“Hey. What’s up?”
“My motel room is trashed, and two guys are lying on the floor unconscious.” I sent him the pictures.
“Jesus Christ. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are those Ives’ guys?”
“Yeah. Two of his goons.”
“How did they know where you were staying?”
“I think they followed me from the hospital.”
“What? Why the hell would you go there?”
“To see our friend.”
“Where are you now?”
“In a parking lot.”
“I’m sending you my address right now. You’ll stay at my place tonight and we can talk.”
“Simon, I don’t—”
“It’s not up for debate, Grace. Just get here as fast as you can and when you get here, come around the back.”
As I was about to say something, I heard a click. Looking at my text messages, I punched his address into the GPS and headed to his house. I parked the car down the street, grabbed my bag, and walked until I found his house. He told me to come around the back and when I did, I saw Simon and two other men sitting on the patio with a fire going in the firepit. When Simon saw me, he jumped up from his chair.
“You’re bleeding.” He walked over to me.
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll go get Emilia,” Sebastian said.
Simon lightly took hold of my arm. “Let’s get you inside.”
We stepped through the door and inside the kitchen where I sat down at the table. Simon grabbed a cloth and handed it to me.
“Grace, this is my brother Stefan.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I smiled. “What a first impression I must be making.”
“Nah. You’re good.” Stefan gave me a wink. “We don’t judge here.”
Sebastian and a woman, whom I presumed was Emilia, stepped through the door. She walked over and set her black bag on the table.
“Hi.” She smiled. “I’m Emilia. Let me take a look.”
“I’m fine. Simon is overreacting. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Grace.”
I lowered the cloth from my head.
“Good news is all you need is a butterfly bandage. Let’s get this cleaned up first. It’s going to hurt a little bit. Let me know when you’re ready.”
Simon walked over with a glass of scotch and set it down in front of me.
“You’re probably going to need this first.” A smirk crossed his lips.
“Thanks.” I threw the golden liquid down my throat until the glass was empty. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Emilia poured some cleaner on a large cotton pad and pressed it against my wound as I took in a deep breath.
“You took down three guys in a matter of hours,” Simon said. “How did you not know they were following you?”
“Apparently, they did a good job of not being seen. I took their phones and unlocked them. They’re in my bag over there.”
“All set.” Emilia smiled after she placed the butterfly bandage over my wound.
“Thank you. I take it you’re a doctor?”
“A pediatrician.”
“Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome. You might want to take some Motrin for the pain and get some rest.”
“I will.”
“We’re going to head home, bro, and let the two of you talk,” Sebastian said.
“It was nice to meet you, Grace,” Emilia spoke.
“Yeah. It was a pleasure.” The corners of Stefan’s mouth curved upward.
“It was nice to meet all of you. I’m sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
After they left, Simon poured me another drink and sat down across from me.
“You did make sure the location was turned off on both their phones, right?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“Okay. I’ll run the phone numbers through my computer. Have you ever seen them before?”
“I did once in a club back in New York.”
“Looking at the pictures you sent, the damage to your room is extensive. That must have been some fight. The police are going to want to talk to you.”
“I registered the room under an alias, and paid cash for the month. They won’t be able to trace it back to me.”
“Smart woman.” He smiled. “I put your bag in my guest room. If you want to take a bath, there’s a jet tub in the guest bathroom. But be careful not to get your cut wet.”
“I know. This isn’t my first wound, detective.” I smiled.
“I’m sure it isn’t.”
“A hot bath does sound amazing right now.”
“Then go take one. Your room is up the stairs and the second door on the right. When you’re done, come outside on the patio.”
“Thanks for inviting me to stay the night. I could have just gone to another motel.”
“I feel better knowing you’re safe here.” A small smile formed on his lips.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, trust me, I know that. Go take your bath.” He gave me a wink as he got up from his seat.
CHAPTER 7
Grace
The intense attraction I’d felt towards him was unnerving. It was good to see him again all grown up. He was sexy as sin, and he was genuinely nice. Just like he was all those years ago. I needed to be careful because I didn’t want him getting hurt. That was the problem with me. Everyone I was close to ended up dead. But I was going to put a stop to it once I found Victor Ives and killed him myself.
After my bath, I threw on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I took my hair out of the messy bun I’d had it in and pulled it back into a ponytail. When I stepped outside on the patio, I took a seat in the lounger next to Simon.
“How was your bath?”
“It was great. Thank you.”
“Sebastian sent over a charcuterie board.” He picked it up from the side table and handed it to me.
“Wow. That was so nice of him. Your brothers seem really great. I take it they live close?”
“They are great and yes,” he smirked, “see these houses? Sam, Stefan, Sebastian, and then my father and Celeste live in the house next to Sebastian.”
“Oh.” My brows raised with surprise.
“Right?” He chuckled. We weren’t prepared when he announced he was buying the house and moving in. The house belonged to Emilia. Then she moved in with Sebastian and my father bought it from her.”
“I take it Celeste isn’t your mother?”
“She’s my fourth step-mother.” He slowly shook his head. “He’s on his fifth marriage. But wait, it gets better.”
“It does?” I grinned.
“Celeste is pregnant.”
“What?” I scrunched my face. “How old is she?”
“She’s forty-two.”
“Okay. Okay.” I slowly nodded my head. “And you’re what? Early thirties?”
“Thirty-three.”
“So, when your new brother or sister is twenty, you’ll be in your fifties.” I laughed.