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faintly.
    He looked at her with worried eyes as if he thought his name was the last thing that should be on her mind.
    “Ramon. I’m Mr. de Luca’s head of security.”
    “I’m Bryony,” she said, before realizing he already knew her name. He’d called her Miss Morgan earlier.
    “We’re almost there, Bryony,” he said in a steady, reassuring voice.
    Was she about to melt down on him? Was that why he was staring at her with such concern and speaking to her as if he was trying to talk her down from the ledge?
    She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. He followed with the ice pack and soon it was smushed up against her face again.
    A few seconds later, the car ground to a halt and the door immediately opened. She opened her eyes as Ramon removed the ice pack and hurriedly got out of the car. He reached back to help her out and they were met by an E.R. tech pushing a wheelchair.
    Astonished by the quickness in which they got her back to an exam room, she stared with an open mouth as she was laid on one of the beds by two nurses and they immediately began an assessment of her condition.
    Ramon hung by her bedside, watching the medical staff’s every move. As if sensing Bryony’s bewilderment, Ramon leaned down and murmured, “Mr. de Luca is a frequent contributor to this hospital. He called ahead to let them know you’d be arriving.”
    Well, that certainly made more sense.
    “The on-call obstetrician will be in to see you shortly,” one of the nurses said. “He’ll want to make sure all is well with the baby.”
    Bryony nodded and murmured her thanks.
    The nurse went over a series of questions as she did her assessment. Bryony was a little embarrassed over all the fuss. Near as she could tell, all she’d suffered was a black eye and a bruised behind. But she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to make sure all was well with her baby.
    She’d leaned back to close her eyes when the door flew open and Rafael strode in, his expression dark and his gaze immediately seeking out Bryony.
    He hurried to her bedside and took her hand in his. “Are you all right?” he demanded. “Are you hurt? Are you in any pain?” He took a breath and dragged a hand through his hair in agitation. “The…baby?”
    Before she could respond, his gaze settled on her face and his eyes darkened with fury. He tentatively touched her cheek and then he turned to Ramon, his jaw clenched. “What happened?”
    “I’m fine,” Bryony said in answer to the barrage of questions. But Rafael was no longer concentrating his efforts on her. He was interrogating his head of security. “Rafael.”
    When he still didn’t stop his tirade of questions, she tugged at his hand until finally he turned back to her.
    “I’m okay. Really. Ramon showed up just in time. He took good care of me.”
    “I should not have let you leave my office,” Rafael gritted out. “You were upset and in no condition to be out on the streets. I’d thought Ramon would give you a ride home.”
    She shrugged. “I walked. He didn’t catch up with me until after…?.”
    Rafael looked hastily around and then dragged a chair to her bedside. He perched on the edge and stared intently at her.
    “Has the doctor been in yet? What has he said about the baby? Are you hurt anywhere else? Did the bastard hit you?”
    She shook her head at the flurry of questions and blinked at the fierceness in his voice and expression. This wasn’t a side of Rafael she’d ever seen before.
    “The nurse said the on-call obstetrician would be in to see me shortly and that he would conduct an assessment to make sure all was well with the baby. And no, I’m not hurt anywhere else.”
    She raised her hand to her eye and winced when she pushed in on the already swelling area.
    Rafael captured her hand and pulled it away from her eye.
    “It’s unacceptable for you to be walking the streets of New York City alone. I don’t even like you staying in that hotel alone.”
    She