Page 96 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“Catherine, be serious,” Cross said.

“I am. Come over … soon, today … now.”

Cross had a problem.

It was a serious issue.

He didn’t know how to tell Catherine Marcello, no. That, or he didn’t want to. Maybe it was that he simply couldn’t. Either way, it all left him screwed in the best possible way.

Any other girl, he would have brushed them off and did his own thing. No one got to make demands of him, but especially not a female. Except Catherine, it seemed. She wanted something, he did it or gave it. Whatever she needed, he made sure she had it.

Cross had thought it might become easier to refuse Catherine as time went on, but that was not the case. Two months into their craziness, and she only wrapped him tighter around her pinky with a smile.

Part of him didn’t mind all that much.

Most of him didn’t mind at all.

“So?” Catherine pressed into the phone.

Cross scrubbed a hand down his face. “You know you had me at your house being empty, right?”

“Yep.”

“You know your father will literally kill me if he finds out I was there when he wasn’t?”

“Yep.”

“Catherine,” Cross stressed.

“Except he won’t find out, so … I’ll see you in, like, two hours?”

Cross glanced at the dashboard clock on the Camaro. “Something like that, maybe more. I’ll let you know when I get around the back of your place.”

“Okay!”

Her sweet laughter rang in his ear long after she had hung up. He shoved his phone back in his pocket, and grinned to himself.

The very rational part of Cross’s brain knew this was a very bad idea.

The part he considered to be the smarter bit didn’t give a shit.

“Catherine,” Zeke said from the driver’s seat, “as in the same Catherine you were seeing when you were like fifteen?”

“What about it?”

“Marcello, right?”

“Again, what—”

“Tell me you’re not heading over there.”

“Okay, so I won’t tell you I’m heading over there for the weekend.”

At nineteen, Cross figured Zeke would have gone his own way, considering his friend had never been very interested in the family business, and did his own thing in life. It seemed like all that changed when Zeke graduated and suddenly had choices. It also meant Cross spent a lot less time as friends with Zeke, and more time under Wolf’s thumb being mentored.

“You are dumb,” Zeke said, drawing out the word, “like capital fucking D kind of dumb, Cross. Dante Marcello is going to enjoy killing your dumb ass when he finds out you shacked up with his fifteen-year-old daughter all weekend while he was gone. I will remember to let you know I told you so at your funeral, by the way.”

“She’s almost sixteen, now,” Cross said.