“Swear on the most important person in your life that you’re telling me the truth about letting me and Lucy go,” I said. It was a stupid demand, but I needed it just the same.
“I can’t,” he said quietly.
I immediately tried to escape his hold, but he refused to release me. “I can’t because I don’t have anyone important in my life.” He paused for a moment before he finally said, “This truck…this fucking truck is the only thing I have that I give a shit about. So if you want me to swear on a piece of metal that I meant what I said, I’ll do it.”
I didn’t miss the shimmer of amusement in his eyes as he said the words and for some reason, that helped more than anything else. It was one of the few times I’d sensed any emotion behind his icy veneer.
“No,” I said as I relaxed a little in his grip. “I don’t need that.”
Cain nodded and released me. I missed his touch almost immediately which made no sense to me, but since nothing had made sense to me since this man had stormed into my life, it didn’t really matter. I’d do something I hadn’t thought I’d ever do again and I suspected would likely come back to bite me in the ass.
I’d trust him.
“Please, have a seat.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Lucy as she followed the young man and three kids towards the kitchen. Her eyes connected briefly with mine and I gave her a reassuring smile before I entered the room and went to the couch Ronan Grisham was pointing to and sat down. We were in some kind of sitting room or den. There were several nice pieces of oversized leather furniture surrounding a huge flat screen TV. Late afternoon light was filtering in through the window so I could easily make out the half dozen pictures on the bookshelf along the far wall. Most were of the three kids I’d been introduced to a few minutes earlier as well as Ronan’s young husband, Seth, but there were also pictures of severalother people, kids and pets. I hadn’t known Ronan was a family man, though I’d heard through the rumor mill at the hospital that he was married to a man. I’d also heard and seen the infinite amount of respect the man had garnered.
I’d been a nervous wreck when we’d arrived at the stately home fifteen minutes ago. It was located in a nice neighborhood just north of the city and while it wasn’t the biggest house on the block, it was still more than I’d ever dreamed of one day owning.
Lucy hadn’t been doing much better than me, so I’d held myself together for her and I hadn’t been surprised when she’d clung to my hand as I’d followed Cain into the house. We’d first been greeted by a huge German Shepherd that Ronan had later introduced to us as Bullet. The dog had been friendly and I’d enjoyed watching the fleeting smile that had graced Lucy’s lips as the dog had eagerly lifted a paw in greeting. She’d shaken it before letting her fingers stroke over the well-behaved animal’s big head. Ronan had appeared a moment later and while his eyes had narrowed slightly when they’d fallen on me, he’d smiled kindly before holding out his hand to me. I’d realized as soon as he’d called me by my real name that at some point Cain must have called him and told him what it was. A large African American man who Ronan had introduced as Phoenix had been with him and I’d immediately found myself shrinking back against Cain who’d remained behind us, probably to keep us from darting out the door. Phoenix had extended his greetings, but he hadn’t tried to force a handshake on me which I’d been extremely grateful for. The tension had been thick in the air until we’d encountered Ronan’s husband and three children.
I was caught off guard by both the age gap between Ronan and his husband, Seth, as well as the age of their oldest child, a girl named Willow. Since Seth was in his early twenties at the most, I suspected at least Willow was adopted since she was close to Lucy’s age. I suspected the same of the middle child, Nicole, who was around eight, but I knew it was possible that the youngest child, a boy, could have been either man’s biological child. In theory, the older ones could have been Ronan’s children from a previous relationship, but I doubted it.
Seth had been welcoming, though he’d been careful to limit the physical contact with me and Lucy. I hadn’t missed the way nearly everyone had stared at my face when they’d seen it and, for the first time, that’d had my insides flooding with shame. It wasn’t like I could pass off my injuries from something as benign as a fall.
The youngest, Jamie, had asked his Daddy Seth what had happened to me, but Seth had merely said I had some “owies” that needed some extra special care. The little boy had gone on to suggest his Daddy Ronan fix them before he’d asked me if I wanted to see his Spiderman doll. Seth had asked both me and Lucy if we needed anything to eat or drink. I’d been the one to suggest to Lucy that she go have some hot chocolate when the oldest girl offered it because I didn’t want Lucy hearing my conversation with Ronan. There were a lot of things the girl knew, but plenty she didn’t and I wanted to keep it that way. Lucy had been reluctant, but she’d nodded. I’d reassured her that I’d see her soon and then I’d watched her follow the small group along with the dog down the hall towards the kitchen while Ronan had motioned to a door to my left.
Ronan sat on the couch across from me while Phoenix took up an armchair nearby. Cain remained near the door. I liked that I could still have my eyes on him as we talked, though I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I needed to see if there was any point where I’d see something in his gaze that told me the words he’d said to me earlier were a lie.
Not that it mattered since between the three men in the room, I wasn’t going anywhere unless they decided to let me go.
“Thank you for coming, Ethan,” Ronan began. “I know it couldn’t have been easy for you.”
I bit back the retort I was about to spew out that I didn’t really have a choice in the matter and just remained quiet.
“Before we talk, I would like to know if I can take a look at your injuries.”
“I’m fine,” I assured him.
“I don’t doubt that,” he said calmly. “But the doctor in me won’t be able to relax until I know for sure.” He paused before saying, “I think you know what I mean.”
I wanted to believe he was only guessing with the implication, but I doubted it. I supposed it could have been the procedure I’d performed on that patient that had tipped Ronan off, but I doubted that too. In my gut, I knew that Ronan knew I was a doctor. I had a sneaking suspicion he knew more than that.
“Okay,” I finally said, though in truth, I didn’t want him touching me. Not that I had anything against him personally. I just didn’t want anyone touching me.
I saw Ronan nod at Phoenix who immediately left the room. I saw Ronan’s eyes connect with Cain, the silent message clear. I was about to tell him I wanted Cain to stay when Cain said, “I’ll stay.”
To give Ronan credit, he barely reacted, but I didn’t miss the subtle shift in his eyes as he looked from Cain to me and back to Cain. For my part, I was beyond relieved that I hadn’t needed to ask the man to stay myself.
Since I didn’t even know why it was so important that he did.
“Is that okay with you, Ethan?”
I quickly nodded, keeping my eyes off Cain so Ronan wouldn’t think my behavior odd. I endured Ronan’s touch as he quickly examined the bruises on my jaw and neck. He ran through the standard questions I would have asked one of my own patients. When he asked me to remove the T-shirt, I did so reluctantly. He took a stethoscope from a small bag next to the couch and listened to my heart and breathing and then went through taking the rest of my vitals. He rattled off the different diagnoses as he worked, looking to me with each one to see if I concurred or not.
I did…on every single one.
I was glad when he didn’t ask me to remove my pants, instead having me roll them up to take a look at a gash on one of my legs. The exam took a good fifteen minutes before he seemed satisfied.
