Chương 2
“You need blood pressure.”
“I can have both.”
“You can have one.”
Rafe looked at her.
“You always argue with injured strangers?”
“Only the stubborn ones.”
“How many injured strangers are stubborn?”
“Most of them.”
“That seems statistically unlikely.”
“It is emotionally accurate.”
For the first time that night, a real smile appeared on his face.
It vanished quickly.
But she saw it.
The ambulance doors remained open as police officers moved through the hotel entrance.
Guests stood behind barriers holding phones.
Some recorded.
Some whispered.
Some looked afraid.
Rafe noticed every single one.
Tessa noticed him noticing.
“You care what they think.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“I care what they do.”
“That is not the same thing.”
He looked outside.
“People believe what they are told.”
“Sometimes.”
“Usually.”
Tessa cleaned blood from her gloves.
“That sounds like something a man says when he has spent too much time controlling the room.”
His eyes moved back to hers.
“And what does that make you?”
“A woman who spent too much time watching people pretend they were not scared.”
The answer surprised him.
Maybe because it sounded personal.
Maybe because she had not meant to say it.
A phone buzzed near Malcolm.
He checked the screen.
The color in his face changed slightly.
Rafe saw it immediately.
“What?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“The shooter was not outside the hotel.”
The ambulance became quieter.
“He was inside.”
Rafe’s expression hardened.
“How do you know?”
“The cameras caught someone entering the service hallway twenty minutes before the attack.”
“Who?”
Malcolm looked at the screen again.
“That is the problem.”
Tessa watched Rafe’s hand close into a fist.
Not from pain.
From control.
“Who was it?”
Malcolm swallowed.
“The badge belonged to someone on your security team.”
No one moved.
Outside, people continued walking.
Cars continued passing.
A city kept going while one man’s world shifted beneath him.
Rafe looked toward the hotel.
His face gave nothing away.
But Tessa saw the change.
The injury had made him vulnerable.
The news made him uncertain.
And uncertainty was the one thing men like Rafe Calder hated more than pain.
“Find him.”
Malcolm nodded.
Rafe started to rise again.
Tessa pushed his shoulder down.
“Not yet.”
His eyes turned toward her.
“You are still doing this?”
“Yes.”
“You know I could make you move.”
“I know.”
That answer stopped him.
Because she did not say it with confidence.
She said it with fact.
“You are not the first powerful man I have treated,” she said quietly.
“And you will not be the last.”
Rafe looked at her for a long moment.
“Most people are afraid of me.”
Tessa wrapped the final layer of gauze around his side.
“Most people are not looking at you.”
She stepped back.
“They are looking at what they think you are.”
For once, Rafe had no immediate response.
And that bothered him more than the bullet.
The ambulance doors remained open as police officers moved through the hotel entrance.
Guests stood behind barriers holding phones.
Some recorded.
Some whispered.
Some looked afraid.
Rafe noticed every single one.
Tessa noticed him noticing.
“You care what they think.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“I care what they do.”
“That is not the same thing.”
He looked outside.
“People believe what they are told.”
“Sometimes.”
“Usually.”
Tessa cleaned blood from her gloves.
“That sounds like something a man says when he has spent too much time controlling the room.”
His eyes moved back to hers.
“And what does that make you?”
“A woman who spent too much time watching people pretend they were not scared.”
The answer surprised him.
Maybe because it sounded personal.
Maybe because she had not meant to say it.
A phone buzzed near Malcolm.
He checked the screen.
The color in his face changed slightly.
Rafe saw it immediately.
“What?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“The shooter was not outside the hotel.”
The ambulance became quieter.
“He was inside.”
Rafe’s expression hardened.
“How do you know?”
“The cameras caught someone entering the service hallway twenty minutes before the attack.”
“Who?”
Malcolm looked at the screen again.
“That is the problem.”
Tessa watched Rafe’s hand close into a fist.
Not from pain.
From control.
“Who was it?”
Malcolm swallowed.
“The badge belonged to someone on your security team.”
No one moved.
Outside, people continued walking.
Cars continued passing.
A city kept going while one man’s world shifted beneath him.
Rafe looked toward the hotel.
His face gave nothing away.
But Tessa saw the change.
The injury had made him vulnerable.
The news made him uncertain.
And uncertainty was the one thing men like Rafe Calder hated more than pain.
“Find him.”
Malcolm nodded.
Rafe started to rise again.
Tessa pushed his shoulder down.
“Not yet.”
His eyes turned toward her.
“You are still doing this?”
“Yes.”
“You know I could make you move.”
“I know.”
That answer stopped him.
Because she did not say it with confidence.
She said it with fact.
“You are not the first powerful man I have treated,” she said quietly.
“And you will not be the last.”
Rafe looked at her for a long moment.
“Most people are afraid of me.”
Tessa wrapped the final layer of gauze around his side.
“Most people are not looking at you.”
She stepped back.
“They are looking at what they think you are.”
For once, Rafe had no immediate response.
And that bothered him more than the bullet.
The paramedic waiting near the ambulance door cleared his throat.
“We need to transport you now.”
Rafe looked toward Malcolm.
“Go with June.”
Malcolm frowned.
“You are sure?”
“No.”
The honesty caught everyone off guard.
Rafe glanced toward the hotel again.
“But do it anyway.”
Malcolm nodded once.
It was the closest thing to agreement between two men who rarely admitted they needed each other.
June pushed herself away from the SUV with the help of another medic.
“Rafe.”
He turned.
“You look terrible.”
“You were just shot at.”
May you like
“And you still look worse.”
A quiet laugh escaped Tessa before she could stop it.
