Page 6 of Romancing His Heart

“Let’s finish getting him cleaned up so I can run some scans,” she says distractedly while Preston and Ash exchange a muted conversation.

“On it.” I go to the other side of the bed, then cut his shirt over his shoulder so I can slide it down his arm. His sleeve is folded tightly in the palm of his hand, so I try to pry it open. Running a hand over his corded forearm, his muscles finally relax. As I gently move down his arm, his fingers uncurl, and I realize he’s holding onto something. Pulling it away, I unroll it to find the second half of a note Seth had received a few days ago.

“Ashton?”

He turns his head and stops speaking mid-sentence. Crossing the room, he takes the note from me. It’s written in some sort of code I don’t understand.

“Is it Julia’s?” Preston asks.

“Yeah.”

“It’s good codes,” Loki mumbles, apparently still aware of all that’s around him.

“What does it say?” I can’t keep the excitement from my voice.

Julia is a new friend of my sister … and now me, too, I guess. Her husband, Trevor, is part of Preston’s pack. I don’t know why I refer to these guys as a pack, but I do, and it suits them. Julia is a brainiac who created a high-level secret code that helped Loki bring down his family, a Boston area mob.Gah, the story I could write about these guys!Ash isn’t as fast as Julia at deciphering the code I hand him, but he still solves it in record time.

The brainpower going on between those two could light up the entire city. I snort at the thought, causing everyone to turn their heads in my direction.

“It … ah, it says, ‘they’re watching her. Four months. Red. Get Sawyer out’,” Ashton fumbles over the note.

As if we gave him a shot of adrenalin, Loki surges from the bed and turns in a circle. “They’re coming for her.”

Preston takes a tentative step forward with his hands raised, “Who, Loki? Who’s coming, and who is she?”

He scans the room like a deer in headlights. “I-I don’t know. I can’t remember. I can’t remember, but I know they’re coming.” Panic and fear cross his chiseled features. Staring straight at me as he says, “They want her.”

We all watch in shock as he collapses to the ground like a ton of bricks.

“Shit, help me,” I scream, trying to break his fall.

Preston and Seth are on him in an instant and pull him back to the bed.

“I’m going to have to sedate him. I can’t do an exam with him wild like this, and if he can’t remember, I need to prioritize a head injury check. Sloane, why don’t you go upstairs with Seth? The fewer people we have in here the better until I can assess properly.”

“No,” Loki bellows, lunging at me once again. Grabbing me around the middle, he pulls me to him. “They’re watching her. She stays with me at all times.”

I stare at Emory, wide-eyed and more than a little scared. What the hell does he mean they’re watching me? Did Jackson find me already? How would Loki even know that? I begin to tremble as Loki sways.

“Shh, Red. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” He pulls me to the bed, where he falls back, taking me with him and trapping me under his heavy arm.

I glance around the room in horror as everyone stares back. Finally, it’s Emory who comes to her senses.

“Ash? You’re sure this medication is labeled properly, and his medical charts are up to date?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, gaping like a teenager about to get in trouble.

“Good. This will knock him out until we figure out what the fuck is going on.” Emory takes a step forward and plunges another needle into Loki’s arm.

Chapter 2

Loki

Iwake with a start, something I haven’t done since I was a child, and I’m immediately on alert. When you work for the Select Intelligence Agency, you always, always know what’s happening around you. Sleep is for the weak. Without moving a muscle, I scan the room. My room.

How the hell did I get here?

A rocking chair sits empty next to the bed. It’s lined with more blankets than I would know what to do with. It appears I’ve had an audience while I’ve been out, and it makes my spine tingle. That’s when I hear it—a soft, melodic voice trying damn hard to hold her ground.