by Kaylea Cross
“Hani, for Christ’s sake—”
He spun away, his heart in pieces. The thought of going through life without even his tutu there for him was like a knife to the chest, but if it kept her and Kai safe, that was all that mattered.
“Hani.”
He’d only taken two steps toward the door when movement caught his attention from the shadows to the left of his place.
A woman. Her unblinking gaze fixed on him in a way that made the hair on his nape stand on end. She was lifting her arm, had something in her hand.
Gun.
“This is for my daughter,” she rasped out before he could move or say anything, and raised the weapon.
Hani sucked in a breath and reached back for the weapon in his waistband as he spun back toward Kai. “Get down!” he yelled, hand closing over the grip of his pistol.
Kai took a step toward him instead of away, face set in a hard expression. Heroic bastard was going to try to shield him.
No! Hani launched at him just as the shots rang out from behind.
It felt like a sledgehammer slammed into his back. Once, twice. Three times.
Deep, burning agony ripped through him, stealing his breath. He hit the cool concrete facedown. The woman was still shooting.
Strong hands grabbed the back of his jacket and dragged him behind the bed of his truck. Hani gasped and bucked. Can’t breathe. Four more shots pinged off the back of it. Then silence.
Kai pulled Hani’s weapon from his hand. Hani lay there sprawled out on his belly, struggling to breathe. But there was no air. Only pain. A white, fiery anguish while he battled to suck oxygen into his burning lungs. He panicked. Thrashed.
Strong hands turned him over. Propped him up. Held his face.
“Hani. Hani, look at me.”
He struggled to focus his eyes. He tasted blood in his mouth, smelled the metallic edge to it as it bubbled out of his nose. A horrible wheezing sound happened every time he inhaled, choking on his own blood.
Kai’s face was inches from his, those dark eyes so like his own, desperate. “Hani. Hold on. I’ve got help on the way.” With one hand he held a cell phone to his ear.
Hani fought to stay alert, his breathing a tiny bit easier now that he was upright. The shooter. Where was she?
Kai had pulled off his shirt and was pressing it to the exit wounds on Hani’s chest. The pressure hurt. He looked down at himself, at the river of blood pouring out of his body, already pooling around his lap.
I’m dying.
A bolt of terror ripped through him. He grabbed for one of Kai’s wrists, clung desperately. He was too young to die. And he didn’t want to go like this. “C-can’t…breathe,” he choked.
“You’re doing fine, man. I’m right here, I’m not leaving.” Kai scanned the area where the woman had just been.
Hani pictured her face. He’d seen her around lately, couldn’t remember where. Was she the woman who’d been asking about him?
Kai was speaking to someone on the phone, relaying Hani’s situation and address. Still here. Trying to save him even after what Hani had said and done. Trying to save him even though the shooter was still out there somewhere. Might be coming back for another attack.
The bounty.
Oh, Jesus, no. He shook his head, the slight motion sapping his rapidly dwindling energy reserves. “G-go,” he begged Kai.
Kai set the phone down and applied more pressure on the shirt against Hani’s chest. “Not going anywhere. Just stay with me. Nice, slow breaths.” His voice was steady. Calm, giving Hani a moment’s hope that he had a chance. “Ambulance will be here in a few minutes.”
The tiny flame of hope inside him snuffed out, leaving an icy darkness in its wake. He would be dead by then. And Kai…the woman might kill Kai too.
Hani had to save his cousin before it was too late.
KAI’S HEART SLAMMED out of control as he knelt in front of Hani, applying pressure to the wounds in his cousin’s chest, and keeping an eye out for the armed female. She’d disappeared between Hani’s townhome and the one next door, and Kai had been too busy trying to save his cousin to track her.
The wounds were bad. Hani was losing so much damn blood, and the pressure Kai applied wasn’t helping. But he’d be goddamned if he was just going to sit here and watch his cousin bleed out in front of him.
“Hani,” he said sharply when those deep brown eyes began to glaze over. “Hani, I need you to stay awake, okay? Just look at me and keep breathing nice and slow.” He shoved down the panic at the sight of the blood frothing from his cousin’s nose, mouth and chest, covering the black tribal tattoos that were almost identical to his own. They’d gotten them together when Kai graduated from high school.
Brothers, Hani had said proudly afterward. Forever.
Hani’s fingers were still around Kai’s wrist, but the grip was weakening with every minute. “Kai,” he rasped, then coughed, flailed as he choked on his own blood, the panic on his face ripping Kai’s insides to shreds.
He locked one hand around Hani’s nape, leaned closer until their faces were mere inches apart. “I’m right here, man. Not going anywhere. You’re gonna be fine.” God dammit, where was the fucking ambulance? If it didn’t get here soon, it would be too late.
Hani shuddered and opened his eyes. Tears spilled free, tracking down his cheeks, mixing with the blood in pink rivulets that dripped onto his bloody chest. “N-no,” he wheezed, agony etched into his face.
Kai’s chest compressed. “Yes, you are. Don’t you dare give up on me.”
Hani’s eyes cleared a little at the authoritative tone, then clouded again. “You…not…s-safe,” he gasped.
“The shooter’s gone. It’s all right, I’m keeping an eye out.” Though most of his concentration was on Hani.
He shook his head again, this time with more force, irritation creeping into his expression. “G-go.”
“No.” The word was flat. Final. “Who was she, Hani? The woman who shot you.” She’d said it was for her daughter. What the hell did she mean?
“Dunno…” He clamped his fingers down on Kai’s wrist, squeezed with a strength that had to cost him. “Danger. B-bounty…on you.” He wheezed in a horrible, gurgling breath, shuddered, his body seeming to sag. “Venenos.”
More ice spread through Kai’s gut, Hani’s words confirming his worst fear. Hani was definitely connected with the cartel. And the bounty had been reissued here. “I’m not leaving you, Hani.” Fuck them and their fucking bounty. “Save your strength. You can tell me later.”
The grip on his wrist was weakening now, Hani’s breathing slower. More labored. “S-sorry said…all that.” His eyelids began to droop. He fought to open them, stared at Kai. “P-protect…you…”
A rush of tears burned Kai’s eyes, his throat tightening. It all made sense now. Horrific, terrible sense. “I know.” He squeezed Hani’s nape, tried to somehow force some of his strength into his cousin’s failing body. “I know, man.”
Hani’s eyes glazed over, his face going lax. “Don’t…hate,” he mumbled. “Love…you…”
Jesus, no, please… “Love you too, man. Now hold on. Hani, please, hold on for me,” he begged, his voice ragged. “The sirens are coming. Hear them? Ambulance is almost here.”
Hani’s gaze shifted to his once more, clung for a second. “T-take…Tutu. Keep…safe.” Then his eyes went hazy, the lids sliding closed.
Fuck this. No. “Hani.” Kai gave him a little shake.
No response.
“Hani! Goddamn it, you open your eyes and look at me.”
Nothing. Then Hani crumpled, his body sagging as though someone had unplugged an invisible power supply.
All but choking on the lump in his throat, Kai slid the hand at Hani’s nape to the carotid pulse point beneath the angle of his jaw. Only a slight flicker met his fingertips as the sound of the approaching sirens grew louder in the distance. Then it disappeared altogether.
No!
The denial w
as loud as a shout in Kai’s head, his entire body rebelling at the evidence in front of him. He grabbed Hani’s shoulders, lowered his upper body to the ground and immediately started chest compressions, determined to keep his cousin’s heart beating.
He worked hard and fast, the muscles in his arms and shoulders burning, sweat beading on his face and chest. He didn’t stop to check for a pulse. Couldn’t, all his focus on the compressions.
The ambulance crew finally arrived. Kai was panting, bent over Hani and still hard at work as he relayed information to the paramedics. One checked for a pulse. Shook his head.
Kai refused to stop, kept going while they got the defibrillator ready. Panting, he eased back only when they had the paddles ready. He held his breath, his entire chest aching as the charge built in the machine.
They shocked him.
Hani’s torso arched and fell. His eyes were still closed, his lips open now, blood continuing to pool around him. Kai’s knees and hands were soaked with it.
They shocked him again.
A tiny blip appeared on the display screen.
Kai stared at the machine, heart in his throat, a burst of hope swelling inside his ribcage. Come on, come on, please…
Another shock. Hani arched again, then sagged.
This time there was no answering blip.
They kept working on him. Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.
Finally, the paramedic eased back onto his heels, looked up at Kai. Icy numbness spread through Kai’s chest at the look in those pale blue eyes. “He’s gone,” the man said quietly.
Kai sucked in a ragged breath, then a horrible, wounded sound ripped from his chest. He was shaking all over, his muscles quivering like plucked elastic bands.
“I’m sorry.”
He didn’t answer the man, just stared down at his cousin’s still face. Hani had been trying to force him away for Kai’s own safety. Had been trying to protect him. And now he was dead, shot by some woman who may or may not be affiliated to the Venenos.
The paramedic watched him in silence for a few moments. “Is there someone we can call for you?”
Jaw tight, Kai shook his head. With one last look at his cousin, he forced himself to his feet, swaying a second before he staggered off to the curb and dropped onto it like a sack of cement.
Part of him was numb. But inside him, a deep, burning rage intensified, twining with a rapidly swelling wave of grief. When it hit him, it would take him so far under he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find the surface again.
His stomach twisted as he shifted to pull his phone out of his pocket. He needed to call his tutu and tell her about Hani. But not yet. He couldn’t bear it. There was only one person he wanted to talk to right now.
He dialed her number with a shaking finger, held the phone to his ear while it rang. And when she picked up, something inside him cracked wide open.
He squeezed his eyes shut, dropped his head and sucked back a sob, managed to croak out her name before his voice broke. “Abby.”
Chapter Fifteen
At the pain in Kai’s voice, Abby jackknifed upright on the chaise out on the lanai. “What’s wrong?” she blurted, dropping her e-reader and putting her hand to her chest, right over her racing heart.
He made a choked sound and she shot off the chaise, shoving the sliding glass door to her suite open and stepping inside.
“Kai?” she said urgently after a pause, fear curling inside her. “Are you all right?”
“No,” he rasped out.
Oh my God. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Just…”
“What?” My God, what had happened? She rushed to the bathroom, dumped her robe on the floor and started pulling on a pair of jeans, her phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
“Hani,” he managed after a moment. “He’s dead.”
She froze, hands on the button of her jeans. “What?” she gasped.
“A woman shot him. I was standing there talking to him, and she came out of nowhere, opened fire on us.”
Jesus. “Where are you?”
“His place. The ambulance and cops just got here.”
So he was sitting there while Hani’s body lay just a short distance away. Oh, Kai… “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” She ached for him. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. I just… I wanted to call you.”
“Do you want me to meet you there?”
“No. I don’t want you to see any of this.”
His refusal stung, but she shoved it aside. This wasn’t even a little bit about her right now. “Okay. Can I call anyone for you?”
“No. Thanks,” he added. “I’ve gotta talk to the cops and go to the hospital to get everything taken care of. Then I have to go tell my tutu that—” His voice broke, and so did her heart. Tears rushed to her eyes, his pain echoing clearly across the line.
“I’m here if you need anything, okay? Call me if you want me to meet you at the hospital.” she said softly.
“Okay.” A pause, and he dragged in a shaky breath. “I gotta go.”
“’Kay. Talk to you later?”
“Yeah. Bye.”
“Bye.” She hung up, a lead weight in the center of her chest. She wished she were there so she could wrap her arms around him and somehow ease the pain. God, he shouldn’t be alone right now. He’d gone there to make peace with Hani, and instead had seen him gunned down in cold blood.
****
Kai’s heart sunk into the pit of his stomach as he climbed the two front steps to his tutu’s house hours later. At the door, he stopped, unable to twist the knob.
He’d never imagined having to do anything like this. Once he walked inside, everything would change. And he didn’t think he could bear to see his beloved tutu’s reaction to what he had to tell her.
Hani. You need to do this for Hani. The words burned inside him, strengthening his resolve.
Gathering his courage, he took a few deep breaths, steadied himself and walked in. The quiet sound of the TV came from the living room. He slipped off his shoes and walked down the hall, his legs and chest like lead.
His tutu smiled at him from the couch when he walked in. “Hi.” The smile quickly faded when he just stood there, face grim. “What’s wrong?” she asked, frowning in concern. “Did something happen with Abby?”
God, it hurt that she was so concerned about his happiness. “No.” He swallowed and crossed to the couch, sinking down beside her and taking her hand. It was so small folded in his own. Fragile and wrinkled, age spots on the back. He made himself hold her gaze, unable to shield her from the pain he was about to inflict, or ease the fear in her eyes.
“Something terrible’s happened,” he said in a rough voice. “And there’s no easy way to say it.”
She stared back at him in alarm, her fingers curling in his. “What is it?”
It took every bit of strength he had to say the words. “Hani’s gone.”
She jerked, shock and confusion filling her eyes. “Gone?”
Kai nodded, aching inside. “He died a few hours ago, Tutu. I’m sorry.” He could barely get the last bit out his throat was so tight.
She jerked her hand from his, shook her head in denial. “What? No. I just talked to him when he was on his way home…”
He set his jaw. He’d debated how much to tell her on the way up here from the hospital, had planned to spare her all the details he could. “He’s gone, Tutu. I was there.”
A grief-stricken, terror-filled wail shot out of her. She jumped to her feet, stood there staring down at him in disbelief, shaking all over. “No! No, not Hani. Not my sweet Hani…”
When Kai stared back at her helplessly, the tears started. Great, gut-wrenching sobs that tore from her chest and ripped his heart open with their agony.
Cursing inwardly, Kai got up and went to her, pulled her to him. “I’m sorry.” Sorry I couldn’t save him. Sorry that I didn’t realize how much trouble he was in. Sorry I couldn’t stop it.
She slammed a frail hand against his chest, grabbed his shirt with both fists and shook him, staring up into his face, her cheeks streaked with tears. “How? How did this happen?”
Fuck. She was going to find out eventually, but he’d hoped it wouldn’t be tonight. He couldn’t lie to her though. “He was shot.”
Her horrified cry made more tears burn the backs of his eyes. “No!”
Kai slid a hand to the back of her head and tucked it into his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling helpless for the second time that night. “So sorry.”
“Hani,” she wailed, the shrillness of it sending a cold shiver corkscrewing up his spine. “My poor Hani, oh, God, why!”
“It was fast,” he added quickly, not giving a shit that it was a lie. He was willing to say anything that might lessen the pain for her. “He didn’t suffer. And I was with him right until the end. He said to tell you he loved you.” He choked on the last words, overcome by a tidal wave of grief. Burying his face in her soft, white hair, he held on tight and fought to breathe.
His tutu clung to him and sobbed out her unimaginable loss, her hot tears soaking the front of his shirt.
****
Not knowing what the hell to do with herself, Abby paced around her room. It had already been a long day before Kai’s awful phone call. Up to that point she’d so been looking forward to hearing from him once he finished up with Hani, hoping everything went well and they’d smoothed things over. Never had she imagined something like this would happen.
It was understandable that Kai didn’t want her there right now. They were still new. Neither one of them was sure what the boundaries or rules were yet. He was still in shock and had so much to deal with. Talking with the police. Giving a statement at the local station. Handling everything that came with Hani being placed in the morgue. Then telling his poor grandma what had happened.
