“Thanks,” I mumbled. “Need my gun.”

Beck’s arms tightened around me, pulling me closer into his rigid muscles. He hadn’t relaxed once since I’d ended up in his arms, and the heat of his fury was burning me even through my clothes. I thought they would take me to the hospital, the Delta owned one, but we actually ended up at Beck’s house. In another room I’d never seen before.

It was basically set up like a very expensive emergency room. White and sterile, with beds and as much medical equipment as I was sure most hospitals had.

“What is this room for?” I asked, wincing when I realized that was a pretty stupid question. I couldn’t think straight with the pounding in my brain. What I meant to ask was why do you have a hospital in your house…

“Sometimes we get injured and we like to keep the details off public record,” Beck explained, keeping his voice low and soothing. “I also have some doctors that I use and they won’t step foot near a legit hospital. We’ve had to use this room a lot.”

“Much easier to protect you from Beck’s estate as well,” Dylan added. He was close by even though I couldn’t see him. Beck gently placed me on a reasonably comfortable hospital bed, and a warm blanket was draped over me. “Don’t fall asleep on me, Riles,” he said, adjusting the pillow under my head. “The doctor will be here in like two minutes.”

“We could just do it.” I heard Dylan argue. I’d closed my eyes at this point because the bright lights were hurting me. “Not like we haven’t patched each other up a million times.”

Beck disagreed. “I won’t risk her. We’ll just get an opinion, and then figure out what we want to do for treatment.”

“Still awake over there, Riley?” Dylan asked quickly.

I lifted a hand and waved it, hoping that would be sufficient.

Beck was at my side then, and I let out a soft gasp when he reached out and took that hand, holding it tightly. My other one, the broken one, was gently held by Dylan, both of them offering comfort and support.

“We’re so fucking sorry we left you alone,” Dylan said, and Beck made a low angry noise. “We should have known better.”

“S’okay,” I whispered. “No one died.”

“Not yet,” Beck said softly, and the menace in his voice was enough for me to open my eyes and meet a set of steely gray ones.

“What does that mean?”

Beck’s face was awash in shadows, despite the brightly lit room. He was scary right then, the ruthless Beck that didn’t give a fuck who got hurt if he got his own way. “It means, that Huntley is about to be down another one of their hired help.”

Oh, right. “That was the guy at the mall,” I told them, not wanting any secrets between us. “He said he was confirming that I really was Delta, because you guys don’t usually let chicks in.”

Beck and Dylan exchanged a glance, one filled with about a million hidden messages I didn’t understand. “So he’ll be killed?” I asked, wanting to know for some morbid reason. He’d been creepy as fuck, he’d tried to kidnap me, and he’d punched me in the face. I couldn’t find a sliver of sympathy for his situation.

But I still needed to know his fate.

Beck nodded, his eyes dragging over my face. “He’s just lucky I won’t be the one doing it. His death at my hands would not be merciful.” He used his free hand and ran featherlight touches across the spot on my face that was throbbing. Where I’d been hit.

It surprised me Beck wouldn’t be killing him, and I tilted my head to the side. “Delta upper levels are handling it,” was all he said.

The doctor arrived then, his footsteps loud as he hurried across to the bed. He didn’t have any medical stuff on him, but then again, he didn’t need any in this room. Beck and Dylan greeted him with a head nod, and he looked wary but confident as he reached my side.

“Good evening, Ms. Deboise.”

I sighed but didn’t correct him.

He then spent twenty minutes checking me out, under the close and watchful eye of Beck and Dylan. When he was done, he washed his hands, and moved toward the guys.

“She’s going to be just fine. I see signs of a mild concussion, but no fracture in her cheek. She needs rest and for someone to keep an eye on her for the next twenty-four hours. She can also have pain relief as required.”

“Did you check on Eddy?” I asked, worried about my friend.

The doctor looked at Beck first before meeting my gaze. Every fucker thought they needed his permission to speak. “An associate of mine is checking her. The last update from him is that she’s going to be fine as well.”

“Yep, Evan just sent me a message,” Dylan said. “She’s back home resting. Jasper is home too.”

Looked like the Langhams were going to need some full time medical professionals to take care of their kids for a while.

As I sank back, the doctor bailed, seeming relieved to finally be able to go. I sat up and turned to drop my legs off the side of the hospital bed. Beck was there before my feet could hit the ground. “What the fuck, Butterfly? You heard the doctor.”

I raised a brow in his direction. “Yes, I heard the doctor, even though he didn’t bother talking directly to me. I’m fine. Mild concussion.”

Beck swept me into his arms, and I thought briefly about fighting him, but then I decided it was pretty comfortable here, and I really did feel tired and achy still. “I’m going to deal with our problem,” Dylan said as we got closer.

Beck nodded, no tension at all between them, despite their earlier confrontation.

That was until Dylan leaned down and pressed his lips briefly to my forehead. Beck’s chest swelled as a rumble of anger ripped from his throat. “Don’t fucking push me,” he said, and Dylan just winked at me before straightening and leaving the room.

“Fucker,” Beck mumbled as he followed the same path out of the hospital area, taking me up the stairs again. I thought I caught a glimpse of a uniform clad man as we went past, but when I looked again there was no one. Clearly Beck liked his staff to stay out of sight.

I expected Beck to take me to the room we’d used for sex, but he continued on along that same hall until he reached the very last door. He opened it without jostling me at all, and I blinked when we stepped inside.

Unlike the generic spare room—pun intended—this one held personality. Warmth.

There was a massive king sized, or triple king sized more accurately, bed in the center of the room. It had a dark brown wood frame, and thick navy comforter. The wall to the right side of it was painted in a similar navy color, and was a feature of the room. Not just for the color, but because there was half a dozen guitars mounted to the wall on what looked like custom stands. Not in a million years would I have guessed that Beck played an instrument. He just didn’t seem the type, and it immediately struck me that I really didn’t know that much about Beck or any of the guys. So much of our relationship had been animosity and then fighting for our lives. I guess that was the brilliance of hoping for more years with them. It gave me time to learn everything.

Trust had to come first, and then the rest would follow.

As long as we had enough time.

Before I could examine anything else in his room, Beck placed me into the center of his bed. I lifted my butt so he could drag the cover over me. “Why did you bring me in here?” I asked sleepily, burrowing my head into cloud-like pillows. “I thought you never brought chicks to your room.”

He was silent for a beat, and I opened an eye to make sure he was still there. He was. Staring down at me with an unfathomable expression.

“You’re not just a chick,” he told me. “You never were.”

My eyes closed again, even as heat burned in my chest at those words.

For the next twenty-four hours, Beck barely left my side. Bringing me painkillers, and light meals, and waking me up all the freaking time even though the doctor hadn’t told him to do that. He couldn’t seem to help himself. My head improved quickly, and each time I woke it was to more clarity. I’d thought for sure I’d have a ton of nightmares, after almost being kidnapped, but I slept better than ever. Mostly because Beck was in bed with me a lot, and when I woke up I was often wrapped around him.

Early Sunday morning, when I opened my eyes to a dark, cool room, a soft strumming sound caressed my senses. It was a low, simple tune, but the beauty and darkness in each haunting note had goosebumps rising across my skin. I just knew this was Beck, and I continued to breathe in and out rhythmically so he wouldn’t know I was awake and stop.

A minute later, he started to sing.

Holy fucking shit.