Page 18 of One for the Money

“Don’t move,” Erik ordered, his tone full of warning.

Glancing over my shoulder, I found Erik standing in the doorway with a gun pointed at me. Slowly, I stood, not believing he’d shoot me for simply moving. If he’d been in the military, then rules and regulations had been beaten into him. Right now, I posed no threat to him, nor did I make a move for my gun.

“I’ve called the police. They’ll be here any minute,” Erik informed me.

Letting out a sigh, I pocketed the keys and zipped up my leather jacket. Erik frowned, knowing this cut off my access to my gun. Using that split second of confusion, I charged forward and tackled Erik to the floor. We struggled, each fighting for the upper hand, but I managed to get in one solid punch to his temple. Dazed, I used that to slam his head against the floor, knocking him out cold. I was about to repeat the movement a few more times to remove the threat entirely when I was stopped.

“Bear,” Von rasped out.

My head snapped around so fast I nearly lost my balance. There she was, my dark goddess, pushing herself up with one arm. I could see the pain in her eyes, even though she tried to hide it. Leaving Erik’s unconscious body, I went to her, reverently cupping her face as I searched her gaze.

“Take him with us,” she instructed. “He knows what happened to me and what he did to fix this. We can kill him after he’s finished what he started.”

Gently, I rested my forehead against hers, relieved beyond words she was alive, moving, and knew exactly what was going on.

Now, it was time to get her home so we could figure out who was behind this attack.

With the mixture of pain and whatever drugs I’d been given, my memory of getting back home was hazy at best. I remember waking up in some surgical room and seeing Bear about to kill the man who’d patched me up. Honestly, I have no idea why I told Bear to bring him with us since there was a doctor on call back at headquarters. Either way, the man got tossed in the back of his SUV while I was carefully laid out on the bench seat.

The car ride was a blank except for a few occasions I was jostled awake by the pain as we went over train tracks. Then the next thing I knew, Bear had me nestled against his chest as he carried me upstairs. He didn’t bring me to my bedroom but instead placed me in his bed. Feeling Bear’s silk sheets brushing along my skin was a welcome comfort as he removed the oversized clothes I was wearing.

“Ms. Zuccaro, I’m going to look over your injuries and redo the dressings,” I heard the doctor I’d hired say before cold hands touched my skin, making me hiss.

A low growl and something that sounded like a whimper told me Bear was about to make the good doctor piss his pants. “My apologies. I’ve now warmed my hands, but let me know if they are still uncomfortable.”

They weren’t as cold, but I would hardly consider them warm.

“The wound on your side is still oozing slightly, so I’ll keep an eye on that, but it could just be from being transported sooner than you should have been. Although I must say the stitches themselves are top-notch, not something I’d expect from a veterinarian,” the doctor shared, rambling as he poked and prodded me.

Wait… did he say veterinarian?

Struggling to focus past the pounding of my head and the feeling that my body had been run over a few times, I opened my eyes. “Bear, did you take me to a fucking animal doctor?”

He leveled his obsidian gaze at me and dipped his chin in acknowledgment. It was clear he wasn’t the slightest bit bothered about the choice he made.

“If I end up with rabies, I’m going to bite your ass first,” I grumbled. “A fucking vet! You seriously need to stop watching all those old mafia movies. They are filling your head with stupid ideas.”

“You’re alive, so was it that stupid?” Bear challenged.

Using my last fuck, I lifted my hand and flipped him off. Bear just smirked, laughter in his eyes making me even more irritated that he was enjoying this so much.

“Everything looks good, and I was told you’ve already been given a shot of antibiotics, so I won’t offer you another just yet. However, I am going to give you something to help you sleep and to manage the pain. I’d like to put in an IV to be safe since there’s no telling what complications we might run into, but I can hold off if you’d like,” the doctor suggested.

Licking my dry lips, I considered the offer. “Do it, I need to be back on my feet ASAP. And ending up with some bullshit like Mad Cow disease would slow me down.”

“Of course, I’ll get that settled, but let’s get you that pain relief first.” There was a tiny prick and a slight burn as the medication entered my body, but then I was blissfully unconscious.

Coming out of the hold of whatever drug the doctor had given me was like fighting my way through a thick-ass spider web. It tried to keep me under, but the need to pee was a strong motivator since my bladder was on the verge of exploding. It took all my effort, but I got my eyes open and was met with the sight of dark gray walls covered in various types of tortured abstract art. Then I remembered Bear had brought me to his room instead of mine.

Glancing up at the massive mirror that hung on the ceiling, I was able to see Bear sitting next to me. His back was against the steel headboard, head bowed like he was sleeping. Using my left hand, I reached out until my fingers brushed over his sweatpants-covered leg. Instantly, the man snapped to attention, putting his focus on me. Slowly, I shifted my head to the side so I could see him, knowing movement was going to start the pounding, but I had to pee.

“Help me up… gotta piss,” I croaked out, my throat dry and raspy.

Bear slid off the bed and walked over, but instead of helping me, he scooped me up.

“I can walk. Nothing happened to my legs, right?” I argued.

Bear gave me a look that told me I could fuck off with that idea and handed me the pole to the IV bag. Clearly not going to win this fight, I let out a disapproving grunt and grabbed the damn IV which caused this situation. We entered his bathroom, much like mine, only he didn’t have a tub—he preferred to have a sauna instead. Reaching the toilet, he set me down facing the porcelain throne, yanked down my underwear, then gripped my hips, turning me before he fucking placed my ass on the icy cold seat.