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“That’s enough for now.”
“I’ve been awake for like twenty minutes.”
“And you’re falling asleep while you argue with me.”
Xavier smiles as Declan helps him to his feet. He leans over carefully and kisses my cheek before stepping back into Declan’s arm.
“We’ll come back later.”
“Bring food.”
“You just had surgery,” Duncan says beside me.
“Pretty sure they didn’t operate on my stomach.”
Declan shakes his head as he guides Xavier toward the door. Xavier is still smiling when they leave. Duncan reaches for the control and lowers the head of my bed a little before pulling the blanket higher over me. I catch his wrist before he can move away.
“You going somewhere?”
“Never.”
He settles back into the chair and takes my hand again. I close my eyes with his thumb moving slowly over my knuckles, the same way it was when I woke up. This time, falling asleep doesn’t scare me.
Chapter 43 Duncan
A week after Nash comes home from the hospital, he’s beside me on the couch with his laptop across his thighs and his feet tucked beneath my leg when Ronan calls.
His recovery has gone better than the surgeon expected, but I’ve learned quickly that Nash feeling better and Nash actually being healed are two different things. He still tires easily, and every once in a while he moves too quickly and catches himself with a hand against his side. The bruising along his jaw has faded to yellow, and the wound beneath his ribs is healing without complications, but he’s nowhere near back to normal.
I put Ronan on speaker. “What do you have?”
“We found Alina.”
Nash looks up from his laptop. “Where?”
“Outside Baltimore. She dumped everything connected to Daniela Norris after the gala, but Zee found her using an old contact of Dare’s. Taylor picked her up about an hour ago. She’s at the compound.”
Nash closes his laptop. “About fucking time.”
“There’s more,” Ronan says. “Dare is there too.”
Nash goes still beside me, his hand settling against his side as I look at the phone. “Dare is in police custody.”
“Not anymore. Taylor and Kenji took care of it this afternoon. As far as anyone investigating is concerned, he escaped during a transfer. They’re finishing the trail now.”
“You removed him without telling me?”
“You were going to say no?”
“No. I would have told you to do it sooner.”
Nash snorts beside me, and Ronan is quiet for a second before continuing. “Either way, we have both of them. Alina doesn’t know Dare is there yet.”
That gets my attention. “Keep it that way until we arrive.”
I end the call and take Nash’s laptop from him, setting it on the table before I stand. He starts to get up with me, and I put my hand against his chest. His eyes narrow before I can say anything.
“Don’t.”
