished. “That’s the thing, you have to make yourself more than that—and that shouldn’t take much. I know who you are.”

I swallowed, more intimated by her than before. “You do?”

“Yeah, I do, and I don’t know why they had to choose you. I don’t ask questions about this kind of shit—I just show up to do whatever it is they need me to—but I know who you are. I know that you can be an asset. And also…,” her voice trailed off as she bent over to dab at another spot. “I can tell that one of them has their eye on you.”

“Ghost Eyes,” I muttered, sure that she would have no idea what the fuck I was talking about.

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