“The dressing needs to be changed every day until Friday, and more ointment applied. In about fourteen days, the stitches can come out. Either return here or go to your physician.” She frowned at Rowdy. “Do not try taking them out yourself.”

Deadpan, Rowdy said, “I’d have a little trouble reaching.”

The doctor turned back to Avery again. “Let me know if you see any redness or swelling around the sutures.”

“Thank you.” Avery took her hand in sincere appreciation. “I’ll see to it.”

“Good luck with that.” After one last glance at Rowdy, the doctor smiled. “As she said, behave.”

One of nurses stepped back into the room and handed Rowdy a clean T-shirt. “I wish we had a coat to loan you, but this is the best I could do.”

“Appreciate it.”

The nursed started to help him pull it on, but Avery insinuated herself between them. “I can do it.”

Rowdy smiled, and the disgruntled nurse retreated. When she was gone, Avery gently pulled the shirt over his head. He stuffed his arms through the sleeves without her assistance.

Knowing he was anxious to find out about Marcus, she said, “I’ll call for a cab.”

As they left the hospital, he was so silent, so withdrawn, she didn’t know how to handle him. Not that anyone could ever fully handle Rowdy Yates, but boy, she wanted to try.

“Should we stop on the way to get your prescription filled?”

“I’ll take care of it tomorrow.” He opened the cab door for her, but surprised her by telling the cabbie his address, instead of hers.

She’d been almost certain that he’d insist on seeing her home first. Heart thumping a slow, anxious beat, Avery watched him settle in the seat beside her, this time far more comfortably now that he’d been tended to.

“You don’t mind, do you?” He put an arm around her.

His constitution amazed her. “That we’re going to your apartment first? Of course not. In fact, if it wouldn’t put you in panic mode, I’d like to stay and make sure you’re settled.”

“Great.” He stared out the window.

No signs of panic at all. Was he just too worried? What could she say to help? That Marcus would be okay? She wasn’t sure. She knew nothing about the process of protecting a child from his own parents.

But she had a feeling that Rowdy had far too much knowledge of exactly that.

* * *

HE’D WAITED ENDLESSLY in the cold dark night, but Avery and the blond ruffian hadn’t yet left the bar. Where the hell were they? Little by little he’d thought to learn Avery’s schedule, but this he hadn’t expected.

He was just about to give up when a cab slowed at the curb in front of him. The headlights hit his windshield, momentarily blinding him. Sinking lower in the driver’s seat of his car, heart thumping in excitement, he waited. Sure enough, that was Avery and her swain that exited the cab.

Despite the dead cold of the night, lover boy didn’t wear a coat. A macho show to impress Avery? Idiot. If an abundance of cash and social influence hadn’t done the trick, nothing would. Then again, maybe he’d looked at this wrong. Maybe she went for the brutish type.

But if so, she wouldn’t have run off, right?

Whatever the girl wanted, it no longer mattered. The decision to return or stay gone would no longer be hers to make. He was done playing nice.

* * *

THEY’D JUST GOTTEN into Rowdy’s apartment when his cell phone rang. He figured it’d be Pepper again, and he was all set to tease her about turning into a mother hen. But when he looked at the number, he saw it was Logan instead, and dread consumed him.

“Where is he?” he asked by way of answering the phone.

“If you mean Marcus, then I maybe have some good news.”

Nausea burned his throat. So often “good news” from the system meant the kid got f**ked over again. “Tell me.” He urged Avery down the landing steps and over to the couch, indicating that she should take a seat.

“Well, after pulling a few strings, he’s with Reese and Alice.”

Luckily, the couch was right behind Rowdy because he dropped onto it. “With Reese?” He hadn’t expected that. His thoughts reeled but his tension ebbed. “But...why?” And how?

“If she survives, the mother is still going to be in the hospital for a while. The dad was not only involved in an assault on you, but we also found a substantial amount of drugs in his truck, along with a small arsenal of unregistered weapons.”

“No shit?”

“The truck door was open,” Logan said with a shrug. “One of the unis spotted an assault rifle and more right there in plain sight. Guess they figured on gutting you and taking off.”

“Didn’t go quite as they planned then, did it?” Take that, you miserable f**ks. “So how did Reese end up with Marcus?”

“In extreme situations, we—the police—can take a child into protective custody overnight on an emergency basis. After you left for the hospital, Reese called Alice to tell her what was going on. She came to the bar to help out, and...”

Rowdy could guess the rest. “She and Marcus hit it off.” God bless Alice; no one could ever resist her and her gentle but curious way.

Maybe wounded souls recognized each other. Heaven knew, he and Alice had bonded right from the get-go.

“She got him to talk to her,” Logan said. “Not much, but it was more of a connection than with anyone else. When the social worker started to take him away, he...”