Page 19 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

“Empire University, when they signed my medical degree.” I reach into the pocket of my slacks and pull out a single-dose packet of pain relievers.

This girl’s lucky I even bothered to bring any tonight, lucky I planned ahead for the almost inevitable headache this evening was sure to bring me.

I hold the packet out for her between two fingers. “Here. Take these.”

She stares at it like I just offered her a vial of poison.

“It’s acetaminophen. An analgesic,” I explain. At her continued confusion, I add, “It’s Tylenol . Take it.”

She hesitates a moment longer, and with an irritated sigh, I rip it open myself and grab her hand, tapping both pills out of the packet and into her palm.

Her skin is soft under my touch. I let my thumb slide over the pulse of her wrist just once, savoring the feeling of it.

“Can you swallow?” I ask her, letting my touch linger on her skin, my voice deliberately neutral.

Now that gets me a reaction. Her face flushes with color, and the pulse under my thumb jumps. “Excuse me?”

My, my, what a filthy mind you have. I fight back a smile, years of practice making it easy to keep a perfectly straight face as I say, feigning complete innocence, “The pills. Can you swallow them dry, or do you need some water?”

She snaps her mouth shut, but the color in her cheeks doesn’t fade. If anything, her blush grows, like she’s embarrassed for where her mind went .

“No, I… it’s fine.” When I let her wrist go, she raises her hand to her mouth, tipping the pills inside.

Watching the bob of her delicate throat as she swallows feels a little too intimate. I look away, glancing back over my shoulder at the party. It won’t be long now until my brothers come looking for her…

And there he is. Almost immediately, I spot Alec through the crowd, moving frantically through the ballroom as he searches for his little pet. His eyes catch mine through the open doors, and he practically bolts toward us.

“What the hell happened?” he demands.

This close to her, I can feel it when she tenses, pulling away from his anger. That won’t do.

“She needs ice for her ankle,” I tell Alec, snapping my fingers. “Now.”

Mason Alexander Sterling is not a man used to taking orders, and it shows.

But after staring at me in stunned shock for a handful of seconds, he swallows his pride and nods.

He gives the girl one last lingering look, from the top of her head to her bare feet, like he’s convincing himself she’s all right, before heading back inside.

“I want to check your vitals, to make sure you’re okay,” I say after he leaves.

I’m kneeling between her open legs right now, and acutely aware of how close I am to her.

My cock, already slightly erect from just the sight of her bare leg and the memory of her writhing between my brothers, twitches at the thought of touching her more.

I wait for her nod of consent before I shift forward, pressing my fingers to her neck to take her pulse. My other hand rests lightly against her hip.

She is pretty, I’ll give her that. Soft. Sweet and innocent.

My brothers have the worst fucking taste sometimes.

After a few seconds of feeling the beat of her pulse beneath my fingers, I shift my hand to grip her chin. “Look at me. I need to check your pupils.”

I don’t need to check anything. She’s fine, blood pressure and pulse seemingly normal.

But I hold her face for a few more seconds, staring into her eyes.

I wonder what they see in her that has them so fucking obsessed.

Her lips part under my gaze, and her breathing quickens.

A lingering remnant of arousal from her time with Alec and Ashton, no doubt.

Speak of the fucking devil…

“Here,” Alec says, appearing at her side and sitting down on the bench next to her. He hands me a bag of ice wrapped in a bar towel and then turns his full attention to her, his voice softening as he brushes her hair away from her face. “What happened?”

I stare at the bag of ice in my hands. I guess it’s my job to tend to her then? Their fucking toy?

Biting back the choice words I have for Alec, I shift back and set her foot in my lap, laying the ice over her ankle. This time, she doesn’t flinch. She barely seems to notice.

“I’m fine,” she tells Alec. So much for the “woe is me, my ankle is broken” bit. “I just…”

Shame steals the words from her.

“She twisted her ankle,” I inform Alec. I adjust the ice on her leg to get a better look at it, but there’s no visible swelling. I’d bet money the injury was minor, an overstretched tendon at the most, but no actual tearing. “Maybe if her dates hadn’t left her on her own with only scotch…”

“What does she need?” Alec asks, ignoring the barb. His arm wraps around her middle protectively, pulling her close to his side. Fuck, he’s got it bad for her, hasn’t he? He’s already in overprotective alpha mode, like he could somehow keep her safe from the world. From our world.

He can’t even keep her safe from her own clumsy self .

I sit back on my ankles and reach up to straighten my glasses.

“Rest,” I advise him, standing. I brush my hands against my slacks, subtly rearranging myself to hide my erection. “You should take her somewhere with fewer people. Somewhere quiet. Let her rest a little. She should be fine once the pain medication kicks in.”

I give Alec a significant look. I just gave him and Ashton the perfect excuse to get her all alone. You’re fucking welcome.

And Alec, proving he might not be a complete imbecile after all, jumps at the opportunity to take it.

“You heard the doctor,” he says, helping the girl to her feet. She stands gingerly, still not putting weight on her right foot. “Let’s get you somewhere to rest, shall we?”

“She needs to keep weight off of it,” I warn him, gesturing to her leg. “Until the pain is gone.”

I hand her the bag of ice, and as she takes it from me, she gifts me with a small, shy smile.

“Wrap your arms around my neck,” Alec tells her, stealing that smile away for himself. She complies easily, relaxing against him and interlacing her fingers behind his neck as he lifts her into his arms.

Funny, she wasn’t nearly as compliant with me. Manhandled , I think were her words.

“Your shoes,” I remind her, scooping them up. I hold them out to her, dangling them from my fingers. Alec takes them from me without so much as a thank you, murmuring assurances to her as he carries her off and back toward the party, my role in her rescue completely forgotten.

Yeah. I grit my teeth. That’s all the thanks I get.

As usual.