CHAPTER THIRTEEN

          LUCY WANTED TO PUNCH HERSELF IN THE FACE FOR GETTING INTO HIS CAR. The woman sat with a rigid posture in the passenger's seat of his Cadillac. The black leather was cool against her bare arms and the scent of his cologne filled her nostrils. Despite the cooling air wafting from the AC, she still felt like she was burning up.

Her hands were clasped together in her lap, nails digging into her palms as she ground her molars together. She felt highly uncomfortable ... but also not. Whatever it was it was fucking with her head and she decided to stare out the window as he drove.

The brunette had felt his gaze on her but she didn't meet it. She could still feel the touch he left on her chin and it send goosebumps down her skin. Soft R&B music played in the background and she could feel the thrum of the base from the speaker against her calf.

Her phone buzzed against her thigh and she glanced down at the lit up screen to see Beth's reply. Having driven with Ruby, Stan and her kids to the suburbs had been a blessing, which meant she didn't have to leave her Jeep behind and come up with a poor excuse why she was gone but her car was still in the driveway.

Lucy had given her a poor excuse that the whole ordeal had given her a headache from the hit she had taken and took the bus home. 

Her poor friend believed her, which was worse than lying.

The woman blew out a breath slowly and asked, "Who got hurt?"

His right hand was resting on the steering wheel loosely as he drove towards the warehouse. His left elbow rested against the side of the window while he rubbed over the stubble on his cheek. Lucy had moved her eyes into his direction and tried to lose some of her rigidness.

Rio drove a few miles above the speed-limit and he noticed the change in body language from the corner of his eyes. "Juan."

"What happened?" Lucy looked at him fully now, worried about her stabbing victim. "Is it his wound?"

"Noticed he got a fever durin' the night." he said, meeting her gaze briefly before focussing back on the road. "Wound looks okay, though. Thought you might wanted to take a look."

"Should've said that before coaxing me into your car." she grumbled and leaned further into her seat with a sigh. "That's kidnapping, you know?"

"You got into my car voluntarily."

"With regret."

He huffed out a laugh and shook his head as he ran his tongue along his teeth. Lucy hadn't said anything about the money he had given her. She had been unable to open her mouth as he stalked off into the night and she was ten grand richer. 

She didn't even know if she should or if she should thank him. Technically she had done a job, even if she hadn't accepted it in the first place. Instead, she decided to keep her mouth shut about it. "So, you're offering me cash just to take a look at him."

"Hmm,"

"He must be important then."

Rio just shot her a look and didn't bother to give her an answer as he turned down the road that led towards the warehouse. "Are you going to drop be off at my apartment, too?"

"Do I look like a chauffeur to you?" he raised a brow in her direction.

Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes and took him in from head to toe before shrugging. "You're wearing a button down, so maybe a little."

"You've got a mouth on you."

He didn't elaborate further and from the peek of his gun underneath his blouse she decided she had spoken enough and turned back to stare out the window. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't press the cold metal of the weapon to her forehead that she found the nerve to talk like that. He could easily put a bullet between her eyes and discard her body in the river and no one would ever find her, but he still hadn't.

Rio pulled up at the warehouse a few minutes later and the coiling doors opened before he drove the Cadillac inside. 

The man with the eagle tattoo motioned for her to follow him and she did, wordlessly, as they got out of the car. He led her back towards the stairs she had gone up one time before and the place looked quite different during the day than it had looked before.

"Juan's through there." he said, stopping in front of that same door. "I gotta take care of somethin'. I'll meet you back in an hour or so."

Lucy said nothing as she watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets and he disappeared down the corridor. The woman let out a scoff and pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Juan sat on one of the couches with his hand hovering over his stomach slightly, a little pale faced and his eyes half open. He looked a lot better than last she saw him and she was a little proud of herself for having been able to get him there.

"Ah, there's my doctor." he offered her a tired smile as he tried to sit up.

"Still not a doctor." she pursed her lips. 

"Could've fooled me." he remarked. "You saved my life."

"How are you feeling?" She wasn't good with complements and apart from the smile she send him she tried to change the subject. "I heard you developed a fever."

"I did." he nodded and pressed his other hand to his forehead to wipe away some of his black hair. "It started somewhere during the night, my skin hurts and i'm nauseous. Much like a flu."

"Any other symptoms? Redness, swelling?"

"No, none of that."

Lucy hummed and glanced around the room and raised her brows. The corner on her left had all sorts of medical supplies and equipments neatly stacked on some shelves. It was more than Mick had brought that night last week. The brunette tore her gaze away and asked, "Have you been taking the IV antibiotics like I had written down?"

"I have," he confirmed before grimacing. "but my IV started leaking last night so I missed this mornings dose."

"That's okay, I can put in a new one." she offered. "But i'd like to do a full check up first to see what the damage is. You were supposed to have your last dose tonight anyways, maybe you won't need it anymore."

"I am putting my full faith in you, doc." he winked.

Lucy snorted and decided she quite like Juan. He had been so out of it last time that she hadn't gotten to know him but he was funny, and she appreciated that. 

His stitches looked clean, the wound was healing well. No redness, swelling or tenderness. Exactly as it should be healing.

His blood pressure was a bit high and he did have a fever. He had been complaining of a runny nose too and she wished she could do a scan to see if there wasn't any underlying infection somewhere from the stab wound, but she couldn't and it really did seem like the flu.

"Sorry if he stole you away from a fun afternoon for something as stupid as the flu." he apologised sincerely.

"Juan," she narrowed her eyes playfully. "what if it wasn't the flu? I wouldn't forgive myself for not checking up you. You got stabbed, fever is a sign of infection and you can't be too careful. Your immune system had quite the blow and it isn't uncommon to get sick."

"I really appreciate it." he said genuinely and squeezed her arm.

"Take some painkillers and make sure you stay hydrated for the next couple of days." she instructed as she grabbed a notepad to write it down. "I won't stick you again with a needle. I'm very pleased with how you're healing but take it slow for a little while longer. It's important to save your strength."

"Trust me, i'll do whatever you say to stop feeling like this."

"I'll hold you to that."

Lucy enjoyed his company and after getting him a big glass of water from the sink she sunk into the seat beside him as he began to talk her head off. He had been working for Rio since the beginning and she learned that they had grown up together, though he was quite a bit older than him. Juan didn't seem bothered that his boss might not want him to share that information and Lucy took it in greedily.

"Why didn't you become a doctor?" he wondered after a while.

"Do you know how expensive University is?" she scoffed with her feet propped on the table. "I am already drowning in student debt from nursing school and to be quite fair I do not enjoy school."

"Huh," he pulled a face. "I never went so I have no idea what it costs."

"What did you want to be when you grew up, then?"

He shot her a grin and said, "A police officer."

The brunette raised her brows and tried to stifle her laugh. "And now here you are. Dealing drugs, laundering money and getting stabbed."

"Ironic, huh?"

The door clicked open and Rio leaned against the doorframe with his phone in hands. His eyes slid over Juan for a second and he took in the man's smile with some relief. He cocked his head to the side and said to Lucy, "Time to go. Get up."

thank you for the votes and comments!!! they make me so excited to continue this story. i am currently planning the next three chapters and i'll to update again sunday or monday. i am going on holiday on friday and i'll have three full weeks to write whenever i want which is very exiting! 

i want this story to be a lot of chapters and i am not into insta-love stuff so taking this slow but there might be some spicy stuff in the near future!

love, lottie