Targeted Risk (R.I.S.C. #7) - Anna Blakely Page 0,44

vicinity.

“You good?”

He looked over at Jake who was walking as quickly as he was. “Someone turned my house into a pile of kindling and almost killed Jules and Derek. Fuck no, I’m not good.”

“I understand why you’re upset, but you talked to her, Mike. She’s fine.”

“No one who gets shot at and damn near blown to bits is fine ten minutes after the fact.”

“We are.” Jake’s mouth turned upward with a smartass smirk. “Like...all the fucking time.”

“She’s not us, Jake,” Mike bit back sharply. That comment was followed by a muttered, “She’s better than us.”

“The women who can put up with our asses usually are, brother.” Jake patted him on the back and smiled. “Speaking of which, there’s one, now.”

Up ahead, Olivia—Mike’s sister and Jake’s wife—had just come out of Homeland Security’s private medical center’s emergency room entrance and was walking toward them.

Before either man could ask, she put up a palm and said, “They’re both okay.”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Jake pulled his wife in for a hug and a quick kiss. “Missed you.”

“Missed you more.”

“Seriously?”

Olivia moved out of her husband’s arms and went to Mike. “Hey, Mikey.” She hugged him, too. “I’m so glad you’re both okay.”

“We weren’t the ones who got caught in the explosion.” Mike eased from his sister’s embrace. “Where is she? I need to see her.”

Wearing blue scrubs and a ponytail, Olivia slid Jake a sideways glance. Apparently, the two had been together long enough to read each other’s minds because, despite her having said nothing, Jake responded as if she had.

“Yeah. It’s like that.”

Apprehension filled Olivia’s hazel eyes when she looked back up at him. “She’s the daughter of a Russian mob boss, Mikey.”

“And?”

“And...are you sure you want to get mixed up with a girl like that?”

“Junebug, you know I love you”—Mike used his sister’s childhood nickname—“but you know nothing about Juliet or the kind of person she is.”

“You’re right. I don’t. But I do know I lost ten years with my brother, and the last part of that decade was because you were undercover while trying to take her father down. I also know the things he and her brother went to prison for.”

Shit. That part would strike a nerve with Olivia. It still burned his ass to know she’d damn near been sold into the sex trade by the fucker who’d abducted her a few years back.

“She’s not like them, Liv. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, Mikey. I’m not saying she isn’t nice, because she seems like a lovely woman. I just don’t know if—”

“Then trust me to make the right decision when it comes to my love life. Hell, if you don’t want to hear it from me, go ask D. He’s the one who found her for me.”

“He did?”

Mike nodded. “Ran her background, too. She’s as clean as they come, Sis. Doesn’t even use her dad’s last name because she can’t stand being linked to the son of a bitch.”

Jake gave Olivia a slight nod. The meaning of which she apparently understood.

“Okay, then.” She gave Mike a genuine smile. “Follow me. I’ll take you to her.”

Turning, Olivia’s chestnut ponytail swayed from side to side as she walked back toward the hospital entrance. Mike and Jake fell in line behind her, his nerves firing on all cylinders with the need to see Juliet with his own eyes. To know she really was okay.

As if reading his mind, too, Olivia gave them a rundown of Juliet’s and Derek’s conditions. Thanks to some paperwork the entire Alpha Team signed when they started with R.I.S.C., the general HIPAA rules didn’t apply when it came to them.

If something happened to one of them on the job, they all had the legal right to be told of their condition.

The hospital also had any clients being treated in the ER sign a waiver if they were able, since their physical and mental condition could affect how they proceeded with each particular case they were working.

While Juliet wasn’t a paying client, Jake had declared her protection detail and the investigation into who wanted her dead an official R.I.S.C. case. Therefore, Olivia was free and clear to discuss her treatment.

“Sophie...er, Dr. Greer...is in with Juliet, now, going over her scan results. Don’t worry”—Olivia spoke up before Mike could respond—“they all came back normal.”

“What about Derek?” Jake asked.

“I put seven stitches into his forehead and treated a scrape on his chin. Other than that, he’s good to go.”

“No concussion?”

“His exam came back negative, although he does need to take it easy for