Only Pleasure(71)

"Mugging?" Timothy snapped. "That apartment building is supposed to be one of the most secure in the city."

"It is," Ian snapped. "It's one of mine. I called the manager for all security disks, and the detective in charge of the investigation will be contacting me. He should be at her apartment when she returns there."

"She won't be there." Chase turned toward the hospital doors as his brother, Jaci, Ian, Courtney, and Kia's parents watched in shock. "She'll be at my place."

He didn't see the shock on the faces of those who watched him disappear into the hospital. He wouldn't have cared if he had seen it. He'd promised Kia he would be right behind her. And he meant to keep that promise.



The headache was killing her. Kia had endured the exam, biting back a curse, and suffered in silence as the doctor stitched her head. When the nurse handed her two pills, she had taken them eagerly. It had felt as though gremlins were digging her brain out with their dull-assed fingernails.

She had flashed on a nightmare from her childhood. When she was a little girl and got horrible headaches, her doctor would always have her placed in the hospital. There they would run tests, poke and prod at her, and she would beg her parents to let her go home.

And they never would. Her mother would cry. Her father would get that miserable look on his face, and they would promise to let her go home. But they always made her stay.

Now her parents were in the room they had taken her to from the emergency room. They sat side by side near her bed. Chase stood silently at the foot of the bed, and Ian Sinclair and his wife and Cameron Falladay and Jaci were waiting outside.

Kia just wanted to go home. She wanted to curl up on the couch in front of the fire and just sleep.

"There's no sign of a concussion," Dr. Sanjer announced.

Portly and rugged, the middle-aged doctor smiled way too much.

"I'd like her to stay overnight, though," he continued.

"No." Kia didn't bother to stare up at him, just snapped the word out.

The effort caused her to wince and rub at her temple. If she could just get to her apartment, close her eyes and sleep, then everything would be just fine. She was certain of it.

"Now, Kia, leaving is a bad idea," her mother started, her voice worried.

"That's what you said when I was a child," she muttered. "I'm not staying." She looked at Chase. "You promised."

He stared back at her, his green eyes brooding, his expression so hard it was granite. But she saw his decision as he glanced at the doctor, and nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dr. Sanjer, I have an extra room at my apartment," he told the doctor. "You'll be spending the night there."

That she didn't expect. Evidently, the doctor hadn't either. He was Ian's personal physician, but a friend of Chase and Cam as well.

Sanjer sighed. "It's a good thing I like you, Chase. That order doesn't sit well."

"Please." His tone of voice was hard, his expression remorseless.

The doctor grunted.

"I'll let her leave then. I'll get what I need and be at your apartment within the hour. I want her to stay in bed tonight and tomorrow."

"I have a job," she bit out.

"You won't have one long if you don't listen to the doctor," Timothy snapped furiously. "For God's sake, Kia, when did you get so damned stubborn?"

"While you weren't looking." She felt as querulous as she sounded.

"No doubt in my mind, because if I had been looking we might have had to discuss it, little girl," he informed her, obviously covering his fear with his anger.

She glared back at him. "Are you staying at Chase's, too?" She looked at Chase. "You didn't mention staying with you."

Her head was splitting. She knew she really needed to protest this, but she just couldn't find the energy.

"You don't have a spare room for the doctor," he told her.

Of course, he had a reason. She sighed and stared at her hands. It wasn't because he wanted her there.

"Well, hell," she said. "I guess your couch is just as good as mine."

Chase flinched. He wasn't about to tell her exactly where she was going to be sleeping. In his bed. Right beside him.

He glanced at Rutherford, and knew her father knew. He was glaring at Chase. His expression promising retribution if Kia ended up with a broken heart.

"Sweetheart, you can come home with us," Cecilia told her.

She looked at Chase and he saw panic in her eyes. Oh Lord, no. Her mother would flutter around her and weep and worry all night long. She couldn't handle that.

"She'll go home with me," he told them. "Sanjer will be fine at the apartment, and both of you can come in the morning and stay as long as you like. Hell, follow us back if you want."