Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,51

taking cover with them and calling for backup on his phone.

Sebastian had his gun in his hand. “I’m going after the bastard.”

She grabbed him and held tight. Pain throbbed in a hard, burning burst in her arm. Damn but that pain was weird. “You just said this wasn’t CSI! You can’t go chasing after bad guys!”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I can, because it’s what I do.” He jerked his head to Antony. “If your sister gets so much as a scratch, I will kick your ass.”

She’d just gotten a good look at her arm. And the blood there. “Little late for that,” she mumbled. Oh, crap. The sight of blood—particularly her own—had always caused her to feel more than a bit…

Like fainting.

Do not faint now. Do not lose your shit now.

“What do you mean it’s too late?” Sebastian rumbled.

“The bad guy is probably escaping,” Dex pointed out. “I’m going after him.” He leapt away.

“I think I’ve already got a scratch.” She angled her body so Sebastian could see her arm. “Or…maybe it’s a…bullet wound?” Her eyes widened. “Oh, God, I think I was shot!”

Chapter Thirteen

“You weren’t shot.” Antony was in the hospital exam room with her. Family only, per the doctor’s order. “That’s a good thing.”

She frowned down at the bandage on her arm. No, she hadn’t been shot. But she did now sport six stitches because when the front door window had shattered, a clunk of glass had flown into her arm.

It had actually still been in her arm when Sebastian had realized that she was injured. When he’d first gotten a good look at her arm, all of the color had left his face, and his gaze had become downright scary. He’d stayed with her. Kept her body protected and covered until the cavalry arrived.

She’d wanted to immediately yank the glass out of her arm, but Sebastian had stopped her. He’d mumbled something about damage and blood loss and told her they had to wait for the EMTs.

She hadn’t passed out.

A win.

She’d sat there, bleeding and shocked, as the minutes ticked by.

They hadn’t caught the bad guy.

Not so much a win.

Dex had returned empty-handed. And pissed.

“Alyssa, are you listening to me?” Antony asked, even though the tone of his voice told her that he already knew the answer, and, no, she wasn’t listening.

“I want to see Sebastian.”

“Of course, you do.” He put his hands on his hips. “I am going to have to fight him.”

“You’re an adult. He’s your best friend. You don’t have to fight anyone.” She frowned down at the white bandage that covered her stitches. The nurse had numbed the area before the stitches had been carefully inserted. The doctor had told Alyssa that she was lucky. The glass hadn’t penetrated deep enough to damage her muscle.

“He’s sleeping with you.”

She twisted her arm a bit to see if the stitches pulled. “We didn’t actually get around to sleeping.”

“Oh, sweet Jesus. Don’t say stuff like that to your brother!”

Her head turned back toward him. “You made an incorrect statement. I was just helping out by correcting you.”

“You were not.”

“I was helping, the same way I helped when I saved your life in the Shark lobby.” She sat on the side of the exam table, and her legs swung before her. The room was icy, and she just wanted to get out and go home.

With Sebastian.

“Never do it again.”

She squinted at him. “Never save you again? Sorry, I can’t promise that. You are my brother, even when you drive me crazy.”

“Never risk your life that way again. You could have easily been shot. What would I have done then?”

“Rush me to a hospital?” she guessed.

“Not funny.”

“I think she’s fucking hilarious.”

The door had opened. She hadn’t heard it open. But now Sebastian stood in the entranceway. She was pretty sure she saw a blood stain on his jeans. Her blood. Another red smear slid across the side of his shirt.

He’d carried her to the ambulance when it finally arrived.

His pose was relaxed, but his expression—and his eyes—told a whole other story. In fact, Alyssa was pretty sure that she’d never seen his eyes look so enraged before. They seemed to burn with fury.

“I mean, she has to be making a joke,” Sebastian continued in a voice that made her want to shiver. Both because it was so low and sexy and also because there was a dangerous edge to the words. To him. “Because there is no way Alyssa will ever jump in front of a bullet again, am I