Free Ghost Phoenix by Corrina Lawson

Marian, someone might have tested him to see if he’d defend Montoya.
    He didn’t know if Montoya’s leader was that Machiavellian, but Richard knew that the former head of the Phoenix Institute certainly had been. And now they’d sent Montoya to follow him when Richard had done nothing to threaten them.
    And his brother was dead.
    Richard wrapped his arm around his angel. He would heal and be at full strength. He must.
    â€œI’ll protect you,” he whispered into her ear.
    â€œI know,” she whispered back.

Chapter Six
    To Marian, the rest of the ride seemed to take forever. She changed Richard’s bandage, sealing the second stack of sterile pads down with medical tape. It still turned red but far slower. She thought that was good.
    Richard said he would heal and she would have to believe that.
    If she’d had any doubt before that Richard was what he said he was, she didn’t anymore. A normal person would have bled to death.
    When she was finished changing the bandages, her hands were caked in dried blood. Ugh. It was just as well she didn’t have a problem with blood, like her sister. Jen nearly fainted every time she had a blood test. It was a wonder she had been able to give birth without fainting. Though Jen claimed she hadn’t looked, only pushed. Her sister would get a kick out of this, except for the blood. Jen liked adventure. I might too, Marian thought, if I could ever choose my own.
    The van took a sharp turn once they were out of the Lincoln Tunnel. She wrapped her arms around Richard to keep from being thrown to the side.
    â€œNice,” Richard muttered.
    Bad enough he kept calling her angel . She didn’t want to be infatuated with him. He was a client, for one. It was hard, however, not to feel something when he spoke in that sexy rasp and he kissed her cheek. She pressed her palm against the bandage, just to keep the pressure on.
    â€œHow you doing back there?” Montoya asked.
    â€œOkay,” she answered.
    â€œHow is he?”
    â€œI’m not a doctor. The bleeding’s slowed. That’s all I know.”
    â€œSorry about all this. I didn’t mean to get you involved.”
    â€œYou two acted like enemies before someone started shooting at us. Are you going to hurt him at this Phoenix Institute?” Are you going to hurt me?
    â€œYou’re not the enemy.” Montoya answered her unspoken question first. “Like I said, no worries. We’ll get you back home safe soon.”
    â€œAnd what about Richard?”
    â€œI’m not in the habit of letting people bleed to death if I can help it. Neither is Firefly. But it’s not safe to take someone like Richard anywhere else.”
    â€œFirefly? Who’s he?”
    â€œAlec Farley, the head of the Phoenix Institute.”
    They took an exit off the highway. Bergen County, she noticed. Well, better than Paterson or Passaic.
    â€œHow do I know you’ll take care of him? All I know is that this Alec Farley sent you out to spy on me.”
    â€œHe sent me out to spy on Genet, not you. Alec’s job is making sure guys like your Richard don’t mess with people’s lives. To him, people are pawns.”
    â€œRichard’s paying me a considerable sum for a job I do well. If that’s a pawn, I’ll take it.” What the hell was she in the middle of?
    Montoya only grunted.
    â€œWhat about the person shooting at us? What did they want?”
    â€œNo idea yet who that was or what they wanted yet. When I do, I’ll let you know.”
    â€œGreat,” she snapped. He was miffed. So was she. Except she wasn’t sure if she was angrier with Montoya or the person shooting at him or her grandfather for putting her in this mess.
    However, she was certain she wasn’t angry with Richard.
    â€œI’m curious to meet your Firefly,” Richard said, opening his eyes. She’d thought he was asleep.
    â€œHe’s kinda