“Have you ever had stitches?” she asked, mainly just to make conversation and steer away from talking about Neal. Even thinking about that monster, the way he’d gunned down Hugh, made her throat tighten and tears well up again. She didn’t want to have another breakdown. Not yet. Not until Neal was behind bars.

Roman let out a short chuckle as he put something cool on her wound. “Yeah. Too many times to count.”

“From your time in the Marines?” She bit back a hiss as he laid the bandage over her wound. The contact made all the muscles in her body tighten.

“I got a few there too, but mostly from growing up with a brother in the South. We spent a lot of time outdoors and bruises, cuts, and broken bones just seemed to happen.” He paused and looked up at her as his long fingers still held the bandage in place.

Turning, she looked at him. “What?”

“There’s no tape in the kit, just a wrap to secure the bandage.” He held up a small roll of gauzy, cling roll. “I’m going to need to wrap this around you to keep the bandage in place.”

“Okay…oh.” It took her a moment to realize what he was saying. He’d already seen her naked and it was probably the blood loss, but she was beyond caring if he saw her naked again. Okay, she didn’t care too much. “Turn away for a second.”

When he turned his head, she dropped the towel onto her lap so she was partially covered and crossed her arm over her breasts.

Moving quickly, he secured the bandage around her middle, his callused fingers grazing over her skin with efficiency. She found herself oddly disappointed that his hands didn’t linger. Which yeah, told her all she needed to know about her mindset right now. She needed sleep and a hospital. And probably some food considering she’d barely eaten in days. When he was done, he turned away again so she could pull her pants back on. As she straightened, she swayed a little, but recovered quickly, clutching onto the counter with her free hand as she held the towel to her chest.

But Roman didn’t miss a thing. His eyebrows drew together as he slid an arm around her waist and under her legs. She nearly let out a yelp as he lifted her off the ground. She lifted the towel up to partially cover herself.

“What are you doing?” A thread of panic slid through her veins. Vadim trusted this man and Roman had shown himself to be nothing but kind, if a little bossy, since finding her in his friend’s home. But she couldn’t fight off her internal distress.

“You look as if you’re about to pass out on your feet,” he said, striding from the bathroom. “So I’m getting you food and one of Angel’s shirts before we head to the hospital. Unless you want to wear your bloody one?” He glanced down at her as he made his way out into the bedroom, the look in his eyes unreadable.

Taylor shook her head and curled into him, hooking her arm around his neck and burrowing a little closer. He sucked in a breath, the action barely noticeable but being impossibly close she didn’t miss it.

His jaw clenched tight as he set her at one of the high-backed chairs at the island in the kitchen. Without looking at her, he turned and strode from the room, the bulge of his weapon visible at his back. Even though she couldn’t see it, she knew it was a gun. It didn’t matter that he was clearly trained, the sight made her shiver. She wrapped her arms over her breasts as she waited, but luckily he didn’t take long.

Less than a minute later he returned with a long-sleeved, black T-shirt with a small Nike symbol on it. It looked like a workout shirt. “You’re a little smaller than Angel but this should fit. I just grabbed the first thing I could find.” He seemed a little uncomfortable as he set it on the counter next to her.

She started to thank him, but then his entire body pulled taut, a frown pulling at his already harsh-looking mouth. “Put the shirt on,” he ordered as he withdrew his gun.

Fear spiked through her. He seemed on alert for some reason. She watched as he strode toward the door that led to the utility room with the grace of a jungle predator. She’d never seen anyone so big move with such incredible fluidity. Without pause she tugged the T-shirt on, wincing as she had to lift her hands up to pull it over her head. She might be smaller than Angel, but her breasts were clearly bigger. The shirt pulled across her chest, making it clear that she didn’t have a bra on, but no way was she putting hers back on. Part of it had dried blood on it and she wasn’t sure if it would rub against the bandage.

Worried about why Roman had gone out to the garage, she headed for the utility room. Two loud pops from somewhere made her jump.

Gunfire.

Fear for Roman’s safety punched through her as she raced out the door.

Chapter 5

Roman slowly exited the utility room into the garage, the low hum of an engine from outside clear. At first he hadn’t been sure he’d heard anything, but now it was unmistakable.

Weapon drawn, he hurried to the partially-open garage door. The Pinto blocked his legs so he used it for cover as he laid on the ground and peered out. Behind the beater car and to the right of his truck he saw wheels.

He slipped out under the left side of the garage and used the Pinto as cover as he crept along the side of it. Still crouching low, he looked through the windows and saw an SUV. Though the windows were tinted, the sun was setting behind it so he could see inside well enough. One man was outlined in the driver’s seat, but no one else was visible.

The driver’s door opened and a man got out. A ball cap was pulled low over his forehead but stray sandy-blond hair peeked out under the sides. From what Roman could see he had on a long-sleeved, brown shirt. Sunglasses covered his eyes, hiding a good portion of his face, as he looked around, scanning the property. He stepped out from around the protection of the SUV, rounding the front of it.

Keeping his weapon lowered, Roman stood, using the Pinto as a barrier. “Who are you?”

The man tensed, but didn’t make any sudden moves as he zeroed in on Roman. “I’m looking for Vadim. You him?”

Vadim didn’t give many people his address. Hell, Roman was pretty sure he even had packages delivered to his office at The Serafina. So a stranger shouldn’t have it. “How’d you get this address?”

The man took a slight step back toward the driver’s door. It was subtle, but Roman noted it.

“Get off this property before I call the police,” he continued when the man didn’t move.

The man’s body language changed, the nuances small but Roman watched as he stilled, his body taut. He didn’t like pinning his weapon on anyone, but his gut told him it was necessary. He lifted his arm, aiming it at the guy’s center mass. “I won’t tell you again. Get the fuck out of here. Now.”

The man paused once before hurrying to the driver’s door. Roman kept his weapon trained on him the entire time. The engine was still running so the driver got in and reversed. As he did, he turned the vehicle back so that the driver’s side faced Roman. The sunlight glinted off the windshield, making him flinch.

He took a step to the side, back toward the garage to avoid being blinded, when he saw that the driver’s side window was down. He couldn’t see a weapon and wasn’t going to open fire on someone without just cause. But instinct had him taking cover behind the car.

Pop. Pop.

Two thunking sounds on the garage door spurred him into action. Rolling under the door, he shifted so that the position of the Pinto gave him cover. Standing, he slammed the garage door down. The sound of screeching tires told him the guy was leaving. But for how long? And did he have backup? Roman wasn’t sticking around like a sitting duck waiting to find out. He’d call the cops but only as soon as he got Taylor away from here and to the hospital. Racing toward the utility room, he hurried inside.