Page 124 of Unruly

Cross stepped into the ICU room, and his gaze immediately found the woman in the bed. IVs hooked to her arm. A line of oxygen went to her nose. Katya was already a light-skinned, pale woman, but now she was almost gray in pallor. Still, her gray eyes were wide and clear, focused on the person speaking to her.

Catherine.

“You’re sure she’s—”

“I promise,” Catherine said with a smile, “Cece is just fine, Katya. She is.”

“I’m sorry.”

Catherine grabbed hold of the young woman’s hand, and held tight. “Don’t be sorry. She’s fine because of you. That’s what matters.”

Cross slid in beside Zeke along the wall. He didn’t think he had ever seen his friend so silently seething, yet he was. Zoned out, glaring out the window of the hospital room, and seemingly totally unaware that Cross was even standing there with him.

He didn’t blame his friend.

He would be the same way, likely.

“Care to fill me in on the details?” Cross asked.

Zeke sighed, and his gaze slid to Cross. “Catherine was walking with Andino around the park. We were on the other side tossing snowballs back and forth.”

“All right.”

“Cece’s mittens were soaked, and her hands were cold. I knew Catherine had brought along extra mittens for Cece—she told me they were in the car if we needed them. Catherine had parked at one side. We parked at the other. I ran to grab the mittens. I figured it would be fine because the enforcers were close by.”

“It wasn’t okay,” Cross assumed.

“The Russians don’t care; that’s what fucking happened. They’re too bold, too brazen. Two of them walked right up to Katya while I was gone. A gun to her. A gun to Cece. Walked her straight out to the other parking lot by using Cece as a threat.”

Cross had stiffened all over at the image of a gun being pointed at his child. Still, he kept quiet and let Zeke explain what he knew about what went down earlier.

“The enforcers were at a safe distance, trying to step in without getting one of the two hurt in the process. By that time, I realized Katya and Cece were gone, and bolted for the parking lot. I only got there after the shots. I guess once they had her near the car, they stopped pretending like they gave a fuck about what happened to Cece.”

A slow, heavy stream of air blew from Cross’s mouth. It was the only way he could keep the rage building inside his heart at a manageable level.

Time and a place, he kept telling himself. There was always a time and a place for his violence, and this was not it. Soon …

“They were going to kill Cece anyway?” Cross asked quietly.

Zeke nodded. “Katya got out of the one guy’s hold, and ended up taking two bullets for it. One to her back. One to her arm. The one in her arm is out—she’s going into surgery in two hours for the one in her back. They needed her blood pressure and anxiety stabilized first. She just wanted …”

“What?”

His friend shrugged. “To hear Cece was okay, I guess.”

“So that’s it?”

“Once the shots fired, the enforcers went in. People in the parking lot and park were running and screaming everywhere. They traded more bullets.”

Cross cursed lowly.

Police attention was going to be at an all-time high, now. He fucking hated that, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it for the moment. Deal with the fuckers, he supposed. Divert their attention. Get business done on the low, somehow.

It sucked.

“Two Donati enforcers are dead,” Zeke murmured, “and the Russians bolted when they realized they were outnumbered. Katya was passed out on the ground, and shit was going bad. I think they assumed she was dead.”

Cross’s gaze drifted across the room. “Where was Cece then?”