couldn’t deny it. “I only took what I could handle. We need to get out of here soon. Get you home.”
“I know. Trust me, I’m ready to get the hell out of here.” With a great amount of obvious effort, he pushed to a sitting position, muttering quiet curses as he finally got upright. He let out a long exhale. “You’re something else.” He shook his head slowly. “Harley Goodwin, if I loved you before I love you twice as much now. I can’t believe how much you helped me.”
She smiled. “It’s what friends do.”
The one side of his mouth capable of movement hitched up in a grin. “I’ve never had a friend do this for me before.”
“I’m sure that’s only because you’ve never had a friend capable of doing this before. Also, you probably never had a friend who loved you like I do. Outside of Dulcinea, of course.” She made a face, rolling her eyes in a teasing manner.
He laughed, then grimaced. “Don’t be cute; it hurts to laugh.”
She stuck her tongue out, then pursed her lips. “I am what I am.”
Sighing, his injured half smile returned and the twinkle in his eyes took on a wicked bent. “If I could kiss you without causing myself more pain, I would.”
“I’ll take you up on that in a few days.” She rocked to her feet, the pain decreasing with every passing moment, but her hands hurting enough that she kept them from touching anything. “Stay where you are. I’m going to check with Dulcinea and see what’s going on, then we’re going home.”
He folded forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and letting his head drop. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good.” She headed for the suite’s living room. She found the goblin fae and the lieutenants surrounding the senator’s thugs. Sutter had a bloody lip and Dulcinea’s right hand was drawn back in a fist. “How are things going?”
Dulcinea dropped her hand and stepped away to speak to Harlow. “About as expected. They’re all pretty tight-lipped. Doesn’t matter. Cops are on their way up. They’ll all be in lockup before the sun sets.”
Harlow nodded. “Any idea where the senator is?”
“No.” Dulcinea frowned. “And not for lack of trying to find out.”
“I figured.” Harlow hugged her arms to her body. Exhaustion was setting in, causing her vision to go a little unfocused and the lingering pain in her body to seep into her bones. “If it’s all good with you, I’m going to take Augie home.”
“Yeah, totally, go, we got this.”
“Can you redirect the doctor to the house? Augustine’s in bad shape. He still needs to be looked at.”
Dulcinea pulled out her LMD. “I’m on it.”
The suite door opened and Cy, in his own form, walked in with a small squad of uniformed police officers behind him.
“Go,” Dulcinea said. “Get Augustine out of here before the cops decide they want a statement from him. I mean, they will, but they don’t need to do it now.”
Harlow gave her a little salute. “See you later.”
With a nod, Dulcinea turned to deal with their new company.
Harlow jogged back to the bedroom. Augustine hadn’t moved and for a moment, she thought he’d passed out again, but he lifted his head a few seconds after she entered, his lopsided smile greeting her. “What’s up?”
She pulled out her silver compact, flipped it open and flashed the mirror at him. “We’re going home.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
After an exceptional amount of fussing even for Lally, Augustine had been wrapped in blankets and relegated to the largest sofa in the library, which had also been wrapped in blankets to keep his bloody self from staining it. He lay there, waiting for Dr. Carlson to arrive, watching Harlow nod off in the chair closest to him. She was so beautiful, even with the tiredness of the past few days hanging over her like a shadow, that he was able to temporarily focus on something else besides how much his body hurt.
“Go to bed, Harley,” he whispered.
Her head snapped up. “What? I’m awake.”
He would have laughed if not for the pain it would have caused. He smiled instead, his face throbbing no matter what his expression. “You need sleep.”
“I will. Right after the doc looks you over.”
“I’m home now. I’m safe. You don’t have to watch over me.”
She tucked her knees into the side of the chair and curled up, eyes slightly more alert and twinkling with sass. “You’re not the boss of me. I’ll do whatever I want to do.”
Hell’s bells, he