“Fucker,” Yuri spat. The first punch he threw at Liam was directly into the softest part of his lower stomach, the second to his groin, and the third forced him down on the floor, the knife clattering next to him. Blindly he reached for the knife and closed his hand firmly around the hilt. Above him, Yuri laughed and there was madness in the noise.

“See, officer,” he said with a touch of glee, “see the kid came at me with a knife. Self-defense. I had to protect myself.” Yuri kicked out with a heavy boot and the force of it connecting to Liam’s chest caused all the air to leave his lungs in one big exhalation of pain. Liam dropped the knife and crawled backward to the wall.

“What the hell? Liam!” Marcus’s voice was a shout of fear.

Liam forced words out through the spasm of pain in his chest. “Run.”

“Liam?” Marcus shouted again.

Please. Run.

Liam attempted to force himself up, but he couldn’t stand. The pain in his chest was crippling, and he only got as far as leaning on his knees. He saw Yuri turn to face Marcus. Even from the side Liam could see Yuri looked pissed and a little scared, probably at the fact his self-defense story was being fucked over by a witness.

“Fag came at me with a knife,” Yuri spat. “We need to get the cops in here.” Liam knew Yuri was testing the water to see how much Marcus had heard. Would Yuri lose it? Would he attack them both?

Marcus nodded like he was in agreement, as if what he’d just walked in on wasn’t what it seemed, and abruptly his expression relaxed. Liam grabbed the nearest piece of wood and attempted to pull himself to stand. What was Marcus doing? Why wasn’t he moving? Marcus was small, he wouldn’t stand a chance, yet he was just waiting like he had all the time in the world.

“You say he had a knife?” Marcus said. He was calm and composed and his eyes fixed on Liam.

Yuri looked uncertainly from Marcus to Liam and back. “Yeah,” he said.

“Only cowards bring knives to a fight.”

“Yeah,” Yuri agreed readily. “Fucking cowards.” Yuri relaxed his stance and Marcus appeared to have been waiting for this moment. In a blur of motion, Marcus kicked out and felled Yuri in one swipe, finishing the job with two punches and a twist of his arms until Yuri was on his front with his hands behind him and Marcus sitting on his back. Marcus fished out a cell and called a number.

“Jack? Barn. It’s an emergency” was all he said.

In seconds it seemed the place was full. Marcus sat serenely on an unconscious Yuri while Vaughn was holding up his hands and saying it was nothing to do with him. Robbie and Eli were there, Jack with Riley. Hell, Riley had a rifle, looking all badass. Robbie helped Liam to stand, and all Liam could think of was what the hell had just happened. Marcus was a ninja. A freaking ninja.

“Someone call 911,” Marcus said calmly. He glanced over at Liam and only then did his composure crack. “We need cops and an ambulance.”

Chapter 17

Marcus paced the small corridor at Mercy. The cops had pulled out of the D with statements taken and Yuri in handcuffs. Damn idiot was a babbling mess and had more or less admitted what he’d done to the cops so that was one thing Liam wouldn’t have to immediately worry about. Now they were at the hospital with Liam looking like he’d been hit by a truck and Robbie attempting to calm Marcus down.

Jack and Robbie were officially the points of contact for Liam’s doctors, and Marcus wasn’t leaving Robbie’s side until he knew everything was okay. Finally the door opened and a doctor came out with a clipboard.

“Mr Curtis.”

“Me,” Robbie identified himself.

“If you’d like to come in?”

Marcus didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be in there to hear what happened, but he wouldn’t be allowed, he had no official say in Liam’s life. That would change as soon as Marcus got back to the ranch.

“He’s with me,” Robbie said and grabbed Marcus’s sleeve. Finally inside the room, Marcus wasn’t expecting so many wires. At least Liam didn’t have anything in his throat that meant he’d needed to be intubated, that much Marcus had picked up on the late night reruns of ER. He crossed to the bed directly and grasped Liam’s hand, looking down into Liam’s gray eyes. He looked awake and aware and he smiled, albeit with an added wince on the end of it.

“You’re a ninja,” Liam said softly.

Marcus chuckled. “I’m small, learning that stuff was the only way to stop bigger guys from pushing me around.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor flicked through papers on the clipboard. “Mr Frazier has extensive bruising around his navel, down to his groin and in his rib area.” Marcus winced at the explanation as the doctor continued. “There are no signs of internal bleeding, and as far as we can determine, he didn’t hit his head. Given everything we’d like to keep Liam in overnight for observation.” He looked at Liam expectantly, and Marcus identified hesitation in Liam’s expression. He himself wasn’t good in hospitals, despite visiting surrogates in the maternity wards—the last time he’d spent any length of time inside a hospital was for an operation to have his appendix out when he was fifteen. But Liam? At least a few of his ER visits had to have been as a result of attacks or when he’d tried to clock out on the whole being-alive thing.

Marcus traced the vicious red line that crossed Liam’s throat. That fucking knife, so close to killing Liam that it didn’t bear thinking about.

“I want to go home,” Liam said softly. “Please, Marcus.” Fear lit his eyes but warred with the exhaustion sketched on his features.

“Just stay tonight, for me, huh?”

“I don’t…”

“I know you don’t want to. But I’ll stay, take you home tomorrow,” Marcus said without thought. “I won’t let them talk to you or make you stay longer.”

“Promise me.”

Marcus pressed a kiss to Liam’s forehead. “I promise.”

“Okay.” Liam nodded. He gripped Marcus’s hand tightly and looked to be refusing to let go.

“You sure, Marcus?” Robbie asked.

Marcus nodded. Then fiercely he added a proviso. “Follow up on the cops for me, Robbie, I want to know.”

Robbie nodded, then crossed to Liam. “Liam, I want to apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t follow Yuri out. I just thought he was smoking, and…” Emotion dripped from his voice. “Just. Sorry.”

“No one knew,” Liam said sleepily. Evidently the pain meds were softening the edges.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Liam agreed.

Robbie left with the doctor, and Marcus let go of Liam’s hand only long enough to pull a chair over.

Liam shuffled a little in bed and bit back a curse followed swiftly by a yawn he hid behind his hands. “Fuck, I hurt.”

“I’m not surprised, you got hit pretty hard.”

“What did the cops say?”

“That Yuri attacked you unprovoked. It isn’t a matter of putting your version of events and seeing it stacked up against his. Riley’s fancy security system in the barns caught it all. It’s cut and dry.”

“He said Hank sent him.”

“Do you believe that? Is that what Hank would do? Jesus, Liam, what kind of monster is this Hank?” He couldn’t help the shock and anger that colored every word. This wasn’t some random attack, this was calculated from five hundred miles away, some kind of sick twisted hate that poisoned Hank and the guy Marcus had got the drop on.

Liam closed his eyes briefly and tilted his head back on the pillow. Marcus got another view of Liam’s neck where the cut was puffy and the skin around it bruised red. He’d have a necklace of bruises to show for this tomorrow. “Fuck, Marcus, I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Marcus immediately had guilt crawling inside him. Liam wasn’t even fully awake here, and all he was doing was demanding answers to things Liam probably didn’t even want to think about. “Never mind, I’m sorry, we’ll talk in the morning.”