“Your brother’s the cop?” She sighed and shook her head. “All right. I’ll give you five minutes with my patient, then you’re out of here. Believe me, I’ll call Security and have them toss you out if necessary.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That goes for that giant who’s been lurking around the corridors, too.”

“I’ll take them both home,” Rachel promised. She looked around quickly as the door opened. “Alexi?”

“We’re finished.” He couldn’t keep the satisfied gleam out of his eyes. “I’ve got some rounding up to do.”

“He identified them?” Zack demanded.

“Cold. And he’s raring to testify.”

“I want—”

“No chance,” Alex said quickly, noting Zack’s clenched fists. “The kid figured out how to do it the right way, Muldoon. Take a lesson. Keep him in line, Rach.”

“I’ll try,” she murmured as her brother hurried off. “Zack, if you’re going in there to talk to him, pull it together.”

“That son of a bitch shot my brother.”

“And he’ll pay for it.”

With a curt nod, Zack walked by her and into Nick’s room. He stood at the foot of the bed, waiting. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” He was exhausted after his interview with Alex, but he wasn’t finished. “I need to talk to you, to tell you. Explain.”

“It can wait.”

“No. It was my fault. The whole thing. They were Cobras, Zack. They knew when to come in and how, because I told them. I didn’t know…I swear to God I didn’t know what they were going to do. I don’t expect you to believe me.”

Zack waited a moment until he got his bearings. “Why shouldn’t I believe you?”

Nick squeezed his eyes tight. “I messed up. Like always.” He poured out the entire story of how he’d run into Cash at the arcade. “I thought we were just talking. And all the time he was setting me up. Setting you up.”

“You trusted him.” Zack came around the side of the bed to put a hand on Nick’s wrist. “You thought he was your friend. That’s not messing up, Nick, it’s just trusting people who don’t deserve it. You’re not like them.” When Nick’s eyes opened again, Zack took a firm hold of his hand. “If you messed up anything, it was yourself by trying to be like them. And that’s done.”

“I won’t let them get away with it.”

“We won’t,” Zack told him. “We’re in this together.”

“Yeah,” Nick said on a long breath. “Okay.”

“They’re going to kick me out of here so you can get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Zack,” Nick called out as his brother hit the door. “Don’t forget the fries.”

“You got it.”

“Okay?” Rachel asked when Zack came out.

“Okay.” Then he gathered her up, held her hard and close. She was slim and small, and as steady as an anchor in a storm-tossed sea. “Come home with me, please,” he murmured against her hair. “Stay with me tonight.”

“Let’s go.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I can buy a toothbrush on the way.”

Later, when he fell into an exhausted sleep, she lay beside him and kept watch. She knew it was the first time he’d done more than nod off in a chair in nearly forty-eight hours. Odd, she thought as she watched his face in the faint, shadowy light that sneaked through the windows. She’d never considered herself the nurturing type. But it had been very satisfying to simply lie beside him and hold him until the strain and fatigue of the past few days had toppled him into sleep.

The bigger they are, she thought again, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.

Still, as tired as she was, and as relieved, she couldn’t find escape in sleep herself. How daunting it was to realize she’d come to a point in her life where she wasn’t sure of her moves.

Love didn’t run on logic. It didn’t follow neat lines or a list of priorities. Yet, in a matter of days, the bond that had brought them together would be broken. They would go into court, and it would be resolved one way or the other.

Now was the time to face the what-happens-next.

He’d asked her to move in with him. Rachel shifted to watch the pattern of shadows on the ceiling. It could be enough. Or much too much. Her problem now was to decide what she could live with, and what she could live without.

She was very much afraid that the one thing she couldn’t live without was sleeping beside her.

He shuddered once, made a strangled sound in his throat before ripping himself awake. Instantly she moved to soothe.

“Shh…” She touched a hand to his cheek, to his shoulder, stroking. “It’s all right. Everything’s all right.”

“Hurricanes,” he murmured, groggy. “I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

“Okay.” She rested a hand on his heart, as if to slow its rapid pace. “Go back to sleep, Muldoon. You’re worn out.”

“It’s nice that you’re here. Real nice.”

“I like it, too.” One brow arched as she felt his hand slide up her thigh. “Don’t start something you won’t be able to finish.”

“I just want my T-shirt back.” He moved his hand up her makeshift nightie until her warm, soft breast filled his palm. Comfort. Arousal. Perfection. “Just as I thought. This is a completely nonregulation body.”

The stirring started low and deep, working its way through her. “You’re pushing your luck.”

“I was having this dream about the navy.” His fatigue had everything moving in slow motion, making it all the more erotic when he slipped the shirt up and off. Her arms seemed to flow over her head and down again like water. “It makes me remember what it was like being at sea for months without seeing a woman.” He lowered his mouth to flick his tongue over her. “Or tasting one.”

She sighed luxuriously, and even that slight movement heightened his need. “Tell me more.” His mouth met hers, so soft, so sweet.

“When I woke up just now, I could smell your hair, your skin. I’ve been waking up wanting you for weeks. Now I can wake up and have you.”