Page 196 of Push

Grinning like a fool, I stripped off my clothes to clamber in the shower with her. She accepted only one kiss before wriggling away to twist under the water. Her face scrunched. I glanced down. The scrapes up her leg were still raw and uncovered. I bet that stung like hell.

Shuffling her away from the stream of water, I murmured, “Let me take care of you.” I soaped up the washer, and Gwen watched me with her teeth nibbling her bottom lip when I dropped to my knees to dab soft, smooth strokes up her legs, avoiding all the broken skin.

“You don’t need to do this,” she said quietly.

I smiled up at her. “I do.” I kissed her thigh and got back to work.

After she was clean, I patted her dry, tugged a T-shirt over her head, and carried her back into the bedroom. Her eyes drooping, she slipped under the sheets with no complaints.

“I’m going to grab a glass of water,” I whispered as I tucked the floral comforter up to her chin. “Want one?”

Gwen’s eyes didn’t flutter open. “N…”

“Love you.”

I threw on some clothes, peeked into the bassinet to check on Noah, and skedaddled along the darkened hallway, down the stairs, and straight past the kitchen. The water had been a tiny white lie. I had a different destination. I headed for the shadow sitting in the pergola.

Liam didn’t hear me coming.

If he did, he didn’t react to my footsteps squelching on the wet grass or sounding across the wooden deck. When I flopped onto the outdoor lounge and disappeared into an overstuffed mountain of pillows, he barely spared me a sideways glance.

“Trying out a new brooding spot?” I asked him. “This one’s a bit less moody than your darkened corner.” I motioned at the lights twinkling above his head. “The fairy lights are an especially nice touch.”

Liam’s expression stayed deadpan. I guess he wasn’t feeling the twinkles. “It’s a little cramped upstairs tonight. What—” His voice caught, and he cleared his throat in his fist. “What did the doctor say?”

“She’s fine. Not just a Gwen ‘I’m fine,’ either—actuallyfine.”

I frowned. Well, she wasphysicallyfine. The doctor had checked her over, done the concussion test, and shone his little light. She’d curled her lip when he’d asked, “What time is it?” and I’d chuckled when she’d grumbled, “Time for you to leave.” But I’d also noticed how she jumped at every noise, and her hand trembled when she thought I wasn’t looking.

I sighed. “Emotionally, though…” Yeah, that was another story.

Liam’s expression sharpened. “Gwen’s strong.”

“She’s not as tough as she makes out,” I countered. “And you didn’t help the situation by dragging that poor bastard upstairs and dumping him in front of her all banged up. What the hell were you thinking?”

“Spare me your lecture on civilized behavior, Dr. Sullivan.”

“Spare me your condescending bullshit. Gwen ripped herself apart up there. She blames herself for what happened to him.”

Liam tipped back the last of his drink. “That was an unfortunate miscalculation.” Did he mean by Gwen…or him? “But she has no reason to be upset. Romeo didn’t do his job, and he suffered the consequences.”

“He’s really Morelli’s kid?”

“Barely. He’s the runt of that hellspawn litter. The youngest of five sons.”

“If he’s the runt, I’d hate to see the others.”

The corner of Liam’s lips twitched. “Yes, you would.”

“And if the son of the big bad mafia boss is in your employment, what does that make you?”

Liam cocked his head, pausing for a moment before answering. “Involved.” He reached for the bottle of whiskey on the table. “Is Gwen settled now? She seemed…”

Rattled. Frightened. Scared. Yeah, she had. “She’s sleeping. Finally. No thanks to you. She spent a good hour pacing across the bedroom, trying to puzzle together how and why you’re connected to Morelli and how she missed it. I eventually got fed up with her overthinking everything and calmed her down by—”Um.

I clamped my mouth shut and darted my gaze to the sprinklers working overtime on the lawn. Telling a story about the orgasmathon in the tiny bathroom probably wasn’t for Liam’s ears.

His eyes turned to murderous slits. “Did you defile my sister in this house?” His hand clenched tighter around the neck of the bottle.

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