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you’re angry, but you do need clothes, as appealing as you are without them.”
    Her skin burned with embarrassment. “What the hell do you want an X-ray for? There isn’t anything you can do.”
    “I bet there is. Let us try.”
    “Us?”
    “Me. The doctors.”
    “Is that why you wouldn’t fuck me last night? Because you want to fix me first?”
    “I don’t think you really wanted me to sleep with you. You just wanted the money.” His eyes narrowed. “The reason I’m asking has nothing to do with sex. I don’t want you to hurt so much. Yes to the deal or no?”
    “Go to hell. Give me the damn cane and clothes. I’m leaving with or without them.”
    Wordlessly, he handed over the cane and a sweater, pants, and new undergarments. She set them on the bed, then, out of spite, unwrapped the towel and let it fall. She figured nakedness didn’t matter anymore, since Kon had stripped her last night. Kon watched, outwardly impassive. Bastard.
    She took her time dressing, searching his face—and his crotch—for any signs of excitement. There were none. “Are you gay or something?”
    He chuckled softly. “I enjoy male partners but not all the time. Why are you trying so hard to sleep with me when I know you don’t want to? Is it because you expect every man you come across to take advantage of you?”
    The pity in his eyes cut her to the quick. No one looked at her like that. No one. “Fuck you.”
    He stayed silent while she dressed. The sweater was soft and warm, the pants tapered yet loose enough they didn’t squeeze her bad hip. The socks were wool, the black boots ankle-high and made of real leather. How the hell did he know what size to get everything? He couldn’t have simply looked at the tags on her old clothes. These fit far better.
    “Thank you. These are lovely. Now perhaps you can tell me how to get out of this fancy hotel?”
    “It’s not a hotel, exactly.”
    The man was going to drive her mad. “Then what is it, exactly?”
    “It’s a retreat, of sorts. A safe place for people to come when they’re ill or injured or need to escape from the world for a while.”
    “I’m not running away from anything.”
    “So where are you running to?”
    Her fingers curled into fists. Any more of this and she’d have an aneurism to go with her sore hip. “Look. All I want are directions to the bus stop.”
    Arms crossed, Kon leaned against the back of the couch, lips curled in what looked like delight. “If you had money to buy a ticket—which you don’t—where would you go?”
    “It’s none of your damn business.”
    “It is, if I’m going to drive you there.”
    “You’re going to drive me to South Dakota?” Immediately she wished she hadn’t said so much. Bastard.
    “If that’s what you want. It’s only about six hours.”
    “Forget it.” She grasped the head of her new cane, shaped like an eagle’s head. It fit into her palm as if made especially for her.
    But before she made it three steps, he gripped her upper arms. “Eliana.” He switched to Spanish, strangely accented yet melodic and smooth. “Wherever you’re trying to go, it can wait one more day. Stay here. Rest. I’ll get some room service sent up. You’re tired and far too thin.”
    His touch, impossibly warm and tender, both frightened and aroused her. “Let go of me before I break your hands with my new toy.”
    He released her, though he was more amused than cowed. “Stay. Talk to Doc Jensen. I’m sure she’ll find a way to help you.”
    She wondered briefly what the doctor would think of her if she said she’d seen a man melting away like the Wicked Witch of the West. “I don’t have any money.”
    “That doesn’t matter.”
    But it did. She hated charity. If she couldn’t earn it, she didn’t want it. “There isn’t anything they can do.”
    “Let them try. Please.”
    Damn the man. He doesn’t give up . She jammed the head of her cane into his chest. “No. And don’t you dare ask again. No