Alethea and Mae had let him and Charlie walk out of the warehouse alive, but that didn’t mean that they were going to play right into his and Romanov’s hands.
This whole thing had started when Romanov turned down a marriage alliance with Mae in favor of Keira. Put Charlie in the same room—another woman Mae couldn’t stand—and it was practically waving a red flag in front of a bull.
He’d assumed that because they were in Boston and surrounded by O’Malley and Halloran men that Charlie and his sisters would be safe. He’d obviously been wrong. It was something he’d have to deal with. Later.
Right now, all he could see was the blood on Charlie’s pale skin. Even though they were obviously all surface wounds, he couldn’t help connecting the sight with the night Devlin was killed. She could havedied. If things had played out differently, she would have—the same way his youngest brother did on that night three years ago, shot down like a dog in the street.
A shudder worked its way through him, and he tried to fight it off. Now wasn’t the time for his control to waver. There wasnevertime for his control to waver. He realized his hand was shaking and went to let go of hers, but she tightened her grip. Charlie shifted closer, lowering her voice. “I’m okay, Aiden. We’re all okay.”
Twice now, she’d dodged being hurt severely. Who was to say she’d be so lucky if this happened again?
“I’ll find who did this and I’ll put them in the ground.”
Carrigan snorted. “You’re going to have to arm-wrestle James for the right.” She parked, and the man in question appeared as if by magic at the side of the car. He yanked open the driver’s door and stopped short. Carrigan held up a hand and then seemed to realize that all the blood made it look worse. “I’m okay. I promise.”
“Lovely, we need to have a conversation about what okay means. This?” He pointed at her. “Not okay.”
She climbed out of the car, glaring at him in the same way she used to glare at Aiden when she was a kid and would skin her knee, almost daring him to make an issue of it. “If you try to carry me, I’m not going to take it well.”
Aiden half expected James to override his sister’s protests, but he just cast a critical eye over her. “You collapse, I’m carrying you.”
“Deal.” She turned back to the car. “Hey…Charlie.”
Charlie smiled, as if sharing some joke Aiden wasn’t party to. “Yeah?”
“We’re having a fundraiser tomorrow night. I’ll make sure you and Aiden are on the list.” Then they were gone. Carrigan might be an O’Malley still, but she was now a Halloran first. James would have his own doctor on staff to get her checked out.
By the time they all made it inside, Doc Jones had arrived. She’d intimidated the shit out of Aiden as a child—she was tall and broad and had flame red hair streaked with gray—and his impression of her hadn’t changed much as he got older. He paid her very well to be available when they needed her, but there wasn’t enough money in the world to ensure that she had a good attitude while she did it.
She propped her hands on her hips and looked them over. “Well, hell. I’ve never seen a more motley crew, and in my line of work, that’s saying something.”
“Doc Jones.” He touched Charlie’s back, urging her forward, the warmth of her body through her clothes reassuring him as he shadowed her, sure that she was going to drop at any moment.
The good doctor, naturally, called him on it. “Let the girl breathe. Back off or you’ll wait outside.”
Aiden instantly took a step back. As hard as it was to put distance between them, being forced out of the room while she worked on Charlie would be even worse. He watched like a hawk as Doc Jones examined her arms and huffed. “Did a number on yourself, didn’t you?”
“I have a deep desire not to be shot.”
She chuckled. “Don’t we all? You’re miles ahead of this fool’s siblings.” She jerked a thumb at Aiden. “Thoughhe, at least, hasn’t called me up because of a bullet wound yet.”
“He’d better not.”
Doc Jones went to work, cleaning the worst of the blood off and then carefully prodding the wounds in search of glass. Aiden gritted his teeth every time Charlie winced. She put a brave face on it, but then she would. She was too tough for her own good.
He wanted her to be able to let down her guard around him. It was such a foolish desire—to be her safe harbor—that he didn’t know how to deal with it. He wasn’t safe for Charlie. He’dneverbe safe for her. Asking her to be vulnerable around him because he craved the ability to take care of her was selfish in the extreme.
Knowing that didn’t do a single damn thing to detract from the desire.
Watching her tough it out when she was obviously in pain, scared, and pissed off broke his fucking heart. It took every ounce of control he had to sit still and offer silent support, when all he wanted to do was shove Doc Jones away and carry Charlie up to his room.
By the time Doc Jones was finished, Aiden was shaking nearly as much as Charlie. The doctor adjusted the bandages on her arms. “It could have been a lot worse.”
“I know.”
“I’m giving you pain meds. You had better damn well take them.” She continued before Charlie had a chance to answer. “No one likes a heroic fool. Take the pills and slow down enough to give your body a chance to start healing. You don’t have a cock, so whipping it out to prove yours is the biggest is going to waste everyone’s time.”
Aiden stepped up and plucked the pill bottle from the doctor’s hand. “I’ll make sure she takes it.”
