Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next three days passed without incident. Well…almost without incident.
Fawn got up each morning, gave Declan his medication, fed him breakfast, and checked his wounds before they both got on with the rest of their day.
Declan spent most of that time in the lounge reading or answering and making telephone calls. He’d had several visitors, predominantly Thea Morgan and Fergus Wynter. They had visited several times together.
Fergus had come on his own once, and Fawn had clearly heard him growl at Declan to “hurry the fuck up and get better so you can walk my bride down the aisle.” Fergus’s impatience to marry the love of his life could clearly be heard in the fierceness of his tone.
Just as Thea’s stubborn insistence to have Declan be the one to walk her down the aisle was unrelenting.
Declan had been smiling when Fergus left, so he obviously wasn’t in the least bothered by the other man’s frustration.
In between admitting visitors, Fawn took care of washing and cleaning, making Declan drinks, and planning and cooking their meals, as well as giving her patient his pain meds at the appropriate times.
Who knew it would be the changing of the dressings on Declan’s naked and deliciously muscular back that would become Fawn’s daily torment?
Declan usually sat on the bed with his back toward her, nullifying their height difference and so allowing Fawn to remove the old dressings and clean the wounds before applying new ones.
Declan had such a broad torso and wide shoulders, the muscles defined. Touching all that bare flesh caused Fawn’s breath to catch in her throat and her hands to tremble slightly. Every time.
She really, really hoped that Declan hadn’t noticed either of the latter, but she somehow knew that those shrewd blue eyes understood exactly what her reaction was to seeing and touching his bare skin.
But neither of them spoke of it.
No, instead, that total physical awareness stretched between the two of them as if there was an invisible wire extending from Fawn’s fingertips and pulling on her taut nipples and the swollen berry between her thighs.
It had become so intense that Fawn’s calls to River every morning and evening were her only respite from this total sexual awareness of Declan, whether they were in the same room or otherwise.
Luckily, all those phone calls had resulted in River reassuring her of his continued well-being, even if he could be a little testy at times.
Fawn couldn’t fault him for that, knowing she would probably feel the same way in his position.
She also refused to apologize for her fussing.
This was the first time she could remember the two of them living apart, even if only for a few days, since River had moved to London to live with her almost three years ago.
She didn’t tell River about the men standing guard outside their apartment, making sure he remained safe.
If it became necessary for her brother to know about the man hunting Declan, then Fawn would tell her brother about the situation, but for now, she didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily.
With any luck, this man Koslov would very quickly be found and dealt with.
Fawn shied away from dwelling on thoughts of what “dealt with” might mean to men like Declan or the ruthless Nikolai Volkov who Declan had described to her.
Despite Fawn’s increasing arousal whenever she touched Declan, there had been no repeat of the kisses the two of them had shared that first evening.
Fawn wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Relief that they had managed to resume a nurse/patient relationship.
Disappointment, because she would be lying, mainly to herself, if she didn’t admit to aching inside for a repeat of those hungry kisses.
A constant longing that completely fled her thoughts when, on the fourth day of staying in Declan’s apartment with him, River failed to answer her morning telephone call.
She immediately sought out Declan, finding him in the kitchen where he was already preparing a pot of the strong coffee he seemed to enjoy in the mornings.
He had been doing more and more things for himself, with no apparent signs of strain, so Fawn very much doubted he was going to need her for the whole two weeks.
“I have to go out,” she told him now without preamble, already pulling on her jacket after pushing her cell phone and credit cards into the back pocket of her jeans.
He turned to face her before answering. “I installed your thumbprint on the system and gave you the code to use the elevator only as a safety precaution because you asked me to and in case of an emergency. I’ve already explained that I don’t want you to use them?—”
“And I’m telling you that I have to go out!” She glared at him, sure that she must look like something feral, having no doubt her face was red, the expression in her eyes wild, and her long blonde hair a loose swirl about her shoulders.
She didn’t give a damn what she looked like. Her concern for River was all that was important, and she didn’t have time to be polite to Declan on the subject.
His eyes narrowed. “First, tell me why the urgency?”
“River isn’t answering my calls.”
His mouth twisted. “Maybe he’s hungover.”
“River doesn’t drink.”
“He works in a bar!”
“He still doesn’t drink alcohol.”
“Then maybe he got lucky last night, and taking a call from his big sister the morning after would put a dampener on that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do men ever think of anything else but sex?”
“I’m not sure about other men, you would have to ask them, but I admit it’s been on my own mind almost constantly for the past seven days, but more so the last three.”
The two of them first met seven days ago, Fawn realized, and she had moved into his apartment with him three days ago.
Coincidence? Or was Declan really telling her that he had been having the same sexual fantasies about her as she had him for the past week?
If that was the case, then he’d made very sure she hadn’t known about it.
She shot Declan an impatient glance. “I don’t have time for this. I need?—”
“You need to calm down is what you need to do.” Declan reached out and took a firm grip of her arm. “There could be any number of reasons River isn’t answering your calls right now?—”
“No, there really couldn’t.” She pulled out of his grip, no doubt adding to the bruises she still had on her arm from the last time she had done that. “We have a deal that he is always to answer whenever I call him.”
“Maybe he’s using the bathroom or taking a bath?”
“He takes his cell phone in there with him too.”
“At your request?”
“Yes,” she challenged.
Declan shook his head. “I never had a sister, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have appreciated her intrusion into my life on the level you seem to be in River’s.”
A nerve pulsed in her clenched cheek. “You know absolutely nothing about my relationship with River.”
“I don’t need to know any more than I already do to know that you’re way too overprotective of a grown man?—”
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!” Fawn bit out furiously, her hands clenched at her sides.
Declan drew back with a splutter of disbelief. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“Look it up,” she dismissed impatiently.
“I certainly don’t have the time to explain it to you.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really have to—” She broke off, deeply annoyed at having Declan silence her with a raised finger before taking his cell phone from the back pocket of his jeans and making a call. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Just wait,” he instructed. “Declan,” he stated when his call was obviously answered. “Have you seen River Meadows this morning? No. Okay, go and knock on his door. If he doesn’t answer?—”
“Tell them to break it down,” Fawn cut in, having now realized that Declan had to be talking to one of the men outside their apartment guarding River. Maybe Danny.
“Hold on a minute, Danny.” Declan confirmed that guess before he slowly lowered his cell phone to stare at Fawn. “You really want them to break down the door of your apartment if your brother doesn’t answer when they knock?”
“Yes!”
Declan looked incredulous at her vehemence. “Isn’t that a little extreme when River could just be sleeping late or might have gone out for a carton of milk?”
“River doesn’t sleep well, let alone late. Plus, you already said your men haven’t seen him yet this morning, so he can’t have gone out for milk,” she reminded forcefully. “Even if he had, he would have taken his cell phone with him.”
“Maybe it needed recharging?”
“Enough excuses,” she snapped. “Just instruct Danny to get into the apartment by any means necessary if River doesn’t answer when they knock.” She bit out each word individually in order to underline the urgency of her request.
“Okay.” Declan nodded after seeing her rising agitation from the rapid rise and fall of her chest. “But as soon as I end this call, you’re going to explain to me why we’re doing this.”
“Fine,” she dismissed. “Just please, please, ask Danny to check on River. When he has, ask him to call you straight back.”
Declan issued that instruction, exactly as she had requested, before ending the call.
“Now explain to me exactly what is going on.” It sounded like such an innocuous request. And Fawn supposed, in many situations, it probably was.
Except in their case, Declan was asking for her to relate the reality that was her own and River’s lives.
Mostly River’s, but as the big sister who loved him to the moon and back, it affected her life too.
She drew in a deep and calming breath as she considered the situation.
Finally, she came to the conclusion that she would tell Declan as much as she thought he needed to know.
After all, despite having kissed each other three days ago, their relationship was still only that of a nurse and her patient.
Which meant her private life, and that of her brother, was really none of Declan’s business.
“Before you try to fob me off with half-truths, I want you to consider that I currently have a team of men from Wynter Security actively protecting your brother,” Declan reminded softly.
“Only because they’re keeping him safe from the man who is seeking revenge on you ,” she snapped right back.
He grimaced. “Fair point. But it doesn’t change the fact that I can utilize that protection far more efficiently if I’m aware of all the circumstances.”
Declan was right. Of course, he was. Fawn just didn’t like sharing what was River’s reality with outsiders. Even ones who had proven themselves to be as capable as Declan obviously was.
From the evasive expression that flickered briefly across Fawn’s face before she managed to contain it, Declan could tell that she was going to try and fob him off by only telling him as much of the truth as she considered necessary to get him and his questions off her back.
Which, in his opinion, wasn’t good enough.
The daily verbal reports he’d received from Danny over the past few days told him that the team had followed River Meadows to his job at a bar the first two nights, with a visit to the hospital yesterday afternoon, followed by River Meadows spending the evening at his apartment.
From the flickering of the screen through the drawn curtains, Danny had deduced the other man was either watching television or gaming.
While his sister worked her butt off trying to support them both. A part-time bar job certainly wasn’t going to add much to their joint coffers.
Unless… “Why did River go to the hospital yesterday afternoon?” Declan now demanded to know.
Fawn visibly startled before that reaction was smoothed from her expression too. “He has friends there who he visits?—”
“Don’t fuck with me, Fawn,” Declan warned from between gritted teeth, knowing that was exactly what she was doing. She had a tell when she lied, a slight shifting away of her gaze before it came back as challenging as ever. “I despise lies and the people who tell them.”
She bristled at the accusation. “River does have friends at the hospital.”
Which Declan could see was the truth. “But that isn’t the reason he was there yesterday afternoon, is it?”
Declan could see by the flitting away of Fawn’s gaze, again, that she was about to deflect. By omission, if nothing else.
Lying in any form, including omission, was something Declan wouldn’t tolerate. Fawn should know that, considering what he had told her about his marriage and divorce.
It was probably as well that his cell phone vibrated again at that moment and so prevented Fawn from falling into the deep, dark abyss of earning Declan’s distrust.
The caller ID told him it was Danny calling back. “That didn’t take— What?” Declan gave Fawn a sharp glance.
“River Meadows was unresponsive when we arrived,” Danny repeated his initial statement.
Declan kept his expression neutral. “And now?”
“He’s awake but disoriented.”
“Your assessment?”
“He says he was only out for half an hour or so.”
“Anyone else involved?” If the danger in Declan’s life had touched Fawn’s brother, she would never forgive him. He would never forgive himself.
“He says no, that he just blacked out,” Danny dismissed. “But he looks as if he literally face-planted when he went down because his face is a mess. I don’t think his nose is broken, but there’s a lot of blood.”
Fawn reached her hand out. “Give me your cell phone?—”
“River is fine,” he told her as she tried to forcefully take the phone from him.
“I wouldn’t actually go that far, boss,” Danny muttered in his ear. “Messed up face, remember?”
Declan kept Fawn at bay with a hand on her shoulder, his cell phone remaining firmly pressed against his ear. “Can you bring him to my apartment?”
“Sure,” Danny agreed.
“Then do that,” Declan told the other man. “I’ll arrange for a doctor to be here to examine his injuries when you arrive.” He ended the call.
Which was when Fawn totally lost it.