Texas #4_Texas Christmas (14 page)

Marcus nodded like he was in agreement, as if what he’d just walked in on wasn’t what it seemed, and abruptly his expression relaxed. Liam grabbed the nearest piece of wood and attempted to pull himself to stand. What was Marcus doing? Why wasn’t he moving? Marcus was small, he wouldn’t stand a chance, yet he was just waiting like he had all the time in the world.

“You say he had a knife?” Marcus said. He was calm and composed and his eyes fixed on Liam.

Yuri looked uncertainly from Marcus to Liam and back. “Yeah,” he said.

“Only cowards bring knives to a fight.”

“Yeah,” Yuri agreed readily. “Fucking cowards.” Yuri relaxed his stance and Marcus appeared to have been waiting for this moment. In a blur of motion, Marcus kicked out and felled Yuri in one swipe, finishing the job with two punches and a twist of his arms until Yuri was on his front with his hands behind him and Marcus sitting on his back. Marcus fished out a cell and called a number.

“Jack? Barn. It’s an emergency” was all he said.

In seconds it seemed the place was full. Marcus sat serenely on an unconscious Yuri while Vaughn was holding up his hands and saying it was nothing to do with him. Robbie and Eli were there, Jack with Riley. Hell, Riley had a rifle, looking all badass. Robbie helped Liam to stand, and all Liam could think of was what the hell had just happened. Marcus was a ninja. A freaking ninja.

“Someone call 911,” Marcus said calmly. He glanced over at Liam and only then did his composure crack. “We need cops and an ambulance.”

Marcus paced the small corridor at Mercy. The cops had pulled out of the D with statements taken and Yuri in handcuffs. Damn idiot was a babbling mess and had more or less admitted what he’d done to the cops so that was one thing Liam wouldn’t have to immediately worry about. Now they were at the hospital with Liam looking like he’d been hit by a truck and Robbie attempting to calm Marcus down.

Jack and Robbie were officially the points of contact for Liam’s doctors, and Marcus wasn’t leaving Robbie’s side until he knew everything was okay. Finally the door opened and a doctor came out with a clipboard.

“Mr Curtis.”

“Me,” Robbie identified himself.

“If you’d like to come in?”

Marcus didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be in there to hear what happened, but he wouldn’t be allowed, he had no official say in Liam’s life. That would change as soon as Marcus got back to the ranch.

“He’s with me,” Robbie said and grabbed Marcus’s sleeve. Finally inside the room, Marcus wasn’t expecting so many wires. At least Liam didn’t have anything in his throat that meant he’d needed to be intubated, that much Marcus had picked up on the late night reruns of
ER
. He crossed to the bed directly and grasped Liam’s hand, looking down into Liam’s gray eyes. He looked awake and aware and he smiled, albeit with an added wince on the end of it.

“You’re a ninja,” Liam said softly.

Marcus chuckled. “I’m small, learning that stuff was the only way to stop bigger guys from pushing me around.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor flicked through papers on the clipboard. “Mr Frazier has extensive bruising around his navel, down to his groin and in his rib area.” Marcus winced at the explanation as the doctor continued. “There are no signs of internal bleeding, and as far as we can determine, he didn’t hit his head. Given everything we’d like to keep Liam in overnight for observation.” He looked at Liam expectantly, and Marcus identified hesitation in Liam’s expression. He himself wasn’t good in hospitals, despite visiting surrogates in the maternity wards—the last time he’d spent any length of time inside a hospital was for an operation to have his appendix out when he was fifteen. But Liam? At least a few of his ER visits had to have been as a result of attacks or when he’d tried to clock out on the whole being-alive thing.

Marcus traced the vicious red line that crossed Liam’s throat. That fucking knife, so close to killing Liam that it didn’t bear thinking about.

“I want to go home,” Liam said softly. “Please, Marcus.” Fear lit his eyes but warred with the exhaustion sketched on his features.

“Just stay tonight, for me, huh?”

“I don’t…”

“I know you don’t want to. But I’ll stay, take you home tomorrow,” Marcus said without thought. “I won’t let them talk to you or make you stay longer.”

“Promise me.”

Marcus pressed a kiss to Liam’s forehead. “I promise.”

“Okay.” Liam nodded. He gripped Marcus’s hand tightly and looked to be refusing to let go.

“You sure, Marcus?” Robbie asked.

Marcus nodded. Then fiercely he added a proviso. “Follow up on the cops for me, Robbie, I want to
know
.”

Robbie nodded, then crossed to Liam. “Liam, I want to apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t follow Yuri out. I just thought he was smoking, and…” Emotion dripped from his voice. “Just. Sorry.”

“No one knew,” Liam said sleepily. Evidently the pain meds were softening the edges.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Liam agreed.

Robbie left with the doctor, and Marcus let go of Liam’s hand only long enough to pull a chair over.

Liam shuffled a little in bed and bit back a curse followed swiftly by a yawn he hid behind his hands. “Fuck, I hurt.”

“I’m not surprised, you got hit pretty hard.”

“What did the cops say?”

“That Yuri attacked you unprovoked. It isn’t a matter of putting your version of events and seeing it stacked up against his. Riley’s fancy security system in the barns caught it all. It’s cut and dry.”

“He said Hank sent him.”

“Do you believe that? Is that what Hank would do? Jesus, Liam, what kind of monster is this Hank?” He couldn’t help the shock and anger that colored every word. This wasn’t some random attack, this was calculated from five hundred miles away, some kind of sick twisted hate that poisoned Hank and the guy Marcus had got the drop on.

Liam closed his eyes briefly and tilted his head back on the pillow. Marcus got another view of Liam’s neck where the cut was puffy and the skin around it bruised red. He’d have a necklace of bruises to show for this tomorrow. “Fuck, Marcus, I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Marcus immediately had guilt crawling inside him. Liam wasn’t even fully awake here, and all he was doing was demanding answers to things Liam probably didn’t even want to think about. “Never mind, I’m sorry, we’ll talk in the morning.”

“No. Wait.” Liam held out a hand like he thought Marcus was going to leave. Fuck that, there was no way Marcus was going anywhere.

Marcus moved the chair even closer and kissed Liam’s hand. “Tomorrow is fine.”

Liam ignored him. “Yes, I believe Hank could suggest to someone else that I was available for anyone to use. It happened before, he threatened it, but no one carried through on it.”

Marcus’s heart twisted and grief balled inside him next to the anger and guilt. If only he’d been there for Liam, either tonight in the barn or when Liam was a teenager suffering from all that fear and pain. He tried not to let it show—instead he focused on Liam and what he might need now.

“What do you want to do now?”

“Sleep,” Liam said gently.

“I didn’t quite mean that.”

Liam sighed heavily. “I know you didn’t.”

“You ever think of telling someone about what happened at the Bar Five in detail? Besides the cops I mean? Someone, anyone?”

“Every time.” Liam shut his eyes. “Every. Single. Time.”

“Whatever you decide to do, if you want to tell them, I’ll be here.” Marcus wanted to add three words to the end of the sentence, but even though he wanted Liam desperately and loved being with him, it was too soon to consider himself in love. No one fell in love at first sight. What he felt for Liam was responsibility, affection, and lust and an unhealthy mix of anger and hate toward anyone that hurt him. Even though this was what Marcus wanted to say, he didn’t. Hell, he’d scare Liam away with everything that was in his head. Instead he rested his forehead on their joined hands.

“With your mad ninja skills,” Liam muttered. “In your suit.”

“Yep.”

“You gonna teach me some of those moves?”

Marcus chuckled. “If you like.”

“Feel safe, then,” Liam slurred. Marcus glanced up at Liam. He was asleep, his mouth parted and long dark lashes fanned on his pale skin.

Marcus considered how this was going to play out when Liam woke up. Was Liam going to go all introspective and close down on him, or would this break down another barrier between them? When he’d walked into that barn to find Liam—all he’d wanted was to say hi, maybe steal a kiss before he went up to Liam’s place and waited for him. Instead he’d found Liam on the floor groaning in pain and that man with a knife. Even now he could close his eyes and see the glint of light on the knife and the intention in Yuri’s face, and he was nauseous with it.

Please talk to me in the morning
, he thought,
please don’t shut down on me.

* * * * *

Jack slumped down at the kitchen table. His throat burned, his head throbbed, but most of all he was beyond pissed. “He was at my ranch,” Jack said and punctuated the sentence with a cough.

Robbie had just gotten back from the hospital, and he had temper etched in every line of him. Jack knew where he was coming from. Someone had come on the ranch with intention to harm and it wasn’t right. Somehow the D would become, at least for a few weeks, a place where you didn’t feel entirely safe. Jack recalled the fire where Riley was hurt or Hayley’s uncle with all his intentions to get Riley’s money at the end of a gun.

“I should have seen,” Robbie said immediately.

Riley interrupted the thought process that Robbie was going down, and Jack was pleased for the help, given his voice was near non-existent. “You weren’t to know, hell, Yuri’s some kind of psychopath to think he’s getting away with any of that. What kind of fucking moron attacks a man like that?”

Riley placed the rifle back in the cabinet in the hall, and Jack heard the click of lock. In all of this Riley had been the one with the presence of mind to grab a weapon. Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands. He was clearly dying right here, right now.

“You okay?” Riley massaged his shoulders.

“
Feellikeshit
,” Jack mumbled into his jacket.

Robbie sighed heavily. “I’m gonna go spend some time with Solo and give the barn a onceover.” Jack nodded, even though Robbie wouldn’t see the action given his head was scrunched up in his arms. Solo was restless at what had happened, spooked by the fact that fucker had caused chaos in her space. “I gave the hospital your mobile as well as mine, so if you hear anything, can you let me know?”

“Where’s
th’other
guy?” Jack croaked.

“Vaughn? He went with the cops to answer questions. Eli said he heard him saying to the cops, all this shit about how Yuri and Hank at the Bar Five shared guys.”

Jack lifted his head. “Liam?” he asked carefully. The thought of Liam being hurt turned his stomach, add in Liam being shared around, and he wasn’t able to put a lid on his temper. Fuck being ill, no one messed with anything in Jack’s world.

“Not Liam, hence why Yuri was all up in on him in the barn.”

Robbie left and as soon as the door shut, Riley helped Jack to stand. “Bed,” he ordered.

Jack groaned. “Not up to much, maybe you can just blow me.”

Riley cuffed him around the head. “To sleep, asshole,” he said with no heat.

“I like blow jobs,” Jack protested. He allowed Riley to pull him toward the bedroom.

“
Shhhhh
, Carol will hear you,” Riley laughed.

“The kids okay?”

“Carol was fine, kids slept through it all.”

Jack felt ice trickle down his spine. Their kids. Hayley was old enough to know fear and to assess the situation. Max wouldn’t understand but would hate the chaos, only the twins would have no memories. “Thank god,” he said softly. “I love our kids,” he added with a cough.

“I know, cowboy.” Riley helped Jack strip, and for a second Jack’s cock made a valiant attempt at hardening. Then he coughed and his vision watered, and he knew Riley was right. He wasn’t even up for a freaking blow job.

“You owe me a blow job,” he said and yawned at the same time.

“How’d you figure that?” Riley asked as he laughed.

“Math,” Jack pointed out as Riley pulled up the covers. “Your mouth, my cock equals one blow job owed.”

Riley kissed him on the forehead then against on each cheek.

“That makes no sense. Anyway, my mouth, your cock, our new dildo and some rope? Now
that
is a blow job,” Riley teased.

Jack groaned at the pounding in his head. “I hate you.”

“No, Mr Campbell-Hayes. You don’t.”

Liam opened his eyes, and for a moment couldn’t recall where he was, the ceiling wasn’t the hospital or the tent or even his place over the barn. He blinked up at high white ceilings and realization hit him when he sensed a warm body next to him. Marcus’s place. He’d stayed one night in hospital, but when he’d been released, Marcus had convinced him that his place was closer to the hospital.

Every part of him ached and he closed his eyes again with a low groan.

“Hey,” Marcus said from somewhere under covers to his left. Liam felt the bed dip, then heard the clink of a cup and the rattle of papers. “Here, meds.” Liam took them as instructed but didn’t open his eyes.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“How you feeling?”

“Like a bull sat on me,” he answered truthfully. The sore ribs were the worst of all of this. Bruising he could handle, he’d been in enough horse tumbles in his time to know they would heal in a couple of days and be gone, but even though he didn’t have a crack in his ribs, breathing hurt like nothing. He had meds for the start, then instructions to not do physical work for two weeks and to move over to Tylenol.

“Well the bull has been arrested,” Marcus confirmed. “Robbie texted me early on.”

“That’s good.”

“They’ll need you to talk to them, the cops.”