I huff out a laugh.
“Last time I checked, I was your boss.”
“To the FBI you are my superior,” he says slowly, narrowing his eyes, all bullshit melting away and leaving behind the criminal Oren Ramos truly is. “In this world you aren’t shit. You’re going to do more damage than good if you don’t get some sleep and let your body heal. You’re no good to Malia exhausted and out of your mind.”
I am exhausted, but if we don’t make some progress soon, Iwillgo out of my mind.
“Is that coming from the concern of a friend or the annoyance of a superior?” I ask.
“Both.”
“Something tells me your hierarchy doesn’t put your boss’s boyfriend below the foot soldiers,” I snark.
Oren rolls his eyes in a way that is much more like the man I’ve grown to know over the years.
“The order isn’t coming from me. I just have to make sure you listen, as thesuperioris dealing with a pissed off king of the concrete right now and can’t babysit you.”
He rubs at his eyes, no doubt trying to ease the headache this cluster-fuck of a day has caused.
“You’ll sleep, I’ll keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t die on us. You can sleep in Malia’s room if you want.”
I grind my teeth. Of course I want to sleep in Malia’s room, but I don’t want him in there while I do it. That’s her space and he can fuck right off with that idea. Especially after the bullshit he gave me earlier for showering in her bathroom.
“Sorry, Prince Charming, I’m going to have to decline your tempting offer,” I snark through a hiss, as the doctor cleans around my wound one last time. “You won’t be living your creepy stalker fantasy with me.”
Oren chuckles.
“Alright then, you sleep and I’ll come and check on you every few hours,” he says. “But if you happen to fall into spellbound slumber, I will have to wake you with my true love’s kiss, Sleeping Beauty.”
“Every two hours,” the doctor interrupts, placing the final strip of tape on my bandaged shoulder.
Oren nods and I roll my eyes. Unable to stand the doctors’ further assessment attempts, I storm out of the room with Oren on my heels.
“We’ll corner Deavers at the bureau tomorrow,” Oren says as he falls into step beside me. “If you’re not feeling it, I can bring him in and let Lion take out some of that anger.”
Fuck that.
“No,” I growl. “I’ll be fine.”
The next morning a hand shoves at my shoulder, startling me awake. My good hand darts under the pillow to grab my weapon, clicking off the safety, and I shift—too quickly for my aching body—to press the barrel against Oren’s forehead with a snarl. He reaches up and pushes my hand away, narrowing his deep-brown eyes on me.
“Save it for Deavers, big boy,” he says. “It’s time to get up.”
Without waiting for my response, he strides out of the room, leaving me to get ready for our mission to the bureau. I haven’t been fired, nor have I quit, so I’m curious if they’ll even let me in the building. I haven’t stepped foot in or really thought much about that place in the past few weeks.
I fall back on the bed as I flip on the safety, grunting at the pain in my shoulder. I’m not sure which part of my body hurts worse today, but I made it through the night and got some rest. It’ll be a while before I’m fully recharged after the hell I’ve been through, and I have a feeling it won’t happen until Malia is home.
Oren is leaning against the wall outside Malia’s room. He barely offers me a glance before he tucks his cell phone into his pocket and leads me to the north wing of the mansion.
This place is huge and easy to get lost in, the fact that Oren can find Malia’s room so easily, and why that might be, has me grinding my teeth. We step into the foyer at the same time Breckin Reynolds walks in.
He stops to look at us, his face set in a hard scowl, and I’m not sure if it’s because of me or Malia’s disappearance.
“Not now,” Oren snaps, and Breckin barks out a laugh.
A cruel smile cracks along Breckin’s face as he turns his glare back on me. Fuck he was a huge motherfucker, but I’d already laid his ass out once and I have no qualms about doing it again, aside from needing to get to Deavers.
“I hope you’re taking the cop the fuck home so we can focus on finding Malia and nothim.”