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Prologue

“Duncan, are you just getting in?” Jodi asked and as nant wo anxiously in the foyer from one dainty foot to the other while she wrapped her arer since he saw her yesterday lance over her shoulder that he was on his way out, he just couldn’t lie to her

But, God, would he fucking love to be able to lie to her right about now

“Yeah,” he said softly, cringing when the effort to speak caused searing pain to shoot up and down his throat

“Do you think that you could give me a hand with Danny?” she asked with a nervous little smile, clearly e, but that’s why he was here, wasn’t it?

Instead of speaking, because Duncan wasn’t sure that he could hing fit that had hi his lieutenant up on his offer to be seen in the e s differently, he opened the door to the large laundry room that was off the back foyer near the kitchen and quickly discarded everything saturated with s there in his boxer shorts

If this had been any other wo down in front of her, but this was Jodi, his roo woman who’d probably kill him with her dainty little hands if he wore his sain The last tiet over his eh with him to threaten his balls if he ever ain

Not that he could bla quite like the scents of sweat, ash and s his sister-in-lahole new trigger forin with his brother and sister-in-law had taken soed to survive the lasteach other, which for any Bradford was definite progress He just hadn’t counted on being this fucking exhausted fro it

He worked three twenty-four hour shifts,and the rest of the ti ambulance duty, which took a lot out of him It had also made him the perfect choice to move in and help his brother once Danny had been able to return froas that he had to take before Jodi realized that she could probably do better and dump his ass

Duncan rented an apartment that he’d barely slept in with a roommate that he couldn’t stand so when they sat down as a fa to uproot their lives to help Danny and Jodi, he’d been the perfect choice because of his work schedule Then again, if he’d realized thatto be this exhausting, he ht have let the opportunity pass down to their brother Aidan

When he’d agreed to do this he figured that he’d take out the trash, help around the house, run some errands now and then when he had sos in his life, it hadn’t worked out the way that he’d hoped When he wasn’t working, he was running errands, driving Danny to his doctors’ appoint Danny coynancy was exhausting Jodi By the end of the day they could usually find her curled up on the couch or the nearest bed, which was the reason that he did s that had to co that he see day

Honestly, he wasn’t sure howthat he could do about it right now Danny and Jodi needed help and right noas the only one who could do it full-ti Danny and Jodi with rides, food, helped around the house, money to cover medical bills, made sure that someone was around when Duncan couldn’t be, but even with all that extra help he was still fucking exhausted

The additional help was great, but honestly he would love to have a night where he could sleep without worrying about the fire alar because so up to the sounds of his brother and Jodi having sex or that hesitant knock that always seemed to come just when he was finally about to fall asleep, or the worst part, waiting for the sounds of his stubborn brother falling, because he was too fucking pigheaded to ask for help

Christ, the last ti to ask for help There’d been so oddamn blood, which happened with head injuries and he’d known that, but that hadn’tunconscious on the bathroom floor in a puddle of his own blood He’d tried to block out Jodi’s hysterical sobbing, the fact that theeverywhere was his brother and instead, tried to focus on his training He’d cleaned his brother’s head wound, kept the stubborn bastard on the floor when Danny finally ed to call the station for help, which had been difficult by that point since Jodi’s sobs had turned into hysterical screa at Danny for scaring the shit out of her

After that incident, he’d spend the next eight hours in the e at Danny to stop fuckinguntil they cleared his spine The stubborn bastard refused to listen He’d been too desperate to get to Jodi and prove to her that he was okay to stay still So, Duncan had been forced to restrain Danny to the bed himself, which had earned him some rather nasty threats from the unappreciative asshole

When they’d finally released Danny, Duncan had just enough tied into his uniform and headed to the station to work a twenty-four hour shift on the night of a fullpsycho within a thirty-ht to listen to the fucking voices in their heads and le h, but as soon as he carocery store, the bank and a dozen other places that had helped push him past the point of exhaustion and nearly landed him in a hospital bed of his own

Thankfully he’d ht, but unfortunately for him, so had Danny and Jodi They’d kept hiroans of pleasure and what had sounded suspiciously like the headboard banging against the wall At that point he’d seriously considered telling one of his asshole brothers or cousins to take his place, but then Jodi had brought hi with a sweet kiss on the cheek and a thank you for helping them

After that he just kept his fucking mouth shut and sucked it up

“What happened?” he asked, rubbing his hands roughly down his face while he prayed that this wasn’t going to lead to another night spent in the eency room

“Uaze away just as a rather interesting blush crept up her neck and cheeks “Nothing really,” she whispered as that blush deepened into a fiery crimson red

“I see,” heabout that blush

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately for hi as he followed Jodi into her bedroom and-

“You?

?ve gotta be fucking kiddingby the ho hi mouth shut