“He hurt you,” the big man growled. “He put his hands on you.”

“He won’t do that again, baby. He won’t hurt anyone again.”

And then the doors burst open and, through the pain, there was chaos.

Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday, March 19, 6:35 p.m.

Motherfucking hell. Diesel had never been so glad to see cops in all his life. They poured in, surrounding Kaiser, guns drawn, Adam leading the charge.

“You’re late,” Diesel griped at them.

“Shh,” Dani whispered. She’d had her arms around his shoulders, having dragged him off the bastard who lay bleeding at his feet. Now she lowered Diesel to the floor, raising his sweatshirt, her mismatched eyes full of worry. She scanned his chest. “Where are you hit?”

“Back,” Diesel rasped. The asshole had snuck up behind him while he was checking on the clinic’s other doctor. “But it’s not bad.”

Adam dropped to his knees beside him. “What happened? Why the fuck did you run in before we got here? Greg was safe.”

“Heard a crash.” Diesel pointed to a toppled display of pamphlets. “And a groan. Thought it was the nurse. Saw the doc on the floor. He’s still alive, but barely.”

“Same with Jenny,” Dani said, her head whipping to the exam room.

“EMS is here.” Adam pointed to the team of paramedics who were pushing a stretcher through the doors, followed closely by a second team with another stretcher. One of the teams rushed to where Miles lay, the doctor’s chest barely moving up and down as he took shallow breaths. But he was still alive.

When the second team of medics approached Diesel, he waved them off. “Jenny needs you more.” Once they’d pushed the stretcher into the exam room, Diesel lifted his head to take in the room. “Is Kaiser dead?”

Dani turned on her knees to look. “Actively bleeding from a knife wound to his lower abdomen. But still alive.”

“Shit.” Diesel closed his eyes. “Let the fucker die.”

“I can’t.”

Diesel opened his eyes to see Dani staring at Kaiser, her eyes tormented and uncertain. “Why?”

“Because he knows where Evelyn and her baby are.”

Shit. He’d forgotten about them. “Do what you need to do. I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not, but you’re more okay than he is.” She pressed a hard kiss to his mouth. “I’ll be back. Adam, see that the next medics take Diesel. I think he’s worse than he’s admitting.”

Diesel closed his eyes, swallowing a groan so she wouldn’t know exactly how right she was. “What the fuck took you so long, Kimble?”