Page 32 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

“Your parents and two of your brothers should be here soon.”

She narrowed her eyes. “And why didn’t anyone tell me they were on their way?”

“Wait, Blondie didn’t tell you?”

“No, but then, you have been here for fifteen minutes, and you didn’t either.”

“That’s the thanks I get for lying to get him back into ICU.”

“You lied?”

“I told the hospital that he was your fiancé. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let him back to see you. That boy was determined to see you.”

When the door cracked open, that boy—her man—poked his head in. “Am I going to pick the Templetons up at the airport, or are you?”

“I’m not staying here. I can handle Riki better than you can.”

Ryan slipped in and walked over to the bed. He had changed his shirt and pants. Someone must have brought him clothes, because she knew he didn’t have anything with him. He was frowning at her.

“You need rest.”

“I’m lying in bed.”

He harrumphed in the same fashion Lulu did.

“I will see you two later,” Lulu said. She leaned down and kissed Keely’s forehead. A cloud of Chanel No 5 filled her senses. “You really scared me, young lady. Stop it!”

Then she left them alone.

“I know you have a concussion, but the doctor said you could nap.”

“Are you staying with me?”

He nodded and took the seat next to the bed. “Maya and I will be here when you wake up.”

She reached out for his hand, and he easily took it. With her hand in his, she drifted off into sleep.

“Who the hell are you?”

Ryan blinked his eyes open and found himself staring up at two massive Hawaiian men. One had long hair he kept in a man bun, and the other had his hair military short. The strong nose and jaw they shared made them almost identical to Riki. But those golden eyes…those were from their mother.

“Do you have to be so loud, Keanu?” Keely groused.

“Maybe he should answer the question,” the other one said.

“Maybe you should get bent, Holt.”

He chuckled, because like he said, she was sweet, but she knew when not to take any shit off people. “I’m Ryan Morrison.”

Keanu—the one with the man bun—rolled his eyes. “What the hell ever. He looked across the room at Maya. “Does Dad know about the dog?”

“Yes, your father knows about the dog, Keanu,” Monica said. She stepped between the two giants, then came to a stop. She was dressed neat as pin, but dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes. “Baby.”

He moved out of her mother’s way, so that she could get closer to Keely.

Maya rose and walked over to him, taking a position to let them know whose side she was on.

Of course, these weren’t the people he was most concerned about.

Riki came striding into the hospital room, his steps faltering when he saw his wife and daughter.

“I need to take Maya out,” Ryan said. He wanted her family to have some alone time with her.

“You don’t need to run away scared, Blondie,” Holt said.

“Boys, I will not have you be rude to Ryan. Don’t make me sic Lulu on you.”

That shut them up.

“No, I really need to take her out. She’s been in the room since they brought Keely up.” He stepped up to the opposite side of the bed from where her parents were standing. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Do you need anything?”

“No. I’m fine.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Then, with a look at her two brothers, he headed out of the room.

“Woah, did she kick you out?” Autumn asked.

“Again, love of my life, you are being rude.”

“Sorry.”

“No. I needed to take Maya out for a quick trip.”

“I could take care of her,” Autumn said.

“I’m worried she won’t go without me.”

“Ah, yeah. She is very protective of your woman. We will hold down the fort.”

The rest of TFH had left, mainly because there was a lot of work to be done after a shooting at headquarters.

Maya did go with him, but after doing her business, she was straining to go back into the hospital. By the time he made it up to Keely’s floor, Eden and Mix were in the hallway with Seth and Autumn.

Both of them looked damned tired, and he knew they felt guilty. It wasn’t their fault. There was no way anyone would have guessed that bastard would get a gun. He knew that Keely had told them that over and over.

“Hey, guys,” he said. “Keely already told you she didn’t fault your protection.”

“She’s not the one who hired us.”

“Ah. Yeah. Okay.”

Just then, the door opened and Riki came out. “I’ll talk to you two in a minute, but I need to talk with Morrison.”

Well, that didn’t sound good, and Riki didn’t wait for him to agree. He just walked down the hallway. Maya, though, she didn’t want to go.

“Autumn, can you take Maya into Keely’s room?”

“Sure thing.”

She took Maya’s lead. His partner didn’t even give him a second look. He had a feeling that Maya was going to be attached to Keely for a while.

He caught up to Riki, who turned to face him.

“You know that you won’t get her money.”

He frowned. “Why are you talking about that?”

“If you think you can attach yourself to my daughter and get her money, that won’t happen.”

“I don’t need her money, or yours for that matter. And why would you assume that I would only be after her money?”

“She stands to inherit a lot of money.”

This conversation was already pissing him off. “And that has nothing to do with the reasons I love your daughter.”

“You barely know her.”

“I know she’s sweet, but she has a backbone. She also thinks she can get away with anything by flashing those dimples at me.”

“Is that a fact?”

“She tried to convince me she could go home tonight.”

Her father rolled his eyes and shoved a hand through his hair. “She’s as bad as her mother.”

“But I do love her. I know I didn’t do a good enough job protecting her?—”

He made a motion with his hand. “If I had done a better job at investigating everything about that abduction, this would have never happened. And she did have protection.”

“Who were on site, but Ray didn’t have gun, and they thought he was safe. We all did.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it might have been a bit of a screw up, but I don’t know if I would have guessed it about the man. I got a pic of him from your commander. He looks like a good breeze could blow him away.”

“And we thought Brothers was the perpetrator. That’s what we told Dillon Security.”

“I know. Fate can be a real bitch…but then,” he said, glancing down the hallway. The man’s eyes softened, and Ryan knew that his wife was on her way over. “Sometimes it’s the best thing in life. Don’t make my girl unhappy.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Riki, we need to get to the house and make sure she has everything she needs. The doctor just said they could let her out as early as tomorrow.” She took Ryan’s hand. “Thank you for saving my baby.”

“She saved herself, and she protected Maya.”

She smiled at him, although, there were unshed tears in her eyes. “That’s my girl. Anyway, I assume you’re going to stay with her when she gets out.”

He nodded.

“Okay. We’ll get everything ready. I want to make sure she has her favorite things. And just so you know, we are staying with Lulu at her house. Keely will need rest.”

“Let TFH know if you need anything. They will be happy to help.”

As he made his way back to Keely’s room, he passed Mix and Eden. They still looked as if the guilt they felt was crushing them. He knew how they felt, but at the moment, he wanted to get back to Keely. He stepped into the room.

“Oh, look, Captain America is back,” Keanu said.

“Keanu, you are an ass.”

The man crossed his arms over his chest, but Ryan saw his mouth twitch. He knew that her brothers were behaving this way to make her feel better.

“Your parents want to go to the house,” he said.

Both of them frowned at him, their arms crossed over their chests. The door creaked open. “Boys, come on. We have a lot to do, and I want to come back and spend time with Keely when she’s had more rest.”

Both men did her bidding, which had Keely laughing. “Mama boys until their dying days.”

He settled in the chair next to her again, Maya walked over and laid at his feet. “Why don’t you get some sleep so you can spend quality time with your mother later.”

“You’ll be here?”

As if she had to ask. “Always.” He took her hand and held tight. He sat, content to watch as she drifted off to sleep. Once her eyes closed, he felt his body give into his need to sleep, knowing that he meant what he’d said. He would always be there with her.