WAYLON (Ruthless MC 1)

He leans forward to whisper, “This guy’s kind of a big deal. Triad Dragon, you know?”

No, I didn’t know. As I’ve made clear to Ant, whenever he’s tried to get me to leave my job and come work for what he calls his empire start-up, I want nothing to do with his world.

My high school guidance counselor’s voice rings in my ears: “You don’t get to a good man and a house and family in the suburbs by surrounding yourself with criminals.”

But I’m glad Ant called me when I see the state of my patient in the triage room I made Ant and his guys set up in the basement.

I find a Chinese guy lying in the hospital bed, beaten to the point of unconsciousness and wheezing in a way that makes me worry he might have punctured a lung. A woman clings to his hand like she’s afraid he’s about to die. She has long wavy dark hair and the kind of flawless creamy brown skin that makes her look like she could be anywhere from eighteen to twenty-six like me.

“Please help him,” she begs when Ant introduces me to her as the “best street doc” in Delaware.

“I’m not a doctor,” I let her know. “I’m a nurse.”

“I don’t care,” she answers. “I just need him not to die. Please, please save him.”

I make no promises. I never make promises—here or in the real ER. But I do the best I can.

Since the pretty woman refuses to leave her boyfriend’s side, I put her to work assisting me. She introduces herself as Jazz but never says the name of the man she’s so desperate to see live.

Lucky for her, her boyfriend’s pummeled face and bruises look worse than what’s happening inside. His breathing returns to normal as soon as I reset and bandage the ribs, letting me know that his lungs weren’t damaged, just unhappy about the pressure from his broken bones.

“He should be alright after six weeks. But he’ll need to see a doctor—a real doctor for a follow-up as soon as possible. This is just a stop gap.”

The woman nods. “Got it. I’ll make him go, even if he doesn’t want to.”

“His boy Phantom is on the way,” Ant assures her, stepping in beside me like a hospital administrator ready to schmooze after all the real work is done. “You got nothing to worry about, mami.”

Jazz doesn’t look away from the man whose name I wasn’t given. “I’ll stop worrying when he wakes up.”

She might still be holding her breath, but I let out a big sigh of relief as Ant and I leave the basement.

“Wow,” I say to him after we climb the stairs to the main floor of the house. “I’m glad that worked out.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to say it, but that would have been bad for both of us if that Dragon died on our watch. Would’ve had to cover this shit up and put a bullet in his girl if he didn’t make it. That would have been a hell of shame, too—pretty lil’ mamacita like that.”

My stomach drops because I know Ant’s not just talking. That hypothetical would have become very real if things had gone the other way. “Don’t tell me stuff like that.”

He grins. “Sorry, sis. I know you’re sensitive. But seriously, I owe you big. Now I get to be the hero in this story because you helped me out—sorry about your pretty dress.”

I don’t notice the smudge of blood on my yellow dress until he points it out. “It will probably come out with a Tide pen when I get home.”

“Yeah, probably. You should get home.” Ant averts his eyes. “I bet you’re tired.”

I am tired. But I don’t like how Ant’s not quite meeting my gaze. He’s the Reyes leader, and he calls me hermanita. But I’m his big sister—older than him by a couple of years.

“What?” I hold his gaze, letting him see that I know he’s hiding something from me.

Now it’s Ant’s turn to sigh. “You got time to look at one more guy in the kitchen?”

I roll my eyes. As hard as the Reyes can be, at least one of them asks about booboos or mysterious ailments whenever they hear I’m in the house.

“Sure,” I answer, nonetheless, tightening my hand around the handle of the emergency medical duffel I keep at the house.

I’ve been wrestling with my conscience over the legality of what I do for my brother and his gang for years. But I’m a little happier than I should be as I follow Ant into the kitchen, where I usually tend to the less important stuff. The truth is, I enjoy the rush of using both my nursing skills and my instincts to solve problems out of a medical bag.

Besides, I’ve already ruined my big date night for this. I might as well treat as many people as I can while I’m here—