by Bethany-Kris
He smirked.
Catherine waved it all off.
“It’s all good, anyway,” Catherine said.
“I know,” her husband replied in that knowing way of his.
So smug.
Damn arrogant.
Cross would never change.
“She offered to take Cece,” Catherine said after a minute.
Cross’s gaze darted to hers. “Take her for what?”
“She and Dad would take Cece out of the state or country, if we needed them to.”
“For safety purposes, you mean.”
“Yeah.”
Catherine could see just how much Cross disliked that idea. She also knew they might not have a choice. For the moment, they were good in the safe house, but that couldn’t last forever. At some point, their location would get noticed, and then it would make the rounds back to the Russians.
It couldn’t be avoided forever.
It was now a waiting game.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Cross murmured.
“Yet, it sounds like someone just kicked your puppy.”
He chuckled dryly, while Catherine closed the distance between them to snuggle against his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she patted his scruffy cheek with her palm.
“I feel like she’s been gone more often than she’s been with me lately, Catherine. You, too. I don’t like that.”
“Once this is all over—”
“You’ll go back to work like you do, and she’ll want to go along. In a couple of years, she’ll be in school half the fucking day. She needs to go back to being a baby again, that’s all.”
“Not possible.”
Cross scowled, but said nothing. His love for Cece was sickeningly cute.
Catherine adored it.
He tipped his head down, and buried his face into Catherine’s hair. It made his voice muffled when he spoke, but she still managed to hear the words loud enough. “Tell your parents we might take them up on that offer.”
“Okay.”
“Any other news?”
“Andino called this morning when you were in the shower.”
Cross glowered at the wall. “A couple of days late, isn’t he?”
“Hey, at least he did eventually call.”
“With an apology?”
“Actually, he asked if I would meet up with him tomorrow for lunch.”
Cross’s bad mood was back in an instant. Catherine could see it in her husband’s eyes, and the hard set of his tensing jaw.
“I figured I could meet up with him at the park when Katya and I take Cece for a walk and go for coffee.”
Catherine had decided to finally meet up with the Russian girl. Also, Cece had been asking about her Uncle Zeke for a while. It was time to get all that shit sorted. She had also told Cross they had to let Katya in, so she was going to try to do just that.
“You’ll have enforcers from both sides, then,” Cross said more to himself than her. “That makes me feel slightly better. More you being out, than you with Andino.”
“Don’t worry about me and Andino. Take no shit, right?”
Cross looked down at her, and then nodded once. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Peace offering?”
Andino held out the to-go cup usually used for coffee, and Catherine eyed the item curiously. “Depends on what’s in it, frankly.”
“Not poison, thanks.”
“No, I meant what is it?”
“Well, a little bird mentioned caffeine isn’t good for women in your condition.”
Catherine gave him a look. “Condition, really? You have two kids, and your wife is pregnant again, and you call it a condition, Andino?”
“I was trying to be polite. According to Dante, I have no business knowing that you’re pregnant to begin with. When I mentioned bringing you a coffee to soften you up, he let the news slip. Also, it’s a fucking hot chocolate. Take it and like it.”
She snatched the cup from her cousin’s hand, and sipped from the spout hole in the top. The sweetened, hot liquid flooded her tongue.
“Peace offering accepted, asshole.”
Andino smirked. “Thanks.”
“You called my father?”
“Actually, I called Catrina.”
That did surprise Catherine.
“Yet, you talked to my dad,” she said.
“Only after Catrina reminded me she has no patience for my shit,” Andino replied with a dry laugh.
“I love my mother.”
Andino made a noise in the back of his throat. “I bet you do.”
Walking along the pathway around the park, the two cousins stayed side by side. Andino hadn’t brought his daughters along, but that was because he had work to do after their meeting. Or so he said.
Across the park, Catherine could see Cece running away from Zeke as he tossed a small slushy snowball at her. Acting as Cece’s bodyguard and snowball thrower to fend off Zeke’s attack, was Katya. Instantly, Cece had taken to the woman. Catherine thought it might take a little urging from her and Zeke, but nope.
Katya was a soft-spoken, yet happy woman. Catherine hadn’t really gotten the chance to have a conversation with Zeke’s wife—and the cause of one of their issues—but she figured she didn’t need to. Cece liked her. That was enough for Catherine.
Right now, anyway.
Later, Catherine was hoping to get that conversation with Katya. She wanted to learn more about her, and make friends. After all this was over, Katya would be a part of their lives. Catherine at least owed it to the woman to let her in.
Being it was early March, they wouldn’t have snow for much longer. Soon, the rain would come in to make a damn mess until the flowers began to grow. She had made sure to bundle Cece up well so she wouldn’t catch a damn cold. That was the last thing she needed.
“And then Dante kindly reminded me that while I am in fact an asshole, you—”
“Be very careful with your next words, Andino.”
He shook his head. “You were raised by them.”
Catherine sipped from her drink to hide her smile.
“I’m very accustomed to bulling my way in this business, Catty,” Andino said when she stayed silent, “because that’s what’s gotten me everything I wanted, and where I am now. Before, everyone saw me as … the laidback one, never too severe, and always taking care of someone else before I ever took care of me and mine. All that allowed was for people to walk all over me, and so being this way is simply easier.”
“You can’t bull your way through shit with me.”
Andino nodded. “Can’t, or shouldn’t?”
“You know what, it’s both.”
“Noted.”
Catherine stopped walking, and turned to face her cousin with a smile. “Listen, what matters is that you respect me at the end of the day, Andino. As your family. As a business partner with the Three Families. And as the head of my own organization. Otherwise, you’re going to force my hand when you push my limits a little too far.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
“If you can’t respect me, then I will teach you how to. Trust me when I say that is not a road either of us want to travel.”
Silence stretched on between them. Still, Catherine saw the flash of admiration in her cousin’s gaze before he glanced away.
“Threats, huh?” he asked.
“Promises, actually.”
“I worked some numbers with John on the cocaine thing, by the way.”
Catherine’s gaze narrowed. “Ten percent more is not that bad, Andino.”
“It’s actually only about three percent higher when you factor in the costs of moving it from where they plan to drop a shipment to our territory.”
“Oh?”
“Just about three percent, yeah. I mean, those are detail numbers, but you know how I am.”
“Details are where the money is at.”
Andino grinned. “Usually. You made
a good deal, Catty. Grazie.”
She smiled right back. “Just don’t forget that I can take it away, Andino.”
“Also noted.”
Catherine looked back across the park for her daughter, Katya, and Zeke. She didn’t immediately see them where they had been playing just moments before. Her gaze swept over the crowd at the playground once, then twice, before her heart rate picked up.
“Where did they go?”
Andino turned to look, too.
“Where is my daughter?” Catherine asked.
“Hey, don’t stress, Catty. She was with Zeke and his wife just a second ago. I’m sure—”
“Katya! Cece!”
Zeke’s shouts carried from the parking lot. Catherine turned in that direction only to see her husband’s best friend’s back as he ran into the lot full of cars.
Then, pops of gunfire shattered the peace of the park. Screams from kids and parents pierced the air as panic swelled, and people began to run. That hot chocolate Andino brought along spilled across Catherine’s suede boots, and stained the snowy ground as it dropped from her hand.
Catherine didn’t even think about it; she bolted in the same direction Zeke had gone. Andino was right behind her.
All she heard were her heartbeats.
They sounded like someone was whispering, “Cece, Cece … Cece.”
“Mr. Donati, we need you to sit down and have an interview with us about today’s attack. We have every reason to believe that it is related to the one on your—”
Cross put his hand up in the face of the detective, and walked on past, saying only, “You have my lawyer’s number; call him.”
“We have sent for a child forensic psychologist to sit down with your daughter, Cross. You may want to reconsider chatting with us.”
Instantly, Cross stopped walking. He turned so fast, his fucking vision blurred from the speed. Rage and hate filled his heart as he faced the smirking detective and the man’s partner. He didn’t know their names, and frankly, he didn’t give a fuck to learn.
“You will not be questioning my daughter,” Cross said through clenched teeth. “Let me make that one thing perfectly fucking clear. Under no circumstances will my wife or I sign off on anything that allows you to speak with Cece. Not now, and not ever.”
His daughter was too smart, and too observant for her own good. He knew without a doubt Cece likely understood what had happened today. She simply might not have the right vocabulary yet to explain it.
He was not going to allow her to talk to cops. He didn’t fucking talk to cops, for that matter. None of them did.
“She was a witness to—”
“She is barely beyond her third birthday!”
“Which is why the child forensic psychologist was called in. This particular one specializes in Cece’s age group. You cannot impede our investigations.”
“You will not be questioning my daughter,” Cross repeated.
Hatred coated his every word.
The detective barely batted an eye.
“We think differently, Mr. Donati.”
“I said what I said, asshole. This conversation is done.”
With that said, Cross turned on his heel and headed further into the hospital. He heard the detective call at his back. The fools still expected some kind of agreeable response from him, but he had news for them. Holding his hand high over his shoulder, he flipped his middle finger up and left it like that until he rounded a corner.
There.
Let them make of that what they wanted.
He would handle this little issue of the Russians. Today was his absolute last straw, no questions asked. He didn’t even know the whole story about what had happened, as he immediately came to the hospital when he got the call. He didn’t even wait on the phone long enough to ask for details.
The only thing that had mattered was Andino made it perfectly clear Cece and Catherine were all right. The rest, Cross would deal with once he was there.
Well, now he was.
And it was time to deal with it all.
Cross was not going to give the Russians one more chance to mess with his family or organization. As it was, they had already made the streets practically impossible to safely work on for his men. They had put his family into hiding, which had done no good, it seemed. The very first moment Catherine and Cece left the brownstone, they were easily found.
Someone had been watching, probably.
Besides his family, and the Donati men, there was also the constant problems and issues that had been thrown at Zeke and Katya from Vlad, his men, and the one Russian who thought he owned the woman. Timur. Apparently, that one was a lot bolder in his threats and actions, but Zeke had asked that he be allowed to handle keeping Katya safe while they figured out the rest.
So much for all of that, Cross thought as he headed toward the ICU wing. The time for keeping people safe was over, he suspected.
It was time to act.
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?”
Zeke cleared his throat. “Under Katya.”
Oh.
The bullet in the back.
She had saved his daughter, and was willing to sacrifice her own life to do it. Cross no longer thought he needed to find something about Katya to make this whole shit-show worth the effort and trouble. She had done that all on her own, really.
“Cece is—”
“With my mother and father, currently,” Cross interjected. “I asked she be taken there from the hospital when I got the call.”
“Oh.”
“It’s time to end this fucking nonsense.”
Zeke agreed. “Not sure how, though.”
“I’m starting to like that whole idea we were given about just going in, getting business done, and cleaning damn house all at once.”
“Even with the police attention like it is right now?”
“Even with that, man.”
“Dangerous.”
“So are they, clearly,” Cross said with a gesture in Katya’s direction.
The woman was still talking to Catherine, and neither of the two women seemed to notice the men were knee-deep in conversation at the moment. Cross was fine with that. He could fill Catherine in on all the details later.
“We know the Russians never gather in large groups,” Cross said.
“Not at the same time, no.”
“So an attack like that, where we just hit them all at the same time, is basically impossible. But we do know who the main heads of the organization are.”
