Page 23 of Dirty Quinn
Daria in the hospital make it so.
“I’m in, baby. All fucking in. I’m leaving the FBI and joining your team. Not for a paycheck, just to make sure this doesn’t happen to you again. I’ll figure something else out for the paycheck because I have to support you in the manner you’ve become accustomed. Not that I’ll ever be as rich as you. But I can afford a nice house, I can save for our kids to go to college, I can give us a good life.”
Her hand twitches in mine, I wait to see if she opens her eyes. But am met with disappointment.
“Am I freaking you out, Daria? You aren’t even conscious and you’re twitching about getting married.” I laugh, mostly to myself. It’s funny and not funny at the same time. I want Daria, and I want us to share our future. I know she’s wary of such connections and commitments. But I’m going to take her at her word when she told me on the Maldives trip that she was ready to try again.
“I’ll open a security business. Something similar to what I told you I did when we first met. I’ll do that during the day and help you at night. And when we have kids, we’ll figure it out. I’m thinking three is a good number. Two boys and one girl. The girl will be the youngest so that her older brothers can help me protect her. And chase all the boys away.”
“No protection,” Daria mumbles weakly.
I smile big. That’s my girl. I had a feeling if I started planning our future she’d have something to say about it, conscious or not.
I lean in, putting my ear close to her mouth. “What’s that, babe?”
“My daughter,” she rasps. “Protects herself.”
I chuckle and kiss her lightly on her chapped lips. Her breathing is labored, and she wheezes slightly with each inhale and exhale. I pick up the glass of water near the bed and bring the straw to her lips.
“Not too much. Just wet your mouth a bit. You’re recovering from surgery—you got pretty banged up.”
She takes a small sip and winces. “Why?”
“Well, you’ve got a concussion, a punctured lung, broken wrist, fractured rib, and a fuck-ton of scrapes and bruises.”
She nods, her head barely moving. “Hurts.”
“I know, baby. Let me ring for the nurse, we’ll see if we can’t get you something more for the pain.”
“No.” Daria attempts to lift her good arm to stop me, but I do it anyway. “Clear head.”
“How about we go for a clear head in a couple days, and right now, we go for pain reduction and rest?”
She nods, her eyes drifting shut once again. My girl is a fighter. I’m proud of her. And I’m so fucking thankful that she’s okay. There are so many other things that could have gone wrong yesterday. How the hell do I protect her from that shit?
The nurse pokes her head in, in response to my call, and gives Daria a shot of something in her IV after I explain that she’s in pain.
“She won’t be feeling much of anything now,” the nurse smiles and turns back toward us before stepping through the doorway. “I almost forgot. Her brother is outside. Shall I send him in?”
I nod in response.
What the hell is her brother doing here?
How would he even know that she’s in the hospital?
Maybe he came to town with her dad? If he did, Daria didn’t mention it. Unless she doesn’t know. I brace myself for the introductions, I may know all about her family, but we’ve never met. And I don’t think they know much about me. Based on pictures I’ve seen, Daria and her brother could have been twins, especially since they are only separated in age by eleven months.
I stand as the door opens slowly, not entirely sure what to expect. The man that enters is not her brother.
11
Ronan
I’m still not sure what I plan to say to Daria to convince her to work with me. But it doesn’t matter much when I have her friend in my possession. Daria doesn’t know that I won’t hurt the girl. And I plan to use that to my advantage.
I tell the attendant at the hospital’s front desk that I am Daria’s brother and they direct me to the correct wing and floor. I’m stopped at the nurses’ station to identify myself a second time and asked to wait a moment. The nurse disappears into the room I’m assuming is Daria’s, returning a few moments later to tell me I can see her now.
I was not expecting the man to be with her, a foolish oversight on my part. Of course he is with her, he loves her. The sentiment bleeds from his every pore whenever she is near. He stands as I enter. Though I’ve watched him from afar, we’ve not had the opportunity to meet in person.
