Page 246 of Duty and Desire

Noah pivoted and stared at the closed door. “What the hell?”

Ivar chuckled, the sound pained. His hand shook as he planted it on his sunken chest. “He’s one of a kind, right?”

Right. Noah slowly unfolded the paper to read the intake forms.Oh, come on. No way.

* * * *

Abby Miller’s legs shook as she walked into the basement room of the old elementary school. Several scarred wooden chairs were arranged in a circle on the cement floor, while a street level window up high was covered in a grate surrounded by leaves and rainwater. One blackboard, green really, was up front with the name of the group spelled out.Anger management support.

Anger. Oh, they had no clue.

A woman strode toward her from a rickety table holding a coffee carafe and Styrofoam cups. “Hi. I’m Dr. Mariana Lopez.” She held out a hand to shake.

“Abby Miller.” Abby shook the shrink’s hand, frowning. “I thought Dr. Johnson was in charge of this group.”

Mariana sighed, her dark brown eyes sparkling. “Yes, he was. But he had unexpected business out of town, and I’m going to cover for him.” She frowned and looked around the dismal area. “We’re supposed to be in a room upstairs, but the Gamblers Anonymous leader got there first. He’s pushy.”

“I see,” Abby said. The woman had to be in her early thirties to be a shrink, but with her chin-length sassy bob, she looked younger. Her bone structure was straight and her lips full, and she’d dressed in nice black slacks with a white blouse, looking professional and smart. Two-inch heels on her boots put her atabout five-foot four, an inch shorter than Abby’s height. Abby tugged at her worn hoodie and tried not to grimace at her rain-speckled light jeans. “Okay.”

“Have a seat.” The doctor gestured toward the vacant chairs.

Maybe it would just be the two of them. That’d be all right. Abby strode for a worn chair and sat, crossing her legs. Bruises along her ribs instantly protested. She lived in a suburb away from the city, and it was fairly small, which had turned out to be a bad thing for her. But perhaps this was all right. “Dr. Lopez? If it’s just us, should we go grab a coffee?”

“Mariana,” the doctor said, moving for a briefcase next to a chair and taking out a stack of blue manila files. “I think we’ll have a few of us.”

As if on cue, two men strode inside. The atmosphere instantly changed, warming and somehow becoming heavy. Abby cleared her throat. Thank goodness she was already sitting.

They were huge. Like hugely huge. Like people out of an Avenger movie. The guy in the lead had dark blond hair, black eyes, and a ripped chest beneath a plain gray T-shirt. His face was such strong angles and curves that compelling was too tame of a word to describe him. “Hi,” he said to Mariana. “I’m Noah Siosal, and this is my pal, Ivar. We were in the service together.”

That voice. Low and gritty and male. Abby gulped.

Then his gaze swung to her. Deep and piercing. Somehow irritated. Whoa. Her body conducted an internal shiver, head to toe, and her heart increased in pace. Yep. Even her breath quickened. That made sense. Her taste in men was horrendous, obviously. And now she’d gone all girly and soft at a guy in an anger management class. That was true to form, unfortunately.

She tore her gaze away to study Ivar. He was muscled, with burn marks down the side of his neck and arm. They looked fresh. He was as tall as his friend, but it was obvious he’d recently lost weight by the way his clothes hung on his frame.His hair was a lighter blond with dark streaks strewn throughout that somehow looked natural and genuine. His eyes were a sizzling blue, and that was definitely anger and pain reflected there.

Her fight or flee instincts kicked in, but she stayed in the seat.

Ivar ignored the shrink and strode to take a chair across from Abby, his gaze wandering vacantly to the barred window up high.

Noah sighed. “He doesn’t talk much. Rough mission.” He prowled forward, all power and grace, to sit next to his friend. He settled his hands on his legs.

Abby swallowed. Those were really big hands. Wide and broad. A guy could do a lot of damage with hands like that. Her body chilled.

He cocked his head to the side and studied her, curiosity glimmering in those midnight black depths.

She focused on Mariana, who’d just sat with her files on her lap.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and another man strode into the room. Holy crap. Who were these people? Did anger make somebody huge and seriously handsome? Or were they that way first and then became angry for some unbelievable reason? This guy was about six-foot-five with black hair and piercing green eyes, and he was just as broad as Noah.

Ivar leaped to his feet and Noah sighed, stretching to his. “What the hell?”

The other guy looked around the room, his gaze landing on the files in Mariana’s lap. “You’re not Dr. Johnson.”

“No,” she whispered, looking as bewildered as Abby felt. “I’m Dr. Lopez. I’m taking over this group for the time being.”

“Huh.” The guy shot a smile at Noah and crossed the room to sit next to Abby. “I’m Raine Maxwell.” He even brought heat with him.

Noah’s chin dropped in an oddly threatening way. “Why are you here?”