Page 5 of Twisted Steel

I laugh once.“That’s rich coming from the man whose evening activity includes parking-lot warfare.”

His eyes narrow slightly.“You saw faces.”

“I see faces every shift.”

“Not like these.”His tone is low, and there’s something in it that crawls under my skin.Not a threat, but a warning.

I cross my arms.“Are you trying to scare me?”

“Yes.”The honesty steals my next breath.Steel doesn’t soften it.Doesn’t dress it up.Doesn’t pretend to be civilized.“I’m trying to scare you enough that you pay attention,” he says.“The men who ran tonight won’t like loose ends.”

“And I’m a loose end?”

“You saved one of mine.”

“One of yours?”I echo, disgust curling hot in my chest.“He’s a person, not property.”

Something moves across his face.Quick, and gone in the next instant.“Yeah,” he says quietly.“He is.”

That hits me differently than I expect.I don’t like it.I don’t like any of this.

“You need to leave,” I say with a glare.

Steel holds my stare.For one wild second, I think he’ll refuse.I think he’ll do what violent men always do when a woman sets a boundary—smile, push, and prove he can cross it.

Instead, he nods once.“If you see anyone watching you, you call me.”

“I don’t have your number.”

He reaches into his coat, pulls out a plain black card, and sets it on the edge of the ambulance.No flourish.No flirtation.Just a number.Just danger in cardstock form.

“I’m not calling you,” I say.

“I know.”

“Then why leave it?”

His gaze drags over me, not sexual, not exactly, but assessing, memorizing.Like he’s already calculated every threat in a twenty-foot radius and found them lacking.

“Because when you need me,” he says, “I’ll come.”

My pulse does something stupid, and I hate it.Steel turns and walks into the night without another word while I stare after him until he disappears beyond the wash of hospital light.

Milo clears his throat.“So.”

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You breathed judgmentally.”

“That man is terrifying.”Even as he says the words, he sounds breathless in awe.

“Yes.”Though terrifying is not the first word that came to my mind.

“And hot.”

I whip my head toward him.“Milo!”