Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Fuck. There was a bump, and she winced as he prodded at it.
“Ouch, Daddy.”
“I know,” he said soothingly. “Just want to check. Does your back hurt?”
“Yes, a bit. I think it might be bruised.”
He carefully drew up her top, sucking in a breath at the angry scrape just below her right shoulder.
“There’s some broken skin and looks like you’re going to bruise. Let’s get you into bed and I’ll call Hack.”
“I don’t need Hack or to go to bed.”
“Well, you’re getting both, and I don’t want any arguments.”
A sniffling noise made him tense. He closed his eyes. Fuck. She’d just hurt herself, and he was acting like a complete ogre.
He gently pulled her top down, then moved around to face her, his hand cupping her chin. Fuck. She was crying.
Damn it.
“Baby girl, don’t cry. Shh. It’s all right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound grouchy.”
“N-no, you should be. I w-wrecked the bike, didn’t I?”
“Who cares about the bike?! It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does,” she wailed.
“Little Rebel, please stop crying,” he said with desperation. “What can I do to help?”
“Turn the bike off and check it.”
“I’ll turn it off. But then I’m getting you inside.” He hated that she was sitting on a hard floor, maybe injured.
Moving to the bike, he quickly turned it off. Going back to her, he carefully picked her up, cradling her against his chest. She sucked in a sharp breath.
Fuck. Maybe he should take her to the hospital, get her checked properly. She could need X-rays.
Yeah, that’s what he’d do. He headed to the car.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No! No, please, Duke. I’m really okay. I’ll just have to wait there for hours for them to tell me what I know. I’m bruised and I need to take it easy for a day. Please.”
She stared up at him with those big eyes, and he could feel his resolve slipping. She looked so pale, though.
“All right,” he agreed reluctantly.
Relief filled her face.
“But I am going to call Hack, and if he can’t come over, then I’m taking you to the emergency room.”
“All right.”
He carried her inside and sat her on the bed. He took off her bra and top before putting one of his loose T-shirts on her. She lay down on her front while he called Hack who promised to come over as soon as possible.
“I’m going to see if that scrape on your back needs to be cleaned.” He raised up the T-shirt, wincing as he took in her sore looking skin. “There’s no dirt, but I’ll give it a small wipe anyway.”
He moved into the bathroom and took a deep breath to calm herself.
She was all right.
She was just a bit bruised.
Everything was going to be okay.
After that pep talk, he calmly walked back in and sat next to her. Hatter sat on the floor, whimpering pathetically.
“Oh, Hatter, I’m all right,” she told the dog. “I think I scared him.”
“Yeah? He’s not the only one you scared. When I saw the bike lying there like that . . .”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.” She groaned as he wiped her back.
“Sorry, baby girl. I’d give you some painkillers, but I’d rather wait until Hack checks you over.”
Despite his nickname, Hack was a good doctor, and he trusted him. This was probably a better idea than the emergency room. If he’d had to sit and wait for her to get seen, he’d likely have lost his mind.
“It’s okay. I’m really sorry.” She sniffled. “I wrecked the bike, didn’t I?”
“The bike doesn’t matter.”
“But it does.”
He frowned. Why was she this upset about the bike? She seemed to be fixated on it. Was it because the Fox had given it to her? He definitely had mixed feelings about that asshole. He was constantly interfering in their lives and yet . . . he’d betrayed Markovich.
Or had he?
He didn’t know. What he did know was that he didn’t want Sunny wasting any time worrying about that bastard.
“If you’re worried about the Fox getting upset, I won’t let him near you,” Duke promised.
“What? No! I’m not concerned about that. He’d never hurt me.”
Yeah, Duke wasn’t so trusting.
“It’s not that . . . I was going to sell it.”
She was? That was news to him. Not unwelcome news, but he wondered why she was going to sell it now? Unless . . .
He crouched down, so they were eye-level and gave her a stern look. “Little Rebel, we have plenty of money to pay for the wedding.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh no! That wasn’t it. I know we have the wedding covered. It was just . . . crap . . . I need to tell you something.”
He didn’t like how worried she sounded.
“You’ve been keeping something from me?”
“What? No. I haven’t, I promise. I got a call while you were out and I . . . I need to tell you about it.” She shifted around on the bed, wincing in discomfort.