“What’s his name, Caity?”
“He’ll protect her, Ci. Remember that.” Her pleading eyes met mine and I groaned. I knew I wouldn’t like the answer to my question.
“Who. Is. It?”
“Rurik.”
“I hope I have a heart attack!” the man on the other side of the room yelled.
Me too, buddy, me fuckin’ too!
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then I took another. I kept my eyes closed trying to control my temper. It wasn’t working. I glared at the woman I loved. The mother of my child. Her calmness unnerved me. I knew she knew who RurikfuckingRyabkin was. Yet she sat on the bed, holding my hand as if she didn’t just tell me my daughter was essentially being stalked by a motherfucking Russian bastard.
“You do understand he’s our fuckin’ age?” I asked, my teeth clenching so tightly it caused my jaw to ache.
“What I understand is our daughter has a man who’s in love with her, a man who will protect her. There is a reason Sylvia went after you. She knew she wasn’t powerful enough to go up against the Bratva. Let’s be thankful for that right now. Once Sylvia has been dealt with, we can deal with Maddie and Rurik.”
“Caity—” I began but was cut off by a sudden yell.
“MY EYES!”
A nurse came rushing in and immediately went to the other side of the curtain. “John, what’s going on?”
“Could I get a drink of water?” he asked, his voice syrupy sweet.
Caity and I looked at each, and I mouthed,What the fuck?She shrugged, confused as I was.
“Yes, John, but you can’t yell. You have a roommate who needs it quiet so he can rest and heal. Use your call button.” the nurse told him. When she walked by us, she mouthed,I’m so sorry.
As soon as she left the room, he began mumbling, “Fucking bitch wouldn’t give me any water. I’m gonna burn this hospital down.”
A knock on the door pulled our attention from the man behind the curtain. Sal, Duncan, and Mac walked in.
“Where’s Freyja?” Caity asked.
“I had Aidan take her home,” Duncan answered. “She said she’ll come see you tomorrow and bring her cards.” The fucker grinned at me because we both knew Freyja wasn’t talking about playing cards. She didn’t want to keep me company playing poker or gin rummy.
No, she was bringing her fucking tarot cards.
She’d been pestering all of us to let her do a reading. And now she had a victim who couldn’t get up and walk away from her.
“Don’t piss of the witch; she’ll put a curse on you,” Mac stage-whispered on the side of his hand. Duncan punched him in the shoulder, and he took two steps sideways to prevent his fall.
“What the fuck happened, Ci?” Sal asked, sobering us all.
“Ty got the jump on me. I was distracted and not paying attention to my surroundings.”
“Distracted by what?” Duncan asked.
“He was chasing after Caity and Dread,” Sal deadpanned as he glared at me.
“Caity and Dread?”
Caity quickly explained about their lunch. Mac grinned, and Duncan had the decency to at least try to hide his smirk behind his hand.
“He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the alley. He hit me over the head with something, and I woke up tied to a chair in the basement. I didn’t even know it was Ty until then.”
“I wonder how long he’s been working with Sylvia,” Caity mused absently.
