Doug (Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) (Downeast SWAT Book 4) by LJ VIckery & Operation Alpha

Author:LJ VIckery & Operation Alpha [VIckery, LJ & Alpha, Operation]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aces Press, LLC
Published: 2024-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Getting his first good look at Pixie’s face, Doug was livid. A fist-shaped bruise marred her perfect skin, already turning several shades of blue. He wanted nothing more than to haul the prick who’d done the damage to his feet, and pummel him again. This time Doug wouldn’t stop until the asshole passed out. He…

Doug took in a deep breath and rolled his shoulders.

Pixie didn’t need to see his anger. She needed…sympathy. A shoulder to cry on. But who would give her that? Talia was huddled in the corner, speaking in low tones to Jason.

Doug closed his eyes and centered himself. While the SPD had the situation with Zablov well in hand, having dragged him to his feet, Doug forced himself to concentrate on Pixie.

She’d asked him a question.

He replayed her words back in his head, focusing, then grew angry all over again. “You want to know why we were late?” He couldn’t keep the bite out of his voice. “We were delayed by SPD’s legal representatives,” he growled. “They wanted to make sure every sentence of the paperwork we brought to them was proper; would stand up in court under a frigging microscope.”

Pixie attempted to smile, but winced instead, her eyes puddling with tears from the obvious pain. “It’s okay, Doug. They needed to be sure. And everything worked out in the end.”

Doug didn’t know what spurred him on. It might have been the brave face she was attempting, or the warble in her voice she couldn’t disguise, but before he could talk himself out of it, he crossed the divide between them, and took Pixie into his arms. He held her gently, cradled against his chest while his gut rocked and quaked. Was the knot of fear because a woman was mashed up against him for the first time in twenty years, or was it residual fear for the dangerous situation Pixie had been in?

Either way, he needed to find his voice.

“We have an ambulance on standby,” he told her, taking in the warm, honeyed smell of her hair. “Let’s get you to the hospital and have that jaw checked out,” he managed, gruffly. His hand slid from her shoulders to her waist and she gave a sharp gasp.

“What?” he questioned, leaning back to look into her ravaged face.

“It’s nothing…”

Doug couldn’t help his immediate scowl.

She sighed. “Fine. He…pushed me back into the table, and I landed hard. On my hip…” she trailed off, shrugging to make light of it.

“We’ll have that looked at, too,” he told her firmly, and suddenly uncomfortable with the closeness, he pulled away, but whether it was bravery or stupidity, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching to her right hand, firmly encasing it with his.

She looked down at where they were joined, clearly awed. “The, uh, ambulance should be for Jason,” she whispered to him, her voice trembling. “We don’t know what that monster has done to him.”

“Okay.” Doug readily agreed. “The ambulance is for him, but you’re not getting out of seeing a doctor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.