Page 107 of Unruly

The house was empty without her.

His heart was lonely.

As much as he didn’t want to, Cross pulled away. Catherine pouted, and he quickly kissed the tip of her nose.

“Love you,” he told her.

Catherine’s gaze softened more. “Love you. Now, what happened to my house?”

Cross laughed, but it came out strained. “It’ll be fixed within a couple of weeks.”

“Oh?”

“After the cops get done peeking inside.”

Catherine scowled. “What?”

“Everything that needed to go was cleared out before they got there. I’ve been assured by the lawyer that they can’t go digging into our belongings, anyway, but just in case … shit was moved.”

“Interviews?”

Cross shook his head. “Deflected through our lawyers.”

Catherine let out a little sigh. “What a damn mess.”

“Yeah, babe.”

“The Russians?”

“Without a doubt,” Cross said.

He had more than enough time to think about the shooting of their home, and it bothered him a lot. The more time passed, the more it irritated him.

Cece likely would have been in that kitchen with him. Probably driving around in her mini Beamer like she had done every morning since Christmas. Catherine would have been cooking at the stove, had she been home, too.

He could have lost his wife and child.

Vlad Sokolov’s threats were very real.

“Actually, it might be more than a couple of weeks,” Cross said after a moment.

Catherine reached up to stroke his jawline with two of her warm fingertips. “You’re tense all of the sudden.”

“I was thinking. Anyway, you know the metal safeguard on the kitchen island?”

She nodded.

“That was the only reason I am still alive,” Cross said.

Color drained of Catherine’s cheeks. He didn’t particularly want or mean to frighten his wife, or worry her, but she was going to find out either way. He would much rather be the person who told her what actually went down.

“It was that bad?”

“It was that bad,” he said with a shrug. “I was thinking with the renovations I might have some more safeguards put behind the main walls. Some bulletproof glass. You know, just in case.”

“Just in case,” she echoed.

Cross glanced down at Cece, and discovered she was snoring softly against his neck. Someone had been tired. “I was lucky because of where I was standing. Anywhere else in that kitchen, or the living room at the front, and we would have most definitely taken a bullet. So, lesson learned.”