Aidan, who had two sets of massive dumbbells in his hands, was stacked.
I mean, he’d been stacked before. But he was thinner now, his body far leaner, so I could see every damn muscle.
Every.
Single.
Muscle.
They rippled and tensed, grew taut and hard as he tugged on one of the various torture devices that I hated and refused to use. Yoga was my thing. Pilates too when I was in the frame of mind for it. Gyms were Satan’s way of trying to make humans miserable in my opinion. Still, having seen Aidan working out, I could say I was a convert.
Holy hell, how was he this ripped? And how did his clothes hide all his splendor?
I pressed my hand to my chest, the move stupid but reactive—almost like I was trying to calm my thundering heart—and that was when the pain reminded me that my hands were delicate right now. The gasp I uttered had Aidan casting me a glance in the mirror.
The ease in which he did that told me he’d known exactly where I was standing.
Had known I was watching.
Had been watching me.
Why was that hot?
"Good morning, Savannah," he rumbled in a voice that had me swallowing.
"Morning, Aidan. Do you have any ibuprofen?"
As he lowered the weight in his hand, he asked, "Where are you in pain?" His brow furrowed. "Do you need to see a doctor?" He limped over to me, reminding me that for as much as he looked strong and shredded, he was also injured.
I wasn’t sure why that made him even more attractive. It wasn’t like he needed the help, after all.
"I don’t think so. I might just need a wrist support and a splint?" I raised my hand. "I might have sprained it."
His expression darkened at the sight of the slightly swollen joint, but he rumbled, "Take a seat on the pommel horse."
The pommel horse? My brain only really processed the word horse.
Because this apartment was full of animals, dead (the bear) and ornamental (the weird cat,) I half-expected to see a real life one, but instead, I found the gymnastic kind. It was too high off the ground, and my ankles were tender as well so I just leaned back against the oddly dense instrument which felt weird against my butt.
Uncomfortable, I took a look around and wandered off to the massage table in the corner.
With a wall of mirrors, four shelves of different weights, then an elliptical, a treadmill, and a rowing machine, as well as a kind of frame that had loops hanging from it that could have been a sex toy but was more than likely an all-in-one gym, I quickly grew bored. By the time Aidan was trudging in, I was eager to look at him just because he was way more interesting.
"Why aren’t you by the pommel horse?"
"This is lower to the ground. It’s easier for me to lean against."
My logic must have appeased him because he ordered, "Hold out your hands," before handing me a bottle of water as well as a couple of pills.
A part of me wanted to ask what type of pills they were. The O’Donnellys sold a lot of dubious chemicals, after all.
But this was Aidan.
He was... Hell, I didn’t know what he was. I just knew he’d never hurt me.
"Are you this bossy with everyone?" I complained, even as I complied once I’d taken a sip of water and had downed the meds.
His lips twitched. "Mostly everyone."
I rolled my eyes. "Good to know," I grumbled as he began to unpack bandages, as well as a few other pieces from the first aid kit he propped on the massage table beside me.
Having seen him in action last night with his brothers, and comparing it with the few other occasions we’d been together, I wasn’t surprised at how he sat back and listened, analyzing rather than diving face first into a situation. Wasn’t surprised either that every movement he made as he patched me up was precise, oddly compacted as if he did everything with efficiency.
Last night, I’d also seen how he’d commanded his siblings without anyone being aware of it. As strange as that sounded, it was the truth.
I didn’t think they were aware of how they were all angled toward him, how they all looked to him first for direction. Considering he was the heir, I guessed it made sense. Being oldest did have some perks, but... maybe not. Didn’t brothers tend to resent the guy who’d inherit everything simply because he’d had the good fortune of being born first?
Or was that just in royalty?
Weren’t the O’Donnellys the crime world’s version of royalty though?
Or was this particular crown a burden that no one wanted to wear?
Distracted by my thoughts, he patched me up without me even really registering it. Not because it didn’t hurt, as it did, but because he was careful and adept, telling me this wasn’t the first time he’d carefully doctored cuts and scrapes, taped up a splint and bandaged a wrist for extra support.
I half hoped he’d ask to see my thigh, but no joy.
"I’ll keep an eye on you over the next few days. If the bruising and swelling gets worse, then I’ll have to arrange for them to be X-rayed."
I blinked. "I have insurance."
He cast me a glance, but his lips twitched again. "Savannah, your apartment is prime Manhattan real estate. You live in The Sharpe, for God’s sake. It never occurred to me that you didn’t have it. Whether or not you can use it is a different matter entirely."
I winced. "I think I rattled my brain."
At least, I hope that was what had happened. After that nasty fall off the coffee table, and then that dive down the stairs... maybe I should be grateful I hadn’t done myself some lasting damage.
"Yeah, you keep coming out with some odd shit." He sighed. "Maybe I shouldn’t have let you sleep. Not if you have a concussion."
Odd shit. Well, that was one way to put it.
"I’m all right," I groused, although being concussed would sure as hell explain the random crap that escaped my mouth and the way my body was more in charge than usual. As in, how it wasn’t letting me forget that Aidan was fiiiine.
In fact, the more that I thought about it, the more that I was relieved he thought I was concussed. If I did something that was out of the ordinary, then he wouldn’t think it was all that strange.
At least, I had to hope he wouldn’t.
Surely people said strange things around him all the time?
Humming at the thought, I peered at my newly taped up wrist and murmured, "Thank you, Aidan. I appreciate it."
"You’re welcome. Like I said, I’ll monitor you. Make sure you don’t need some medical intervention, but the worst of it looks to me as if it’s just a regular sprain from your falls. Not compound fractures or anything. I’d be able to tell the difference."
"I think I would as well. Aren’t compound fractures when bones pop out of the skin?"
He snorted. "Sometimes. You’re gruesome, aren’t you?"
Was I?
I didn’t think so.
Morbid, sure.
"Maybe?" I peered at a bead of sweat that was swirling through the meager chest hair on his torso. "Do you think we could go downstairs so I could grab some things? I don’t have anything to wear apart from this robe, and I’m not sure I can live in it all day."
Like that, without even meaning to, I changed the vibe between us.