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Caleb tore his gaze away and scrubbed a hand over his face.
His brain was zinging in all sorts of crazy directions. He’d barely touched his whiskey. It had to be leftover adrenaline.
Cool liquid stung his skin as Gia swabbed his shoulder with antiseptic.
“No bullet fragments and the wound is shallow enough to use glue instead of stitches.” She applied Dermabond in smooth, even strokes. “You were very lucky.”
“We both were.” The pain he could handle, but when she leaned closer and blew on the glue to help it dry faster, his dick went half-mast.
He shifted in the chair.
“Sorry,” she said. “I know it stings.”
Not the problem.
“I’m fine.” He grimaced at the rasp in his voice.
She taped a gauze pad over the wound. “Try to keep it dry tonight. You can take the bandage off when you shower tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” Caleb rose. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”
“Down the hall, first door on the right.”
The bathroom was barely large enough to accommodate the white sink, toilet, and tub-shower combo. Caleb examined his reflection in the mirror. Lines on his face. Bloodshot eyes. Dark circles.
In short, he looked like hell.
When he returned, Gia sat curled on the couch in the main room. She raised her head at his approach.
The haunted look from earlier had returned.
Anger curled low in Caleb’s gut.
Not haunted.
Hunted.
“Who’s after you?”
Her gaze shuttered. “I don’t know.”
Another lie.
He crouched in front of her. “You may not have known those men, but you know who sent them. I’m trying to help—but I need the truth. I protect people for a living. That means I know how to identify threats and eliminate them before they become a problem. I’m leaving town tomorrow after my mother’s funeral, but I can still make some calls. Find you some help.”
He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring grin. “Consider it payment for patching me up.”
She shook her head, not meeting his eyes.
He lifted her chin, and she flinched away from his touch.
Shit.
He snatched his hand back. Someone had laid hands on her.
The anger in his gut caught fire, spread. He buried it so it wouldn’t show.
The last thing Gia needed was moreviolence.