Beyond the Breaking Point - Lori Sjoberg Page 0,32

as shit wasn’t in the mood to be poked and prodded. “Later.”

“Now.” The tone of her voice made it clear she had no intention of taking no for an answer.

Though he loathed to admit it, he recognized the futility of arguing with her. When the woman got an idea in her head, not even the Jaws of Life and a gallon of Vaseline could pry that fucker loose. Besides, like it or not, she was right. If his wounds got infected, it might knock him out of commission for days, and that was time he couldn’t afford to lose.

Accepting the inevitable, Wade wiped his hands against his pants as he stood. “Fine, but make it quick.”

Austin huffed with amusement from where he stood by his half-finished tent. “Wow, I’m impressed. What’s your secret, Doc? I’ve never seen him cave that easily.”

The urge to shoot his older brother the middle finger was almost overwhelming, but Wade somehow resisted the urge. He chalked it up to personal development. “She’s more tenacious than Larissa.”

His brother’s eyebrows shot so high they almost touched his hairline. “Seriously? I didn’t think that was physically possible.”

Wade snorted. “If they ever meet, they’ll either be best friends or tear each other’s hair out.”

Without another word, he followed Hope to the edge of camp, where he lifted the hem of his shirt so she could work on his lower back. It didn’t feel quite so awkward this time, though he still hated showing his scars. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact she didn’t offer sympathy or show revulsion.

“Who’s Larissa?” Hope asked as she carefully began to remove the old bandage. “I forgot to ask earlier.”

“She’s my sister.”

“Older or younger?”

“Younger. And only.”

“Ah.” Hope set the bandage next to her bag. “So that’s why Austin was mad at you for making her cry.”

Her fingers lightly skimmed over his back as she examined his wounds, and it was all he could do not to squirm. Not because it was painful—to the contrary, he barely felt a thing—but because he didn’t like people touching him. It was a level of intimacy he was no longer accustomed to, not even with his own family, which only added to his feelings of disconnect from the rest of the world.

Wade fixed his focus on a towering tree and tried his best to ignore her touch. A red-breasted bird was perched on a low-hanging branch, chirping its little brains out.

“He’s pissed at me for a lot more than that, but that alone is a pretty good reason. Larissa’s not the type to cry easily. She’s practically made of iron.” He closed his eyes as he thought of his sister, and guilt stabbed him like a knife to the chest. Larissa had so much going on in her life: two daughters—one of them a newborn—a demanding job, and a husband who worked as hard as she did. The last thing the poor woman needed was Wade piling more stress onto her plate. “I’m sure she’ll make me pay for that later.”

Hope’s hands stilled for a second or two before they resumed their ministrations. “What do you think she’ll do?”

“Beats me, but I’m sure I won’t like it. Her vindictive streak and creative streak have a habit of intersecting.” Though he was fairly certain she wouldn’t raise a hand to him. It took a lot more than that to push her past the boiling point. In all likelihood, she’d use her quick wit and boundless imagination to inflict her own special brand of vengeance.

Hope let out a low, soft laugh as she retrieved the tube of ointment from her bag. “She sounds like somebody I’d enjoy spending time with.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“Oh, come on. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Clearly, the woman had no idea who the hell she was talking about. The last hacker who tried to mess with his sister ended up with a hard drive full of goat images. “Statements like that are right up there with ‘hold my beer’ on the list of famous last words.”

Hope laughed again, a little louder this time, and it did strange things to his insides that he didn’t want to examine too closely. “Don’t tell me a big, tough guy like you is afraid of a little woman.”

He snorted at the description of his sister. To be fair, it was a common misconception, particularly in the male-dominated security industry of which Six Points was a member. Almost every time Larissa