The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 42

The next morning, the guys launched phase one of their plan.

They walked into the hospital waiting room laden down with take-out coffees and baked goods. Liv, Jenny and Kat looked up in complete shock and got to their feet. They stood in a row and glared at the men.

“What are you doing here?” Liv said. “I thought I made myself pretty clear yesterday: you are not getting in to see her, Dean.”

“Yeah,” Dean said. “You did make yourself clear. But I’m f*****g stubborn. Also, we thought maybe you’d want coffee and a doughnut.”

“You – what?” Kat said.

“Well, we figured y’all would have been here all night and would probably need a decent coffee by now. That stuff in the cafeteria is sludge.” Dallas set down the bag of croissants on a table. “I’m Dallas, by the way.” He nodded at the other guys. “That’s Chris, and that over there is Jim.”

The women blinked up at them.

“OK, here it is.” Dean’s voice was gentle as he took in their exhaustion. He was sure they had to be scared and worried to death, and were operating on nerves and very little sleep. “I know what Emma and I agreed to, but that was before I got to know her. Things are different now.”

“Different how?” Kat asked.

“I care about her. I want to be here for her, and for you too, if you’ll let me. If you’ll let us.”

They all stood there, silently regarding each other from opposite sides of a huge divide. The men’s eyes skimmed over the women, taking them in fully for the first time.

Olivia was stunning, of course. Much taller than the other two, and slim but still curvy. Her auburn hair was sleek and shiny even after a night of sleeping on three chairs all pulled together, and her brown eyes were gorgeous. They were narrowed in suspicion right now, but still – the woman was a knock-out. One of the other women looked tougher: short hair dyed a shocking blonde, she was staring at them with naked aggression in her moss-green eyes. Her hands were on her hips and even though she was about Emma’s height, her anger inflated her, somehow. The last woman – blonde, blue-eyed, heavier and curvier than the others – was now practically hidden behind the other two, and barely seemed able to make eye-contact. She looked genuinely unnerved and freaked out, and the guys wondered why she looked so frightened of them.

From their side, the women were observing the guys just as closely. The four of them were intimidating as hell, despite the nice words and the doughnuts, and the women had no idea where to look.

They felt like they knew Dean a bit, of course, and they knew that he’d been gentle and good to Emma. His green eyes were warm as he looked down at them, and Jenny for one saw that he was really trying here. Dallas too, was coming across as open and comforting. He was standing well back, his arms open and loose at his sides. He was huge and strong and those eyes were hard, but he was also making an effort to make himself smaller, keep his voice low.

The other two guys were just as big, just as muscular. The blond one – was it Chris? – was looking at them all with steady gray eyes. His gaze seemed to rest the most on Jenny, and he looked troubled. He didn’t say a word, though, and looked like he’d be willing to stand there all day, waiting for them to come around.

The last guy was the biggest question mark. He had brown hair, cropped close to his head and strange-colored eyes, like liquid gold. He stood the farthest back, so far that he was barely in the room at all. He had his hands in his jeans pockets, and the women’s suspicion was mirrored in his handsome face. He met Kat’s eyes and they had a short stare-off.

Liv broke the silence. “What do you expect, Dean?”

He looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“With Emma.” Kat spoke up now. “What do you think her cancer looks like?”