Savvy smiled. “I bought you a cheeseburger and fries. It’s on the center console.” She gave Drew a searching gaze. “Make sure you see a doctor if you don’t feel great after food and some rest. And make sure you?—”
Drew grabbed her sister and hugged her hard. “Stop talking. I know how to take care of myself. I just need you to be my sister now, not my mother.”
She pulled back. “I love you, Savvy, but you don’t make it easy. We aren’t the same. I can’t do things your way, and I get that you can’t do them mine. I need you to respect me and my decisions, though. Stop protecting me. Respect that I know what the hell I’m doing and can stand on my own two feet. I know that’s why you let me think McGuire, and then you were dead. But I don’t need your protection, okay? I need your trust. Have faith in me. That’s all I ask.”
Savvy’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “I do, Drew. I always have. I’m so sorry I made you feel otherwise.” She reached out and pulled Drew in for another hug. “I love you, pipsqueak. Always will.”
“I love you, too.” Drew pulled back and then hauled herself into the Jeep. “I’ll call you, and we can go for dinner. I need a good catch-up.”
Savvy’s smile was huge. “I’d love that.”
Drew closed the door, and Cross got into the driver’s seat. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah,” she said as she pulled the burger from the bag. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.
She had no memory of the vehicle starting or the drive over. She woke when Cross said, “We’re here.”
“Where is here?” she asked groggily. She looked around and frowned. “Are we at the marina?”
“Yeah. We have a friend who has a yacht. It seemed safer at the moment until we know for sure none of Rodriguez’s men or the cartel are going to come after you.”
“Why come after me? Tessa took the drugs,” Drew argued.
“We’re just being on the safe side. We’ll all keep our heads down for a while.”
“Speaking of danger,” she drew in a shaky breath, “I owe you an apology. Apparently, it was me bringing trouble to your door rather than the other way around. I am so sorry I put you and everyone else in danger.”
“Let’s clear this up right now.” Cross shifted in his seat. “It wasn’t your fault. You were given information, and you acted on it to warn me. That’s a good thing. You couldn’t possibly know that Dunlop was the mastermind behind all this, or that he wanted to take over his cousin’s position in Miami. Sanchez, Tessa’s boss, said they knew someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, but no one, not a single person, suspected Dunlop. You don’t owe me an apology. It’s me who owes you an apology.”
He took her hand. “I never should have let you go. I was so scared you would be hurt when I was away that I couldn’t deal with it. The terror of losing you kept me up nights and had my head so screwed up, I wasn’t doing my job well. It was stupid of me not to tell you how I felt. We could have worked something out. Instead, I cut you out, thinking that would solve the problem. It didn’t. It made it worse. I…was dead inside. I lost myself somehow. Numb.”
Cross shook his head. “I never want to feel like that again. I need you with me, Drew. I need to know you’re okay and thatyou’re part of my life. I love you. I need you. Will you forgive me?”
Drew stared at Cross as her heart slammed against her ribcage. These were the words she’d longed to hear when he had dumped her. But now? “You hurt me. I mean really hurt me. You crushed me. It’s taken me a long time to get over you. I had to do a lot of work to get myself back on my feet, but I came back stronger. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you anymore.”
She needed to get all this out before she changed her mind. The hurt that registered on his face almost derailed her, but she continued. “I was always in a panic about you, too, when you were off on an op. I was terrified that I would get the call that you were never coming back, but I put all that aside because I believed in you, and you were happy. This was what you wanted to do, and I didn’t want to take that away from you. I needed that same respect from you.”
Cross sighed. “And I didn’t give it. I screwed up so bad, Drew. I know it. Is there anything I can do to make it right?”
Drew took her hand out of his. “Cross, I don’t need you in my life,” she said, staring down at the cheeseburger container in her lap. She raised her head and locked her gaze with his. “But I want you here. I want you to be a part of my world. I love you. I never stopped loving you. As long as you can respect what I do and have enough faith and respect for me and my skills that I can do my job, then there’s nothing more I would love than to be back with you.”
Cross raised his right hand. “I promise to respect you and your skills, and I have always had faith in you. I love you, pipsqueak.”
She slugged him in the arm. “Don’t ever call me that again.” Then she leaned in and kissed him. “Now I’m exhausted. I want to go to bed.”
They climbed out of the vehicle and started down the dock. Cross grabbed Drew’s hand as they made their way toward the yacht.
“If it isn’t the happy couple,” a voice behind them growled.
Drew turned to see the Weasel slide out from the shadows, the gun in his right hand aimed at her chest. Her heart slammed against her rib cage, and her mouth went dry.
Cross immediately made to step in front of her, but the Weasel raised the gun higher and shook his head. The man looked half dead. His face was bruised and battered. His clothing torn and dirty, and his left arm hung at a weird angle. He didn’t seem to be able to move it.
“Are those teeth marks?” Drew blurted as she pointed to the particularly deep punctures on his bicep.
“Captain Hook instead of the Weasel?” Cross asked. “I mean, you still have your hand, but it looks like the gator did a job on you. You’re gonna lose that arm if you don’t get help soon.” Cross shifted his weight so that his shoulder was now between her and the Weasel.
Drew glanced at the man’s arms again. Cross was not wrong. It was an awful color. She was sure there was no blood flow.
