Mike grew up in an East LA barrio, the oldest of three sisters being raised by their widower father, an auto mechanic. A small girl with a fiery temper, she has spent years in and around cars working with her father. Her ability with cars is probably the primary reason she managed to reach puberty. Michaela isn't exactly the most tactful girl on the block as more than one gang banger had discovered. Over the years she has regularly gotten on the wrong side of one street thug or another and until recently had managed to play her enemies off against each other. It was when her twin younger sisters began to develop in to a stunning pair of beauties that Mike discovered she had more to fear from the carbóns on the street.
Easter Sunrise Service was a tradition in her family and even Mike respected that but that particular Sunday turned out to be the worst of her life. Though refusing to dress up, Mike accompanied her sisters and father to the nearby Catholic Church and dutifully sat in her pew listening to the words of the sermon. The organ masked the sounds outside but died away to the chatter of assault rifles.
Afterwards the police reported over a hundred bullets riddled the church and the people sitting quietly inside. Michaela's father took two in the chest and died instantly. Staring at his body, Mike at first didn't comprehend what was wrong but a bullet tore through the skin of her chest where is slid along the curve of her ribs and buried itself in the pew in front of her.
Reacting to the pain, Mike threw her self on her sisters and drove them to the carpeted floor between the pews. A second bullet struck her in the small of the back plowing a half inch wide furrow in her right side just above her hip bone. Her sisters screamed, finding themselves covered in blood and something in Mike reacted. Suddenly they were all three in the living room of their small apartment. Just before she passed out she felt the two girls crawl out from under her and she vaguely wondered if either had been hit.
She awoke in a stark white room with the late afternoon sun slanting through a window that gave her a breathtaking view of a waterfall cascading down a rocky slab of cliff. Sitting up she experienced a small twinge in her ribs and her exploring hands found a bandage wrapped around her chest and another just above her hip. Then she remembered the church. Throwing the blankets back she swiveled and started to slide out of the bed. She didn't hear him enter the room.
"Easy," said a deep male voice.
She jumped, and rolled to the opposite side of the bed landing on her feet with the bed between her and the doctor. He didn't look like a doctor though. Dressed in grey slacks, a forest green polo shirt and moccasins, he watched her through jade green eyes, a slight smile touching his lips. For a moment she forgot everything as the . . . presence of the man hit her. She felt her heart react in fear and yet she knew instantly he was not a threat.
"Who are you?" she demanded, forcing bravado into her voice she did not feel. She used the moment before his response to take him in and suddenly her fear turned to a surge of something she's only heard about, lust. The man was incredibly sexy and she fought down the rising feeling.
"You can call me Archer," he said, his voice not loud but perfectly audible. "I am sorry to upset you so."
Flustered she snarled at him "I am not upset!"
His crooked smile unnerved her and she felt weak in the knees. She didn't even see him move and the next thing she knew she was cradled in his arms. Inhaling she smelled wild things she'd never known in the city and without realizing it, buried her nose in his chest. She shivered feeling his hard body against hers and felt the easy strength in his arms as he held her.
Looking down at her with those green eyes he said "Are you in pain?"
She said nothing for a moment, collecting her self and trying to calm her racing heart.
