Rachel Caine - Red Letter Days 1 by Devils Bargain

Author:Devils Bargain [Bargain, Devils]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-13T16:38:39+00:00

It was worse than she’d thought, and better than she’d hoped. Ben looked different, lying in a hospital bed with tubes in his arms and splints and bandages all over him, but not that much different. His smile was the same, even through puffy, bruised lips. Cool blue eyes, brush-cut medium-brown hair that looked longer than she remembered. Some gray in it, maybe a bit more than the last time she’d been by.

“Jazz,” he said. His voice sounded muffled and indistinct. She could hear him breathing. “Sorry about the mess. Slipped in the shower.”

She sat down in the chair next to his bed, suddenly unable to find anything to say. McCarthy didn’t give her much of a chance. He skipped his attention away from her to lock on to Borden, who was standing behind her.

“You’re new,” he said. “Let me guess. Lawyer?”

She looked back at him. Borden’s smile remained cool and tightly controlled. “I’m a friend,” he said.

“Why? Do you need a lawyer?”

“Lawyers got me where I am today,” McCarthy said. “Pull up a chair. I hate people looking down at me.

Then again, you’re so tall you’ll probably look down on me anyway…so. Jazz. What’s up?” She was speechless, again. He looked at her, clearly waiting, and she felt an insane urge to laugh. This was pure McCarthy. Lying here hooked up to tubes, bubbling blood in a punctured lung, with broken bones and a morphine drip, demanding to know how her life was going.

“Who was it?” she heard herself ask him. McCarthy’s blue eyes suddenly went shadowed, twilight cold, half-hidden by lowered lids.

“Not your problem,” he said. “It’s like Vegas inside Ellsworth, sweetheart. What happens here stays here.”

She had things to ask him, but there was no way she could put it into words, no way that she could imagine him letting down his guard in any way. Especially not with Borden here. She’d seen the shields go all the way to full strength the second he’d seen Borden at her back.

“I want to know,” she said. “I want to know what happened.” His smile flashed again, but it didn’t reach the rest of his face. “No, you don’t,” he said. “No reason for that. Look, it happened, it wasn’t fun, it’s over. I’ll take care of what needs to be taken care of, yeah?

But I need you to do something for me.”

She nodded wordlessly, watching him. His hand suddenly shot out and wrapped around hers, tight and warm. McCarthy had always been the kind to touch, to put a hand on her shoulder, an arm around her shoulders. A celebratory kiss on her temple when things went well. Nothing sexual about it, just…family.

As close as could ever matter.

His blue eyes were intense and dark with emotion.

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.