“That’s what you get,” she whispered to him as she sat down on the loveseat.
“I thought you were supposed to be the bad guy.”
“Never with my son,” Honey said as she looked at her child fondly, who set up the app on TV for them to watch the movie. It wasn’t long before the movie was on the screen, and Nikos found himself watching Captain America: Civil War with a beautiful woman a few feet from him. But there was no Netflix and Chill, and they all watched the movie together, pointing out their favorite parts and stuffing themselves with Honey’s good food until Nikos dozed off.
He didn’t wake up again until the credits were rolling and his phone vibrated against his thigh. Nikos blearily looked around him, processing that he was still in Honey’s apartment before noticing that she had dozed off too, with soft snores emitting from her as she snuggled herself on the love seat with a furthrow covering her. Nikos then realized that there was a blanket thrown over himself and Kai, who was sprawled out next to him with his head on his thigh. Nikos gingerly moved Kai’s head to grab his phone which was ringing for the second time. When he saw Christos’s name, he immediately answered it.
“What’s up?” Nikos asked hoarsely as he yawned.
“The raid went wrong, and Antonis is in the hospital right now.”
Nikos’s eyes widened as he nearly stood up in shock until he remembered that Kai was there.
“Whatever you’re doing right now, drop it and come to the hospital now. This is serious.”
“Okay,” Nikos acknowledged.
“I’ll send you the address.”
Nikos remained seated, so stunned that he didn’t even see Honey shift in his peripheral vision.
“What’s wrong?” Honey asked sleepily. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’ve got to go,” Nikos announced as he shook himself out of his stupor. He swiftly moved out from under Kai without waking him up before he gingerly grabbed him.
“You don’t have to,” Honey started to say, but Nikos ignored her as he picked Kai up.
“Where’s his room?”
Honey led him there, and Nikos put Kai into his hot wheels bed. Honey tucked her son under the covers tenderly, kissing his forehead before they both left the room.
“I would stay to help you clean up, but I have an emergency. I’ll make it up to you,” Nikos said as he grabbed his things.
“It’s fine. You’re my guest. Don’t worry about it,” Honey said as she looked at him worriedly. “Are you okay?”
Nikos couldn’t tell Honey that his uncle was in the hospital, especially without knowing the details of why his uncle was there. But the cryptic way Christos called him said more than words ever could, and he knew that Antonis had to be in bad shape to receive a call like that. But until he had confirmation, he didn’t need rumors and panic spreading at the club. Honey didn’t seem like the gossip type and only had a handful of friends at the club, but this wasn’t the type of information that you could just tell anyone.
“I’m fine,” Nikos assured. “I’ll see you at the club tomorrow.”
Nikos took his leave without looking back as he raced out of the building, having a bad feeling building in the pit of his gut that he wouldn’t like the news he would receive when he entered that hospital.
C H A P T E R
17
WHEN NIKOS ENTERED THE HOSPITAL, ALL HE SMELLED WAS DEATH. The entrance was rife with it, and he nearly turned around and left, getting a bad ominous feeling in his gut. The small private hospital that Christos had given him directions to was filled with patients who were stained with blood and had gaping wounds, most of whom he could recognize as his uncle’s crew.
Shaking away his stupor, Nikos mindlessly went to the front desk to speak to the receptionist until he saw Christos down the hall from the corner of his eye. He sped down the hall without a word and came to a halt in front of Christos, breathing heavily. After getting the call, he hadn’t wasted a second coming overhere from Honey’s place. According to his navigation system, the drive was supposed to take over an hour, but Nikos had managed to get there in a little over thirty minutes, though he knew he would receive some speeding tickets in the mail soon.
The call had shocked him, but what shocked Nikos, even more, was the grave expression on Christos’s face that promised nothing good. Nikos glanced around, seeing the rest of his uncle’s crew littering the hallway, posted up against the wall, and sitting on the available chairs. An air of defeat peppered the room, leaving the entire hall thick with tension that Nikos felt. It yanked at his neck, making him feel guilty for missing out on what took place tonight, even if it was a blessing that he hadn’t been there.
“What happened?” Nikos asked.
Tonight had been a night of surprises for him. He hadn’t expected to get into a fight. He hadn’t expected to get sliced by a knife. He hadn’t expected to eat dinner at Honey’s home, and he definitely hadn’t expected to be at a hospital at one o’clock in the morning either. And yet, here he was, waiting for Christos to tell him the grim story of why half of his uncle’s crew was in the hospital and the other half missing.
“We were set up and ambushed,” Christos said plainly as he ran his fingers through his hair, the blond strands turning red from the blood caked on his hands. “We went there tonight to the place where we were told that Ricardo would be, but instead, we were met with double the men we had.”
“Damn,” Nikos cursed, imagining the shock they must have felt. “She lied.”
