Page 13 of Break Me

“Not very creative,” Mikhail gritted out. “And how the hell did someone get past the guards?”

“Good question, but the neighborhood isn’t completely walled off. There are several locations they could have slipped through. And my address isn’t completely hidden from county records.”

My brother looked away. I was still in the emergency room, the doctor considering checking me into the hospital. That wasn’t going to happen.

“We need to deal with this carefully.”

“Carefully?” I repeated. As soon as I barked out the single question, my blood pressure increased.

“Gentlemen. Alexsey was in a horrific fire,” Bristol cautioned.

“The best medicine is kicking some ass.”

My brother was amused by my answer. “You need to get your rest. Plus, there’s insurance to deal with. The house is a total loss.”

“On the bright side, my beloved Porsche is in the shop getting new windows.”

He chuckled. “It’s good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. I heard about your incident with the firefighter. Maybe karma was trying to tell you something since you parked in front of a hydrant.”

Bristol’s eyes opened wide. “You did not!”

“I’m never going to live this down. But maybe you’re right. Same firefighter.”

“I bet she’ll be thrilled learning who she saved.”

My brother laughed just as my patience had run out. I ripped out the oxygen, ignoring Bristol’s attempt to stop me and immediately disconnected the blood pressure monitor. The machine started beeping, but I didn’t care. I threw back the covers, swinging my legs to the floor. “She knows. We had a moment.” When I grinned, Bristol folded her arms.

“So what Kazimir said is true. You like this girl.”

“I hardly think she’d like being called a girl.” And I was going to kill my other brother. There were no secrets in the family. None. “Don’t worry. She hates me.” Not that I could blame her.

“But you wouldn’t mind thanking her. Right?”

What did my sister-in-law have up her sleeve? “I suppose I should since I’m still breathing.”

Mikhail thought the exchange was the funniest thing he’d heard in a long time.

“Well, then maybe you don’t mind hearing that I happened to notice a firefighter four bays down. Long, dark hair? Braid? Since she was snipping at the doctor, she might be your firefighter.”

“She’s notmyfirefighter, but you could be right.” Why was it that even after all I’d been through, my cock was twitching? Was that normal? “Maybe I will say something to her. Why not?”

“A match made in heaven,” Mikhail chortled. “You’re coming home with us instead of heading to your condo. We’ll figure outwhat to do later this morning. And no, I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Fine. Whatever.” I could go back to the condo I owned in the heart of Las Vegas, but a plan did need to be made. The sooner the better. Including full retaliation. “Let me talk with the firefighter. Then we are getting the hell out of here.” I shuffled toward the curtain, realizing every muscle in my body ached.

No, the fire certainly hadn’t been on my bingo card.

“What are you doing, sir?” The nurse tried to push me back into the tiny space. “You haven’t been released.”

“Yes, I have. Make it happen.” Thankfully, she didn’t try to stop me. I moved down the corridor, avoiding the doctors and nurses, catching sight of the lovely firefighter only a few seconds later.

I could have anticipated she would be arguing with the doctor attending to her.

“I’m fine. Just some smoke,” she said forcefully. She was still dressed in the firefighter trousers, but her jacket had been removed. Underneath was a body-hugging tee shirt. Even with soot on her face, and strands of hair pulling free from the long braid she wore, she was devastatingly beautiful.

Especially once again seeing in her in the light.

“Captain, I want to keep you for observation,” the doctor insisted.