“You’re talking about the Bratva?”
“No. I’m not.”
I pulled a face. “Isn’t it… good? For the state? If there’s no mob presence?”
His lips curved. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But there’s order in our chaos, Kitty.”
“There’s also a lot of bloodshed.”
“Yes, but nature abhors a vacuum and we just created one. They have ties to the Albanians and their mayhem?—”
“The Albanians?!” I sputtered in horror.
“Yeah.” His expression turned grim. “You know what a mess they’ve brought to the city?”
“I know that Lucas and Cade have been out on the streets at all hours of the day and night clearing things up because they’re trigger-happy lunatics. And that’sbeforemy own interactions with them.”
He nodded. “We’ve all been dealing with it. So… how did you meet Aurora the first time?”
“The hospital, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Of course.”
Grateful he thought it was related to him, I didn’t dissuade him from the notion, andhis phone rang, at the perfect time really. Patient confidentiality aside, no way was I going to bring up his sister’s visit to the ER thanks to a self-inflicted,accidentalchemical burn.
While he frowned at the unknown number, he still answered it. “Hello?”
“What DeLaurentiis said is true?”
“That was fast.”
“Is it true?” Eva Martinez growled.
“Shouldn’t I be talking to your husband?”
“No.”And that was the end of that.“Is it true, Custanzu?”
Before Stan could reply, I whispered, “Beatriz is alive, Eva.”
FORTY-THREE
KITTY
After the day we’d had, I wasn’t in the mood for socializing. I didn’t think he was either but when he didn’t put the get-together off until tomorrow, I knew he wanted to meet his pen pal in the flesh.
It was the hum of excitement about his person, something borderline hopeful, that had me refusing the offer to return to the city alone—melancholic and solitary by nature, it made me happy for him to meet another likeminded friend and I wanted to meet her too. I just really needed a nap at some point.
So, through the enormous gates we went, my hand locked in his as we chose to ride this storm together.
The chaos our trip to Ohio had triggered let me see how much had changed in such a short space of time.
Before him, I’d been a physician assistant.
I’d complained about how the hospital treated us like indentured servants, uncaring if we were exhausted, only complying with work hours because the law said it had to.
Neev and I had trained for 5ks and Raisin had styled my hair to save $$$.
