Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(38)

“I know, sweetheart. But the doctors are going to fix you up and give you something to make the pain go away.”

“Chrissy said you were coming. But I wasn’t . . . I wasn’t sure.”

Ethan hugged her close. “I’ll always come, sweetheart, whenever you need me.”

He looked up as a woman in green scrubs walked into the cubicle, black hair pulled into a twist at the nape of her neck, iPad in her hand. Her name tag read Dr. Villarosa.

“Hello, Doctor,” Ethan said. “I’m Hannah’s father, Ethan Brodie. What’s going on?”

“Maria Villarosa. Hannah fell and cut her head. The gash required a couple of stitches. She also has a slight concussion. We don’t think it’s serious, but we’re keeping her here for a couple of hours for observation. Once she’s released, you’ll need to keep an eye on her overnight. If there are no complications, she’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

He nodded, flicked Val a sideways glance. She could feel the wheels turning in his head. He had a job to do, but he was also a father, and his little girl needed him.

“It’ll be okay,” Val said to him softly, resting a hand on his arm. “I’ll be staying at the Fairmont. You said yourself there’s plenty of security.”

His eyes remained on her face. He sighed. “I don’t like it, but I guess it’ll have to work. Dirk can take you down there with Meg.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” But she could see he didn’t like handing over her protection to someone else, even his very close friend.

“Hannah, honey, this is Valentine,” he said. “She’s a friend.”

Val smiled at the little girl. “Hello, Hannah.”

The little girl smiled at her shyly. “I fell off my trike and hit my head.”

“Yes, I see your bandage. Your daddy was really worried.”

Just then the curtain jerked back and a very pretty woman with curly, shoulder-length auburn hair walked into the cubicle.

“What happened to Hannah?”

“She fell off her tricycle and cut her head,” Ethan said. “The babysitter called the ambulance. Hannah’s got a slight concussion and a couple of stitches. When Chrissy couldn’t reach you, she called me.”

The woman’s head went up. “The battery went dead on my cell. I saw the messages when I plugged in. I’m sorry if your daughter being in the hospital inconvenienced you.”

Ethan’s shoulders stiffened. “She didn’t inconvenience me. She never has.”

The woman turned to Val, her eyes burning with a light that didn’t bode well. “Who’s this? Your latest piece of ass? I can’t believe you brought her here.”

“Ms. Hart is my current assignment, Ally. She’s under BOSS, Inc., protection. I brought her with me because your teenage babysitter wasn’t able to find you.”

The woman turned to Val as if she hadn’t heard a word Ethan had said. “Don’t let him fool you, honey. He only wants to get in your pants. He won’t hang around long after that. We’re all just conquests to Ethan.”

Ethan’s jaw went rock hard. He looked as if it was taking supreme force of will not to say something in front of his daughter that he would regret.

Dirk appeared just then, Megan close beside him. “Come on, Val. I think Ethan could use a little privacy.”

She just nodded, grateful Dirk had been insightful enough to intervene when he’d seen Allison. They stepped into the waiting room and closed the door. Twenty minutes later, Ethan walked in, his features carved in stone.

“How’s Hannah?” Val asked.

He relaxed a little. “She’s doing great. The docs have decided to let her go home with her mother.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He shook his head. “I’m . . . ahh . . . sorry about what happened in there.”

Val managed to smile. “Don’t be. I think I get why things didn’t work out between the two of you.”

“Ally was right about one thing: She was a conquest. I went after her because she was beautiful and I wanted her badly. It didn’t take me long to figure out what a mistake I’d made.”

He seemed to be trying to tell her something, but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was. “She gave you a darling little girl, so it was worth it.”

Ethan finally smiled. “You’re right. Hannah is a great kid, no matter who her mother is.”

“You ready to go?” Dirk asked. “I imagine these ladies would like to get home and get out of their funeral clothes.”

Ethan’s gaze shot to Val. The hot look was back in his eyes. Clearly, there was nothing he’d like better than to help her get out of her clothes. A frisson of heat rolled through her, making her stomach muscles clench.

As they walked out of the hospital toward the big black SUV, she couldn’t help recalling Allison’s warning. We’re all just conquests to Ethan. He’d admitted it was at least partly true.

Considering the way his hot look had melted her insides, it was definitely something to consider.





Chapter Fifteen



A chartered seventy-passenger Bombardier jet carried the remaining twenty-eight models, Matthew Carlyle, Daniel Clemens, costume people, makeup artists, Beau Desmond, Bick Gallagher, and some of the regular La Belle security team, as well as Ethan and Dirk. Another flight would be bringing the rest of the security people, along with the lighting and sound crews and various and sundry members of the tour.