Passion, Victoria 9: Flowering Passions (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “I don’t need to see a doctor. I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re bleeding.”

  Molly frowned and then she looked down. He was right. Blood was seeping from two holes at the knees of her jeans and her hand also had several cuts. Luckily they didn’t look too deep. The last thing she needed was to end up with stitches in her palms and not be able to work. Even if she did, she wasn’t about to let a few sutures stop her.

  Tom carried her into the police station, but instead of taking her to the interrogation room again, he went through another open door and she realized that she was in their home.

  Beth came rushing out of the kitchen and met them in the living room. “Oh my God. What happened? Are you okay, Molly?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t lie,” Tom said in a growly voice. “You’re still shaking.”

  “Ryan will be here in about five minutes. He was just finishing up with a patient,” Zach explained.

  “Good. Beth, I’m taking her to your bathroom, baby. I want you to help Molly out of her clothes and give her something clean to wear. There could be splinters of glass stuck in the fabric.”

  Tom carried her in the bathroom off of a large bedroom. Molly couldn’t help but notice the oversized bed. He carefully lowered her to sit on the edge of the huge spa bath and then closed the door after he left.

  “Can you stand?” Beth asked.

  Molly rose to her feet and when she wobbled, she reached out and grabbed the edge of the vanity. Pain stung her cut palms eliciting a hiss from her, but she kept hold until she was certain she wouldn’t fall. When she reached for the buttons on her shirt, Beth brushed her hands aside.

  “Let me. You could have glass in there and do more damage.” Beth undid the buttons on her blouse and then carefully removed it. “Shit, you’re gonna have to lose the bra. I can see glass in your cleavage.”

  Molly looked down and sure enough shards of glass glinted beneath the overhead light.

  “I think you should get in the shower. You have glass in your hair, too.” Beth unclasped her bra and then went to work on her shoes and jeans. “What the hell happened?”

  “Tom thinks someone tried to shoot me.”

  “What?” Beth gasped. “Why would anyone want to shoot you?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Beth began to sift her fingers through Molly’s hair and glass fell to the floor with soft tinkles. “There I think that’s all of it.” She turned the faucets on, checked the temperature and stepped back. “I’ll just go and get you some clean clothes. If you can manage it, make sure to rinse your hair thoroughly.”

  “Thanks, Beth.”

  Beth smiled and left. Molly’s hands stung and from the feel of it she had glass stuck in her skin but she wanted to make sure all the splinters of glass were out of her hair and off her body, so she ignored the pain and did what she had to.

  By the time she was done, Beth was back and set some clothes on the counter for her. “Do you need help to dry off and get dressed?”

  “No. Thanks for the clothes and the help. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Ryan is here and he’ll take a look at those cuts as soon as you’re ready.” Beth left the bathroom again and Molly cursed that she hadn’t taken her up on the help to dry off. Her hands were hurting but she gritted her teeth and persevered. By the time she was dressed, she wanted to curl up and have a good cry but she didn’t like to cry in front of other people so she took a deep breath and held her emotions at bay.

  But what kept running through her mind was a question she didn’t know if she’d ever have the answer to.

  Why the hell would someone want to shoot me?

  Chapter Ten

  When Molly emerged from the bathroom and went back to the living room she was surprised to see Giles and Steven. They rushed over to her and perused her body up and down.

  “Are you okay, Molly?” Steven asked in a raspy voice.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Yeah we can see that,” Giles bit out between clenched teeth. “That’s why you’re so pale and look ready to pass out.”

  “Bring her over to the sofa.”

  Molly looked over at who had spoken and assumed that he must be the doctor. Before she had the chance to speak up and introduce herself, Steven moved in close and swept her up into his arms. She didn’t bother protesting because from the implacable look he gave her, he wouldn’t listen anyway. But when he sat down on the sofa with her in his lap, she asserted her independence and slid sideways until she was sitting on the cushion beside him. Besides, she was still a little mad at him. Giles came and sat down on her other side.

  “Hi, Molly, I’m Doctor Ryan Sinclair. I’d offer to shake your hand but I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Shit. You’re bleeding.” Steven clasped her wrist and lifted her hand palm up to study the blood-weeping cuts. Giles did the same to her other hand. Molly snatched her hands away and glared at them.

  Ryan looked at her and then to the Blaze brothers and must have decided it was better if they moved aside. Molly probably looked as mutinous as she felt and was glad for the doctor’s intervention. Giles and Steve glared at him but Ryan stared them down. The two men got up but didn’t move far away.

  “I need to sit next to Molly and I need more light. Have you got one of those white LED torches?” Ryan glanced at the other men.

  “Yeah in the station. Hang on a sec.” Noah rushed out of the room and was back moments later. He pushed the button, turned the torch on and then directed the light toward her hand.

  Ryan sat beside her and placed a magnifying glass above her hand and went to work. Molly tried not to grimace or make any noise as he plucked the glass from her skin but a couple of times she couldn’t prevent a whimper from escaping. By the time he’d finished cleaning her hands and covering the cuts, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

  Tom stepped forward and Ryan straightened from his bent over position. “You need to check her knees, too. She was bleeding from there, too, and from the look of the blood soaking those pants, it isn’t a paltry cut.”

  Ryan slid off the sofa and then he carefully pushed the legs of the borrowed track pants up.

  Molly looked down and saw the gaping cut on her right knee. That definitely looked like it needed stitches. Thank God it was her knee and not her hands.

  “I’m going to have to stitch that right knee, honey. When was your last tetanus?”

  Molly had no idea, so she shrugged.

  “Okay then, you’re going to need two shots, one for tetanus and the other a local anesthetic.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll do the local first. That can do its job by numbing you while I give you the tetanus.” Ryan prepared the first needle, swabbed her knee and then inserted it into her knee.

  Molly drew in a ragged breath and bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself groaning with pain and she had to tighten her muscles so she wouldn’t kick Ryan.

  He withdrew the needle and patted her leg. “Sorry, sweetie, I know how much that hurt. You did great.”

  Molly swallowed audibly and then rested her head against the back of the sofa while Ryan prepared the other shot. She was glad that Beth had leant her a T-shirt and didn’t have to take the shirt off. Ryan swabbed her upper arm and then gave her the tetanus. By the time he was done, the local was working. He started picking glass out of her knee and then he stitched her skin back together.

  “Okay, it wasn’t as bad as it first looked. I only had to put five sutures in. Make sure not to get it wet. Change the dressing every day, and if it looks like it’s getting infected, come and see me. I think I got all the glass out but if you feel like there is some left in there make an appointment. You’re going to be sore after the local wears off and probably for around twenty four to forty eight hours. Stay off your feet as much as you can.”

  Molly snorted. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

  “Wh
y?”

  “I have a shop to run.”

  “Can’t your employees do without you for tomorrow at least?” Ryan asked.

  “No. I’m it, and there is no way I’m closing the doors. I’ve only been open a few weeks.”

  “Can’t you ask…”

  “Not happening.”

  “I’ll do it,” Beth stepped forward. “I can run the shop under your guidance. I’m on leave from the library at the moment and have nothing else to do.”

  “Oh, Beth, thanks, but I can’t ask you to give up any of your vacation time.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “No.” Steven spoke up. “Take Beth up on her offer, Molly. If you don’t let her help you then I will.”

  Molly knew by Steven’s tone of voice he meant every word he said. She turned to look at Beth and nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me, Molly. I’m looking forward to it. All you have to do is sit on a stool and give orders. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. Now I’d better get dinner on the table. Thank God I made a roast and could just lower the temperature, otherwise it would be ruined. Steven, Giles you can stay, too. I always end up making too much when I cook a roast. What about you, Ryan, do you want to stay?”

  “No, but thanks for asking. Sapphira would have my guts for garters if I didn’t turn up for dinner.”

  Beth smiled and headed to the kitchen. Tom and Zach followed her and Noah saw Ryan to the door.

  Giles and Steven sat down beside her again.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Molly?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  Steven cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “I want to apologize for the way I acted last night. I had no right to behave the way I did. You’re a grown woman and old enough to make your own decisions.”

  “Apology accepted.”

  The serious expression left Steven’s face and he smiled at her. God, he was beautiful and so was his brother. Whenever he smiled like that, her insides started to happy dance again. If she wasn’t careful she was going to do something really inappropriate, like jumping his bones. And she didn’t want to make a fool of herself in someone else’s house. Steve leaned over and placed a light kiss on her lips and when he backed off, Giles did the same.

  “We’ll check in on you tomorrow and make sure you’re okay. We’ll bring you and Beth lunch.”

  “You don’t have…” Molly stopped speaking when Steve placed a finger over her lips.

  “We want to, Molly. We know we don’t have to do anything. Okay?”

  Molly nodded and as Steve lowered his hand, Noah walked back into the room. “We’re going to need a statement from you, Molly, but it can wait until after we’ve eaten.”

  Zach stuck his head around the corner of the door. “Dinner’s ready.”

  Steven and Giles helped her up and Steve would have lifted her into his arms again, but she waylaid him by placing a hand on his arm. “I can walk. I’m not in any pain.”

  Molly suspected that would change once the local wore off, but she would deal with that when it happened.

  The seven of them sat around the table eating and talking and by the time dinner was over, Molly was struggling to keep her eyes open. She’d gotten a second wind when Ryan had been cleaning her wounds and stitching her up but now all she wanted to do was go to bed.

  “You need to sleep, Molly,” Noah said. “I’ll get your statement when I drop Beth off in the morning.”

  “And you can show me that place tomorrow night after you close up shop,” Tom said.

  Molly nodded and didn’t protest when Giles scooped her up off her chair.

  “Thank you for dinner, it was delicious, and for the clothes, Beth. And thanks for coming and helping me.” Molly looked at Tom, Zach, and Noah.

  “Thanks, Beth, guys,” Steve said as he headed toward the internal station door.

  “Thanks, everyone,” Giles called out as he carried her out to his truck.

  Giles didn’t bother to put her on the bench seat. Instead he climbed in with her in his arms—how he managed that without bumping any part of her body on the truck frame, she had no idea—and sat down with her in his lap. Steve got into the driver’s seat and the next thing she knew, Molly was being lowered to her bed.

  She didn’t protest when they removed her clothes and shoes, just turned over onto her side and drifted into a deep sleep.

  Molly woke up with a start. Her knee was hurting and no matter what position she moved into, she couldn’t get comfortable. Reaching over, she flicked her bedside lamp on and then flung the covers aside. She was in her underwear and didn’t even remember getting into bed. Her last thought was of Giles holding her on his lap in the truck. He and Steven must have undressed her and put her to bed and she didn’t remember any of it. She was grateful that they had taken care of her though. But right now she needed some painkillers because if she didn’t alleviate the pain she knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. She limped to the small bathroom off her bedroom, grabbed the medicine from the cupboard and swallowed it down with a glass of water.

  Just as she got back into bed, she thought she heard a bang from downstairs. Molly grabbed the clothes Beth had leant her off the floor and pulled them on. She didn’t bother with shoes. If someone had broken into her shop she didn’t want to alert them she was aware of their presence by having shoes on.

  She tiptoed out of her room and searched for her purse. After digging her mobile phone out, she punched in the emergency number 000 and held her thumb over the call button.

  Molly unlocked her door, silently thanking Steve and Giles for locking up after they left, and then she slowly crept down the stairs. Just as she got to the bottom, she realized the back door was wide open. She was about to limp her way back up the stairs but a big body came barreling out the door and sent her flying. Molly cried out as she flew through the air, and the phone went flying from her hand and she came to a bone-jarring halt when she hit the metal bannister on the stairs. Her head smacked back into the metal pole and pain exploded through her skull and then her back as she hit the wooden steps.

  She tried to see who had smacked into her but the arsehole had a hoodie on and there were no light close enough to illuminate his face. Another male come rushing out of her shop and again he was dressed like the other fucker, his face in the shadow of his hooded sweater.

  “Let’s get out of here,” the second man said before they both took off at a run.

  Molly felt sick to her stomach and her head and back were hurting like a bitch, but she wasn’t about to give in to the darkness trying to pull her down. She needed to get to her phone and call the police. She slowly pushed her body up from her awkward position on the stairs and stopped to gasp for breath as her head swam. When her vision cleared and the lightheadedness left, she looked around for her phone and thanked God she had brought an iridescent cover and had no trouble seeing it. What was going to cause her problems was getting to it. Her knee was hurting even more and she suspected that the stitches had ripped open, but that wasn’t important right now. She needed help.

  It took her what seemed like five excruciating minutes to get to her phone and after swiping her finger across the screen was glad to find that all she needed to do was push the call button, which she did.

  “Emergency services. Police, fire, or ambulance?” The emergency operator asked.

  “Police,” Molly managed to gasp. She was glad that all calls showed up on the emergency services database and she wouldn’t need to tell the operator which police station to call.

  “Passion Police Station, Noah Beech speaking. Please state your emergency.”

  “Noah.” Molly clutched her head and whimpered. Her skull was hurting so bad now it hurt to talk.

  “Molly, is that you?”

  “Yes. Help me.”

  “Molly!” Noah’s voice began to fade and Molly slowly fell to the ground.
>
  She was so close to passing out and sick to her stomach. She managed to turn on her side in case she vomited and then let the darkness sweep over her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Noah sprang out of bed as he hung up the phone. “Zach, Tom, get dressed. Hurry.” Noah began pulling his own clothes on.

  “What’s wrong?” Tom already had his jeans on and was pulling his shirt on. Noah started toward the door. He needed to unlock their weapons from the safe but he stopped to explain the call from Molly.

  “Shit.” Zach shoved his feet into his shoes. “Do you want me to call Steven and Giles en route?”

  “No. Let’s wait until we find out what’s going on.”

  Noah didn’t even spare Beth a glance when she told them to stay safe, but he waved his hand to let her know he’d heard her.

  Moments later, with weapons in hand Noah got into the truck, Zach and Tom right behind him and then he was speeding the couple of blocks to the back of Molly’s shop. He pulled the truck right up close to her apartment stairs and had to slam on the brakes when he saw her lying on the ground.

  “Fuck, call Ryan,” Noah ordered as he yanked the parking brake on and then he was out the door and kneeling at Molly’s side. He shone the torch over her and cringed when he saw a dark fluid seeping from the back of her head. He wanted to lift her up and carry her upstairs, but until Ryan had given her a preliminary check, he wasn’t moving her. He could end up hurting her more if he did.

  “Ryan’s on his way.” Tom knelt down beside Molly.

  “Looks like she had a break and enter,” Zach said. “I’m going to check out her shop.”

  “Yeah and call Giles and Steven while you do your search. I don’t want her staying here by herself anymore. It’s not safe,” Tom stated.

  “You think this has to do with that crop she found?” Zach asked.

  “Yeah I do. We need to find it and then get onto narcotics. We don’t want these arseholes to realize we know about it and start digging it up before we find out who they are.” Tom scrubbed a hand over his face. “Damn it, I should have made her show me two nights ago, but she called and said she had a date and didn’t want to break it. I didn’t think another day or two would matter.”