Chapter 28
Cross stood behind Drew, his arms folded across his chest. “Are we done?” he snarled at Tessa. “The rest of this shit is yours to deal with. I want to get Drew out of here.”
Tessa met his gaze and hesitated, but then nodded. “Go ahead, but Drew, you’re gonna have to come in to make a formal statement in the morning.”
Drew nodded. “How’s Billy?” she asked. She needed to know her best friend was going to be okay.
“He’s fine. It was a through and through. He’ll spend the night in the hospital and then he’ll be released. I’ve got a guard on him overnight just in case. We need all of you to keep a low profile for a couple of days just to be on the safe side.”
Drew was so tired that she hadn’t heard anything after the fact that Billy was going to be fine.
She was beyond exhausted, and she was swaying on her feet.
She’d been running on adrenaline so long that she thought she might collapse if she didn’t get to sit down soon. Plus, she needed food and water.
Cross took her by the arm, and they walked towards the curb. A black Jeep sat at the curb amongst the emergency vehicles. Savvy was leaning against the jeep, talking to McGuire. Drew rushed to McGuire to give him a big hug. “Thanks, brother, for coming to save my ass.”
“Anytime, pipsqueak.” He gave her an extra squeeze and then let her go.
Savvy had opened the Jeep’s passenger door and was waiting next to it. Drew walked over to her sister.
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 that you’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.
Suddenly fed up, she demanded, “What do you want?” It had been a shitty day, month, year.
“I always finish the job I was hired to do.” He moved the weapon so it was pointed at the middle of Cross’s chest.
Panic surged through Drew. She wasn’t losing Cross again. She shoved him with all her might as the crack of the gunshot filled the air. She landed hard on top of Cross, who immediately rolled her off him and pulled a gun, getting off two shots before the Weasel managed to shoot again.
The Weasel swayed on his feet as two red splotches bloomed on his chest. His eyes were wide as he looked down and then toppled face-first into the water.
Drew stared at the surface. Where the fuck was he? “Where…?” she mumbled, and then the body surfaced, face down and arms sprawled.
“Thank God, he’s finally dead this time,” she said as she turned to Cross, who grinned at her.
“You can say that again.” He reached over and hauled her to her feet and then into his arms. “This day needs to be over.”
“Totally agree,” she mumbled into his chest as the sound of sirens filled her ears. “Do you think we can just go to the yacht and ignore all this?”
Cross pulled back and kissed her hard on the mouth. “I think that’s exactly what we do.”
They made their way to the yacht and climbed aboard. It was totally swank with deep carpets and gleaming woodwork. Drew was too tired to care however and asked to go straight to the bedroom.
“Here you go,” Cross said, opening the door to the main bedroom. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Where are you going?” Drew demanded.
“I know you want to sleep. You’re exhausted. Me too. But I need to deal with the cops and the dead Weasel. I’ll just crash here across the hall once I’m done.”
She frowned. “I said I was exhausted, not dead. You better get your ass in that bed when you’re finished, or there’s gonna be hell to pay.”
Cross threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, ma’am!” He swooped down and picked her up, carried her into the room, closing the door with his foot, and then he threw her on the bed. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. The cops can wait.”
Drew giggled but opened her arms to her love. “Then come and get it.”