She glanced at him. “You’re bleeding.” She lifted her hand to wave for one of the EMTs.
“Nah. I don’t need them.” Wedge caught her fingers. “Been hurt much worse than this. Those people—they need your doctor and the others more than I do.”
She surveyed him. Normal speech. No weaving. The blood was heaviest on his hands. “You had to dig some people out, didn’t you?”
A shrug. “It’s a good thing I’m so big.”
“It is a good thing,” she replied softly.
“I don’t know how to patch people up. I-I can’t help do that.” He let her hand go.
She grabbed him right back. “You helped plenty tonight, Wedge.”
He gave her a small smile.
“You need to let the EMTs patch up your hands,” she insisted. The skin was torn and ripped open in spots.
But Wedge just shook his head. “Like I said, I’ve been hurt worse.” He slipped away.
She looked back at the crowd. Not everyone had made it out. She’d seen the dead upstairs. Dead that would now need to be recovered from the wreckage. It would take time. Some of the dead—one man had been in pieces.
Her hands trembled. She clenched them into fists.
“Chloe…” Cedric’s voice.
She’d texted him as soon as she’d gotten out of the building. Well, the second time she’d gotten out.
His gaze raked her. “Are you hurt?”
She probably looked like hell. She was pretty sure some of her hair had been scorched. “None of the blood is mine.”
Cedric swallowed. “Knew you’d come here. As soon as your brother said this was the last place he’d been…I knew.”
The cops were keeping the crowd back.
“I didn’t expect this,” Cedric continued gruffly. “What the fuck happened?”
“Two detonations. Both upstairs. I believe one was triggered in the main VIP room, while the second was in the security room.”
She saw his features harden. “The security room?”
Chloe nodded. “I suspect the intent was to destroy any footage that may have been recorded the night my brother was here.”
Cedric swore. “I really hope there is some backup in the cloud or—”
“We’ll have to ask Kingston.”
His attention immediately shifted to the crowd. “And where is he right now?”
“I don’t know.” Even as she made the confession, Chloe knew this was going to be bad. “He wasn’t here tonight.”
Cedric’s gaze jumped back to her. “That’s real lucky for him, isn’t it?”
Lucky? No, she knew that wasn’t what he actually meant. What Cedric was really saying was…
That is suspicious as all hell.
He wasn’t wrong.
***
“You look like shit.”
Reese glanced up at the smooth, female voice. He’d just shuffled out of the police station. His lawyer—who both impressed him and still scared him—was at his side. But the woman who’d done the talking? The one who’d just given the lovely assessment of his shit-looking-self?
She waited near the limo. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her slender hips pressed back against the side of the vehicle. Her midnight-black hair, dead straight, slid over her cheek as she studied him.
“Thanks,” he told her gruffly. “You always know just what to say.”
Marie Kim’s lips twitched, but the smile didn’t reach her dark eyes. Instead, he could have sworn that she was staring at him with worry in her gaze. Crazy, of course, because Marie had made it clear—on numerous occasions—that she didn’t give two flying fucks about him.
“Looks like I’m your ride.” She opened the back door to the limo. “He is free to go, isn’t he?” she asked the lawyer.
“The cops will have more questions.” EG sent him a pointed look. “You will not answer those questions without me present.”
His head pounded constantly, and nausea rolled in his gut. “I will not,” he assured her. His British accent thickened the words.
She nodded, apparently pleased. “Then, yes, he is free to go tonight.” Her eyes darted to Marie. “I trust you will ensure that he is watched?”
Watched?
“Absolutely.” Marie didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve got my orders from Chloe. I’ll be his shadow, don’t you worry.”
His shadow? What was that about?
But his lawyer was ditching him, and he didn’t feel like just standing around in front of the police station all night, especially when there was a limo in front of him. He walked toward Marie. “Could you have used anything less…billboard flashy?”
“I could have,” she readily agreed. “But I thought you were the one who enjoyed flash. Figured a ride home in a limo might cheer you up.” She motioned toward the open door.
He looked at the cavernous interior and just shook his head. Reese headed up to the front of the limo and made himself comfortable in the passenger seat. He closed his eyes and sagged against the leather.
He heard her shut the back door. Then her soft steps padded toward the front of the vehicle. Marie opened her door and slid inside.
“Are you okay?” Not flippant or mocking. How very unlike her.
“I’ll live.”
She shut the door. Started the car. They drove in silence. That was the thing about Marie, she was always good with silence. She didn’t make small, idle talk. Didn’t ramble. She loved the quiet. Peace.
When he was near her, he always felt a sense of peace.
So he didn’t talk. She didn’t ask him questions. They drove in silence and the pounding in his head eased. When he could think clearly again, he did manage to ask, “Why are you my shadow?”
“Because Chloe said you needed protection.”
Given the recent events, yes, Chloe was probably right. And he knew enough about Marie to understand she was absolutely a force to be reckoned with in this world. If she was going to be pulling bodyguard duty, no way would he argue with her. “You want to keep my body safe, hmm?”
“Oh, feeling good enough to flirt, are you?”
Not really. But it was her. Even half dead, he wouldn’t be able to pass up a chance to flirt with Marie.
“It’s cute,” she told him. “But know what’s even cuter? You lost your accent.”
Fuck.
“Not when the lawyer was present. Just with me.” More silence. Then, softer, “But we both know why you did that, don’t we?”
Because he was tired as shit and it was hard to think clearly?
“You trust me,” Marie said.
Yes, he did.
“You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”
His eyes opened. He turned his head to look at her profile. “No, it’s not that.”
“You do think I’d hurt you?” The faintest hint of…uncertainty. Pain.
That was wrong, too. “It’s not about you hurting me.” She should already know this. If she didn’t, then she was just blind. “It’s because I’m in love with you.”
Marie sucked in a sharp breath.
She didn’t speak again.