Senga stops and stares at me with a stern look on her face. "Do you really want your friends to be involved and get hurt?" she asks with a raised, blonde brow.
Shaking my head, she nods in satisfaction. Then she says, "Let's go," with so much authority that I have to wonder if this really is the little sister I left behind in Russia all those years ago.
On the way through the hospital and out a side door exit, three men that I didn't even know were there begin to follow us. Nervously, I tighten my grip on my sister's hand, but she simply says, "They're with me."
I can't help the small tug in the corner of my lips. My little sister turned into a little bad ass while I was gone, and I couldn't be prouder.
All those years I had worried that she was under my papa's rule or maybe that she had run away and was living…or dying…on the streets.
But I obviously had no reason to worry. Senga appears to be just fine. She looks healthy and doesn't have a haunted look in her gaze that I've seen more times than I can count in my own reflection. She turned out all right after all, and I couldn't have asked for anything more than that.
We escape into a dark sedan with two men climbing in the front and the other man in the back with Senga and me. The man narrows his eyes suspiciously at me, but then quickly averts his gaze when Senga clears her throat.
I glance around the back of the fancy car and at the large muscle occupying most of the car. An uneasy feeling starts to fill my stomach, and no matter what I do, I can't tamp it down.
"So…these are your hired men?" I ask my sister.
"Yes," she states simply.
But how did she get the money for…all of this? And why has she been living in the United States? When did she leave our mother and father behind?
The questions swirl around in my mind, but I have a feeling I'm not going to like the answers I receive. And I know now that I should have asked thembeforeI got in the car.
"Is there any way I could borrow your phone?" I ask, trying to keep my voice calm. I could call the hospital and ask them to page Jax. Just letting him know where I am and who I'm with would make me feel a hell of a lot better. "I would like to tell my friend why I left the hospital so suddenly," I explain to her.
Senga gives me a sweet smile. "I left my phone back at the safe house, but I'll let you use it as soon as we get there."
I nod, accepting her response, but not fully trusting her…yet.
And as I stare out the window as the city passes us by, I have a sinking feeling that I somehow made a mistake in trusting her at all.
CHAPTER 39
JACKSON
STARING OUT THE window in the waiting room has become my new favorite pastime. Itwasreading the magazines on the coffee table…until Lucien informed me how many germs are littered on each and every filthy, disgusting page.
Shit, my cousin drives me insane sometimes.
But right now I feel sorry for the guy. He's going through hell and back while he's waiting for Adeline to wake up. Turns out she was pregnant with twins. One of the babies didn't make it, but the other one is still fighting. I just hope he or she can survive, because Lucien and Adeline would be devastated over losing the other one too.
The knowledge of them having a baby together and seeing the ultrasound with my own two eyes further confirms that I have no business meddling in their relationship. I need to get my shit together and tell Katya how I really feel about her and stop pushing her away just because I'm sulking over something that was never mine to begin with.
Adeline was Lucien's the moment she stepped foot in the door. She owned him — heart, body and soul — from the start. And now I'm starting to think that it wasn't so much Adeline that I wanted, but more so their relationship. The intimacy of what they have is what I crave. I just deflected it upon Adeline; and, thus, my sort of obsession for her continued to grow.
But after reflecting for the past couple of days, I know what I want now. And what I want has been gone for thirty minutes I realize as I glance at my watch. Katya's never taken this long before to get coffee, but maybe she also went for a walk.
Sighing, I stand up and stretch my arms up over my head. Wraith is crashed out in a large recliner in the corner of the room — the only chair big enough to hold his hulking form. His snoring ends abruptly and he jolts awake when I walk past him. Fuck, he's always on alert…even in his sleep.
"I'm just going to find Katya," I tell him.
He gives me a nod and closes his eyes once more. His snoring amplifies as I walk down the hall. Fuck, he could wake the dead. No wonder I haven't gotten any damn sleep.
When I get a few feet from the cafeteria, I find it empty except for a single Styrofoam cup lying in the middle of the floor. Narrowing my eyes on the cup, I pick it up and throw it away.
"Katya?" I call, thinking she might be nearby. I make a circle in the surrounding hallways, but there's no sign of her. I check the bathrooms on this floor, but they're all empty…except for an old man, who forgot to lock the goddamn door.
"Sorry!" I call out before shielding my eyes and slamming the door shut. Shuddering, I tell myself I'll never get that image of old man ass out of my head again.
