Page 24 of Under His Guard

“I told you.” Memories of trying to get Clara to take this seriously not even an hour ago make my temper flare. “They’re bad news. The Crimson Cobras are an international drug ring. Scary as fuck, and they’re wanted in nearly every major country on the planet.”

Clara presses closer, anger making her gestures wild and aggressive.

“You neglected to mention that fucking part! Christ, if I’d have known they were that bad?—”

“What? You would have decided to listen to me? I did try to talk to you about this. Remember?”

I cock my head at her, not even sure how we got to arguing this fast. Wasn’t she just hugging me?

She scoffs. “I remember you trying to get in my pants.”

“Whoa, now. Hold up, sweetheart. I don’t recall you shutting things down all that fast. It took kissing me to wake you up, apparently.”

We’re both standing off against each other at this point, practically a deadlock—and in the distance, I can hear sirens.

“Sweetheart!” Clara is fuming, but I can’t help but be glad she’s not scared anymore. “You can’t just…”

Her words trail off as two squad cars speed up to the curb. As she hurries over, I take the opportunity to call Cameron.

Good old lawyer buddy needs to hear about this.

The phone rings a handful of times before he answers. “Hey, Luke. What’s up?”

“Hey, Cam.” I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “I don’t know if you chatted with Dom, but I’ve got some news.”

There’s a pause, and I hear shuffling on the other end. Cam is likely moving somewhere more private, aka avoiding his sister.

As I’m waiting, two officers run by me into the shop, and I hear one calling for a bus on his radio.

Bus? Fuck, that means ambulance. Oh, dammit. The owner?

“I did talk to him a bit.” Cam’s voice cuts through my speculations. “He mentioned something about the doctor who was treating you?”

Nodding despite the fact that I’m on the phone, I turn and look at Clara as I answer him.

“Yeah, well, I had a hunch and followed her back to her place after the PT. The Cobras were waiting here for her. You might want to swing by yourself.”

“Jesus.” Cam’s voice is exhausted, and I know he’s been pulling all-nighters like a freshman in college. “Yeah, I’m coming. Text me the address.”

“You got it.”

I hang up, immediately sending Cam the location so he can head over.

Once that’s done, I walk up to Clara where she’s discussing things with the cops.

“He was already in the shop. I…oh God, please let Mr. Chen be okay.”

The officer puts a hand to Clara’s bicep in a forced display of sympathy. “It’s all right, ma’am. Please continue.”

Exhaling a shuddering breath, Clara did her best to steady herself.

“I had my phone out, and I was ready to call because I thought Lee was hurt or had a heart attack or something. The guy, the one from the hospital where I work, knocked it out of my hands when he snuck up behind me.”

My blood is boiling as I hear Clara describe all this. I want that fucker’s head on a spike for doing this to her.

“I recognized him, and he threatened me. Said I was going to pay for what I did to his friend. When he grabbed my shirt?—”

“He grabbed you?” I couldn’t stop the question from flying out of my mouth, and both Clara and the cop glanced over at me.

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