“No way. I have a date with the CEO.” Ahri glanced at Bill. “Do I need stitches?”
“Nah. Just a good cleaning and a bandage.”
“See.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Rafe.
“I’m getting really tired of this armor,” he said, when she almost spiked his chest again.
“Well,” Kayn crossed his arms, grinning at them, “It’s about time you two could finally get together. It’s been driving me crazy watching you.”
“Oh, shut up.” Ahri gave him a weak grin.
“The police will need a report.” Bill accepted a first aid kit from one of his men. “I don’t think either of you are hurt too badly, but I’d really feel better if you were both examined by a doctor.”
“What’s all this?” Darius asked as he and Ezreal strode into the hallway, both dressed for the banquet.
“Ow.” Ahri tried to pull away from Bill who was cleaning her wound.
“What happened to you?” Darius averted his gaze from what the security chief was doing.
“I got shot.”
“What?” Ez was at her side in a flash, his face full of worry. “Are you all right? What can I do to help?”
“She’s in good hands.” Rafe clasped his friend’s shoulder, glad to see his concern.
“That’s going to hurt tonight. Here, let me hold the bandage.” Ez put his fingers over the pad so Bill could tape it in place. “You might need something stronger than over-the-counter painkillers.”
“Do you speak from experience?” Ahri winced again.
“Yeah. My brother shot me with a BB gun when I was twelve.Man, did that hurt.”
“It’s going to leave an ugly scar,” she said, trying to see her arm. “See. This is why you can’t show your female champs going into battle wearing skimpy clothes. All that pretty skin’s going to look terrible after a few skirmishes.”
“She has a point, Darius.” Ez stepped back. “You should be fine once the scar’s had time to fade.”
“Someone’s going to have to explain to our guests why the police are here,” Darius said.
“I’ll talk to them for now, but you’ll eventually have to talk to them yourselves.” Bill looked between Ahri and Rafe. “You two are sure you’re all right to go to the banquet first?”
“Yes. I’m fine,” Rafe said.
“I’m going with him.” Ahri pointed at Rafe. “But I need to tell you something.” She whispered in his head of security’s ear. He then strode toward the building entrance where uniformed officers were entering, followed by his men and their prisoners. Bill’s team must have wakened the first guy and cuffed them both.
“We have to get dressed,” Rafe said.
“I’m guessing we’ll have a really interesting Sunday dinner discussion tomorrow,” Kayn said. “Let’s go change.”
19
AS SHE TRIED TO DRESS, Ahri found she couldn’t move her left arm without a lot of pain, more than she thought the cut from the bullet should have caused. She also had an assortment of bruises, some of them pretty spectacular, where the guy had kicked her into the furniture. Was that when she’d hurt her shoulder?
How badly would she have been injured if she hadn’t had on the armor? She’d definitely go to the ER after the banquet.
“You ready?” Kayn asked, tapping on her door.
“As good as I can get, I guess.” If he knew how much she was hurting, he’d insist on taking her to the hospital, so Ahri bit back a groan as she opened the door. She raised her hands, keeping her elbows at her side. “How do I look?”
He reached over like he was going to touch her bruised cheek, but she turned her face.
