"Don’t look fine." His forehead furrows. "And what the hell were you doing outside the door?"
"Getting shot at, what do you think?" I glower back at him.
"You could have been fucking killed," he growls.
"Not if I can help it. I like my life just fine, thank you very much."
I try to sit up, but he flattens his palm on my chest and pushes me back down.
"Hey, stop manhandling me," I protest.
"Not letting you move until you’ve been checked out by a medic."
"I said I’m fine," I huff.
"I’ll believe it when a doctor tells me so."
"Elsa!" I glance up as my friend Theresa’s face comes into view.
"Thank god." I raise my gaze skywards. "Please, can you tell this jerk that I’m fine and he can let me up?"
"Umm..." She takes one look at his features and her eyebrows shoot up. "I think he’s right."
“What?” I scowl at her, but she’s too busy waving at another woman, who walks over to us. She’s wearing a simple, dark-colored dress that hugs her curves, before dropping to below her knees. Her eyes are intelligent, and her auburn hair is pulled back from her face.
"I’m Dr. Aurora Sovrano. Is it okay if I check you out?"
I glance from her to Theresa, who nods vigorously. "You’re safe with her," she assures me. "She's Christian's wife."
Christian is one of the Sovranos; I know that from what Theresa’s told me about the brothers. In fact, she’s spoken about the Sovranos in enough detail, I’m confident I could pick out each of them in a crowd.
I turn back to the doctor and nod at her.
She smiles, then glances over to the man who’s behind her. "Can you get my medical bag, honey?"
"Sure, baby." The tall, broad-shouldered man, who looks very similar to Seb, and even more like Axel, spins around and disappears through a doorway. I know they’re married, but somehow, the very cozy endearments of ‘baby’ and ‘honey’ still feel out of place in relation to one of the Sovranos.
Another man—the tallest and broadest in the room—walks over to us. "Everything okay here?" he asks.
"No," I say at the same time that asshat here growls, "I have it under control."
The man—who has to be Massimo, going off Theresa's description—smirks.
"I’m going to go check on the guards outside." He walks past us and out of the house.
Aurora sinks down next to me and reaches over to take my pulse.
By the time she lowers my arm, Christian has returned; he hands over her medical bag before stepping back. The doctor pulls out a small flashlight and shines it in my eyes. She checks my heart beat with a stethoscope, performs a few other tests, and pronounces that I am fine.
"You’ll need to take care of that cut," she says as she points to my forehead.
For the first time, I become aware of the throbbing sensation above my eyebrow. I touch it and wince. When I glance at my fingers, they’re bloodied.
Seb rises to his feet and holds out his hand. "Come on, let’s get that cleaned up."
"Umm," I fold my arms across my chest, "no, thank you."
He merely stares down at his proffered palm, then back at my face.