Lily took a deep breath as the many scenarios flashed through her brain. Was the intruder someone sent to spy on her? On the institute? Someone else?
Leaning over Sailor’s bed, she kissed him. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
He looked tired as he nodded. “When you get back, we’ll head back to the apartment.”
“Not for at least a couple more hours. I want you healed before you go anywhere and then not without help,” Kevin said in a tone that told Lily he would not take any arguing from her or Sailor.
She nodded her understanding while her mate grumbled on the table and tried to sit up but found himself gasping with continued pain as he collapsed back on the table.
Lily kissed his hand before laying it on the table and walking from the room. Kodiak was coming out of a room down the hall, looking angry, but as soon as he saw her, his expression smoothed out. “How’s the patient?”
“Getting better,” she answered. “But Kevin wants him in bed for the next three days.”
Kodiak nodded. “Blood takes time to regenerate. I’ll send some rope to your apartment for when you need to tie him down. Do you need something, little miss?”
“I was going to use the restroom,” she said, stepping closer to the door they were standing in front of.
“And I have to go up and fill Lonergan in on what we’ve figured out so far,” Kodiak said, turning and heading to the double doors that lead to the lobby.
Once he was through the door and out of sight, Lily made her way to the entrance he’d just come out of. She needed to see the man who’d died to make sure it wasn’t someone she knew. Someone from her office. Someone who had come to Bratburg because of her.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Lily opened the door and stepped inside. The exam table in the corner was covered with a sheet. Moving quickly, she crossed to it, pulled the sheet back, and stared into the man’s face.
She sighed deeply when she did not recognize it. Taking a second glance, she paused as he looked vaguely familiar, but she could not say exactly where she knew him from. Pulling thesheet back over his head, she turned to leave, needing to be gone before she was discovered. Then she needed to find a phone that she could talk on without interruption.
She made it across the room, but the door opened before she could make good on her escape.
“Lily? What the fuck are you doing in here?”
When Lily didn’t return after a few minutes, Sailor began to worry. Yelling from beyond the door, which he could hear but not understand, had him gritting his teeth as he carefully sat up and shifted his body so his legs hung off the table. He took shallow breaths until the pain settled, and the blackness around his vision eased back.
He slowly slid forward until his feet hit the floor. He leaned over the table as his knees buckled. It took another few breaths and some superstrength determination for him to straighten his legs and then push up from the table to a standing position.
As he turned to cross the room, the door swung open and Kodiak walked in with one big hand wrapped around Lily’s upper arm. His mate looked pale and sad and guilty all at the same time.
“What the fuck?” Sailor asked.
“I found her in the room where the intruder’s body is,” Kodiak stated as he pushed toward the straight-back chair in the corner. “When I asked her what she was doing in there, she refused to answer. Maybe she’ll talk to you.”
He swayed on his feet, drawing Lily’s attention. She popped up from the chair and hurried to his side. “Papa! You need to lie back down. You’re not healed enough to be on your feet. And you’re naked.”
“I’m fine,” he ground out as she helped him back to the table where he gratefully rolled onto the metal structure.
“You’re not fine. You almost fell down, and that would not be good,” Lily fussed as she pulled the lightweight cotton blanket up to cover his body.
Sailor closed his eyes, focused on breathing and not passing out from standing up before he was ready. Maybe Kevin had something about him lying here for a couple hours.
When Kodiak cleared his throat to remind them he was still in the room, Sailor looked at the man and nodded his understanding. He would find out what was going on, one way or another.
When Lily tried to back away from the table, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back so he could feel her warmth. “Why were you looking at the dead man, little flower? Does this have something to do with the secrets you won’t tell me?”
CHAPTER 16
Lily wanted to answer Sailor’s questions but doing so would get her kicked out of Bratburg, and everyone here would hate her. And Sailor would no longer want to be her Daddy. Or her mate. And the last thing in the world she wanted was for him to walk away from her.
Taking a slow deep breath, she dropped her gaze from his face to the middle of his chest as tears filled her eyes. The bruises that covered his body when she’d first seen him were already growing smaller and lighter, proving his superior shifter healing abilities. She wondered if they worked on broken hearts as well.
“Lily? Talk to me, little flower.” Sailor took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.
