I make my way down to his side. I peel up his shirt from his stomach and examine what looks like a stab wound.  Thankfully it’s just oozing bright red blood now, which means it probably didn’t knick anything major, like an artery or an organ.

I push gently on his stomach. It still feels soft and I know that’s a good sign, too.  When my fingers get close to his side, he moans and rolls his head.

“You all right, man?” I ask.

I hear the others come back right before Gavin appears at my side.

“Crikey!  Someone beat the shit out of ‘im!”

Nash cracks open an eyelid and glares at Gavin. It’s funny that he can convey so much feeling in that one small gesture.  “Kiss my ass,” he mumbles through his swollen, busted lips.

“What the hell happened?” I ask him.

“Somebody caught up with me on the bike.  I think it’s safe to say you’re gonna need a new one.”

Shit, shit, shit!

“Do you know who it was?”

“Nah.  They came up behind me out of nowhere.  Wrecked me then beat the fu—” Nash stops himself, cracking his eyelid again and looking at Marissa and Olivia.  “Sorry.  Beat the shit out of me while I was on the ground.  One of those Russian bastards stabbed me and then they went through my pockets, patting me down.”

“What were they looking for?”

“My phone, I think. I keep it in my boot so I won’t lose it, though.”

I hiss through my teeth.

“What is it?” Olivia asks.

“I thought we’d be safe now. Or at least safe-er.”

“You will be.  For a while anyway.  This was just a warning.  We’ve got three days to get them the rest of the copies and they said they’ll call it even.  If not, they’re coming after us.”

“But we could go to the cops with it.  It could incriminate them!”

“I guess that’s not enough to scare them.”

Part of me had wondered if it would be enough to be effective in keeping them away.  Evidently not.

“Three days, huh?”

“Three days.”

“Um, I know whatever you people are involved in is pretty serious stuff, but don’t you think we need to get him to the hospital?” Marissa interjects.

“No!” Nash cries.  “No hospitals.  They keep records.  And they call authorities.”

“Well, we can’t just let you lie here and die.”

“No worries, mate. I know a guy,” Gavin offers.

“A guy?” Nash asks.  “I don’t need to be offed. I just need to be patched up.”

“Yeah, this guy can do that, too.”

I say nothing over the “too” part.  I’d say most of Gavin’s associates are…shady.

“I don’t know if he’ll come to a place this…public, though.”

I think for a second.  “Think you can travel?” I ask Nash.

He tries to hide his cringe.  “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“You can go to the condo. We can have him meet you there.”

“Why don’t we go to my place?  That way, I can keep an eye on him afterward,” Marissa suggests.

“It’s too dangerous,” Olivia says.

“Agreed,” Nash adds.

“I’ll stay, too,” Gavin offers.  “He’s not able to defend himself very well in this state.  I can stay for a day or two, watch out for them.”

“No need for that.  If whoever these people are have already given him an ultimatum, wouldn’t it be highly unlikely that they’ll attack him again?  If they’d wanted to kill him, they could’ve done so already.”  Marissa, somehow, is the calm voice of reason.  “We’ll be all right there by ourselves.”

“I thought you’d be staying with your father,” Olivia says.

“No. I can’t stand to be there. Not with him. I feel like I don’t really know anybody anymore.”

“Then I’ll come and stay with you,” Olivia says.

“Absolutely not,” I blurt.

“Why not? She can’t be alone there with her only protection being someone who’s been stabbed.”

“You need to stay here with me.”

“No, I don’t.  I’ll be fine.  They’ve given us three days.  I’m sure they’ll leave us alone until then.”

“Olivia, I’m not willing to take the risk.  End of story.”

“End of story, huh?  So I have no say in the matter?”

I can see the sparks flying from her eyes. It’s a tense situation and her hackles are up. It’s kind of a turn-on, but now is neither the time nor the place to be thinking stuff like that.

I force myself to take a deep breath before I respond.  “I’m not trying to act like an insensitive dictator, but it’s not a good idea for you to go back there right now.”

“But it’s all right for Marissa?”

“More so than you, yes.”

“More so, but not completely?”

“Completely?  Probably not.”

“Then it’s settled. I’m going, too.”  Olivia turns to Gavin.  “Can I ride with you?”

I love Olivia, but at this very moment, I’d like to strangle her.  “No, you can’t.  He’ll be staying here and closing up while we take Nash to Marissa’s.”

Olivia looks at Gavin again and he shrugs, giving her the smile that says he’s staying out of it.

“Can you have your guy meet us there?”

“I think so. He owes me.”

“All right then.”  I turn to Nash.  “You need help getting to the car?”

“Nah, I got it.”  He says it casually, but I can see the sweat popping out on his forehead as he tries to push himself upright.   When he manages to haul himself to his feet, Olivia gets on one side and Marissa on the other and they help him navigate the short distance from the bedroom to the car where it’s parked in the garage.  As he’s hobbling past me, I see his lips twitch.

That bastard’s enjoying this!

While that might be funny if it was someone else, with him, I’m not laughing.  I don’t want him touching Olivia.  I don’t want him near her actually.  It’s irrational and probably more than a little related to jealousy, but I don’t care. It is what it is.  Doesn’t change the way I feel about it.

I grit my teeth until they have him situated in the back seat.  All he lacks is a kiss on the forehead from both of them.

I feel like cussing.

Marissa parked in the side alley, so I wait for her to pull out and I follow.  No one in the car says a word all the way to the apartment.  When we’re parked, both girls scramble to fawn all over Nash again, which makes me feel like rolling my eyes.  But I don’t.  I’m not that stupid.  If caught, it would only make me look like a jerk, which, at this point, I am.  At least toward Nash. I know he’s enjoying this. He’s probably enjoying setting my teeth on edge as he leans on Olivia.