Forty
FORTY
Mia
I FELT AS THOUGH I was hovering outside my body, looking down as my hands and legs went through the motions of overseeing the line and making food. My voice called out orders and demanded check-ins, but I couldn’t have said where in my brain the words originated.
Every conscious thought was taken over by worry and guilt. How could I be here, playing at normalcy when people I loved were in danger... possibly injured or even dead? Where the hell did I get off serving mini pizza rounds and lava cake to laughing customers when Luca, Nat, and Byron were gone ?
I don’t think I could have held it together if not for Emiel, who’d parked himself in an out-of-the-way corner of the kitchen at the beginning of the lunch service and refused to budge for the rest of the day. Whenever I felt like I couldn’t stand the pressure for another second, I’d glance over, and there he was. Solid and steady, his eyes locked on me and never straying.
It didn’t help that Shani kept throwing me worried glances. She’d tried to talk to me about what was happening at the beginning of the shift, and again during the mid-afternoon lull. I’d put her off—brusquely, the first time, and downright aggressively, the second.
I... probably owed her an apology for the second brush-off, at a minimum. I just knew that if I’d responded to her worry, I’d have broken down on the spot.
The clock on the kitchen wall had been moving ridiculously slowly all day. I’d think to myself, it’s been at least an hour since I checked the time , and when I looked up, only ten minutes had passed. I had no idea how Emiel was able to stand there so still and silent without going completely insane. If I hadn’t been busy almost nonstop, I wouldn’t have been able to function this long.
And we were busy. Enthusiasm for the restaurant’s reopening hadn’t dimmed, and once again, the place was packed. It was— finally —less than an hour until close, and every table in the building was still occupied.
“Maleeka, check the stock of thawed steaks—I want at least another dozen ready to go!” I watched myself say, as I moved efficiently along a line of skillets, flipping the contents of each one like an automaton.
“Yes, chef!” Maleeka called, moving briskly to do as I’d asked.
A new round of orders came in, and I was midway through checking them and barking directions to the line cooks when I saw Emiel frown and pull his phone out of his pocket. He lifted it to his ear and started speaking in low tones, his frown deepening. Abruptly, I stuttered to a halt like a wind-up toy running down.
“Boss?” A gentle hand closed around my arm, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Emiel to look at my sous chef.
Shani tugged me toward the alpha with brisk movements, practically shoving me at him when we got close. “I’ll take over the line for a minute, okay?” she said.
I nodded dumbly, my gaze still fixed on Emiel’s face.
A moment later, he broke into a grin. I slammed abruptly back into my body, my heart twisting as I tried to decide if it was safe to hope.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can, Z,” he said into the phone. “Don’t let the cops bully you into sayin’ anything stupid.”
“What’s happening?” I asked breathlessly, once he’d disconnected the call, feeling shaky and faint. “Is Zalen okay?”
It wasn’t what I really wanted to ask, but it seemed like the safest place to start.
Emiel nodded. “He’s fine. The others are at Barnes Jewish Hospital. They’re all alive, nothing critical.”
My surroundings went gray, and I swayed forward into his arms. He held me up effortlessly, giving me a comforting squeeze.
“We need to go check on them,” he said against my hair. “Can you leave?”
I smacked my brain repeatedly until some neurons started to fire, trying to think about practicalities when in reality, the rest of the world could burn as long as I got to reunite with the others, safe and whole.
Licking my lips, I glanced around and pushed away from Emiel’s embrace reluctantly. “Yeah, give me a couple of minutes.”
I made my unsteady way back to Shani, who’d been competently handling the line while I had my mini-breakdown in the corner. She immediately looked up.
“Tell me it’s good news?” she said hopefully.
I nodded. “They’ve been found. They’re at Barnes Jewish. Shani... I have to go.”
She made a scoffing noise. “Of course you do, Mia. You want me to kick everyone out and close things down for the night, or take over for the last hour?”
Again, I tried to run through logistics. I’d had Emiel give Shani a general rundown of what was going on at the beginning of the shift, mostly because I couldn’t bear to talk about it. She knew about the guys who’d been lurking in the alley, and our worries that Nat had been targeted as an owner of the restaurant. It all came down to whether I trusted her to run the place for an hour, close up, and, most importantly, get all the employees home safe.
And, yeah—now that it came down to it, I totally did.
“Keep it going for us, Shani,” I said, handing over the keys to lock up. “But all the employees need to leave in one big group out the front door tonight, okay? And if you get the slightest inkling that something’s off, lock everyone in and call the cops. Remind them that three people were kidnapped here last night, and that there were armed men lurking around the place earlier today.”
She put her hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “I’ll take care of everyone, Mia. Already got my alphas coming to play lookout around closing time, and if anything looks suss, I’ll call the police. Go. Your men need you.” She shot a significant glance over my shoulder, to where Emiel was standing.
“She’s right about that,” he rumbled. “Let’s go see them.”
It was only five miles to the hospital, but it seemed to take an age to get there.
“Did Zalen say how they were hurt?” I asked, picking obsessively at a thread on my sleeve. I hadn’t even had the presence of mind to take off my white chef’s coat, and my chef’s hat was lying in a sad crumple in the Bronco’s passenger-side footwell.
“Don’t think he knows any details,” Emiel said, his eyes fixed firmly on the road. “They dragged him off to the nearest precinct to give a statement. He’s still on the other side of the river.”
Alarm coursed through me. “He’s not in trouble, is he?”
“Nah, nothin’ like that.” The hospital loomed ahead, and Emiel turned into the sprawling visitor parking area, following the signs. “From what I gather, he managed to find where the others were being held and called in the cops. Don’t have much detail about that part either... sorry.”
“As long as everyone’s safe, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” I said. “I just need to see them for myself.”
“Right there with you,” he agreed. “I want a word with Byron, for one thing.” He paused when I looked over at him, confused. “Oh. But maybe you don’t know about that yet? I forgot, you were asleep this morning when Zalen came in and told me.”
“Told you what?” I asked, bewildered.
“Byron’s got this kind of... adopted grandmother.” He huffed out a breath. “Apparently he sent Tony away to stay with her so the kid’s stepdad couldn’t get to him.”
It took a second for the puzzle piece to click. I blinked. “Tony? As in, the missing teen, Tony? Byron hid him away?”
Were we talking about the same Byron who was allergic to sentiment and made a big show about never giving a damn about anything?
“He didn’t tell a soul, the bastard,” Emiel said, sounding equal parts irritated and awed. “Not that he should have. I mean, it puts Zalen in a tough position.”
“Only if he tells anyone else,” I said, equally awed. Now I wanted a word with Byron as well.
“Yeah, he won’t,” Emiel said with certainty. “Zalen just wants the kid safe.”
He pulled the Bronco into a parking spot that wasn’t miles from the main entrance. I had the passenger door open before the engine even turned off. I probably looked like a lunatic as I sprinted for the entrance, Emiel easily keeping pace behind me. By the time I got to the information desks in front of their massive wood accent wall, I was panting.
“May I help you?” asked the beta woman at the nearest desk.
“We’re here to see Nathaniel Bell, Luca Doyle, and Byron Harper,” I said breathlessly. “Nat is my husband, and Luca and Byron are his packmates.” I jerked my chin toward Emiel, the words coming without thought.
“Certainly. Let me find the room numbers for you.” She looked down, typing. “May I see some I.D.?”
Byron, it turned out, was in surgery. Panic burst through me for a terrible instant, but the woman assured us his condition was listed as stable. Luca was with a doctor, getting blood tests. Nat was installed in a private room under observation, so we headed there first.
The door was cracked partway open, a cheerful male voice coming from inside. “There you go, Mr. Bell. Now, if your pain levels don’t decrease within twenty minutes or so, I want you to press the buzzer and let me know, okay? Oh, look, you have visitors!”
I opened the door the rest of the way, leaning my head in.
“Nat?” I asked, tremulous.
“Mia?” Nat breathed. “Oh my god, Mia .”
He looked terrible . One side of his face was swollen black and blue, and his complexion was pasty gray beneath his golden skin. His eyes were bloodshot, with heavy dark bags beneath them.
“I’ll just give you folks some privacy, shall I?” the nurse said in a kind tone. “The doctor should be along to speak with you before too long.”
I could only nod dumbly. Emiel herded me into the room properly, clearing the doorway so the poor guy could get past us. I walked to Nat’s bedside in a daze.
“You’re hurt,” I whispered, in the height of stupidity. Of course he was hurt—they’d brought him to a hospital .
But Nat shook his head, wincing. “I’m okay. But Mia, I was so worried—” He cut himself off, swallowing hard. “I’m so sorry. The restaurant... just when things were starting to look up, and then—”
At first, I didn’t understand what he was saying. But Emiel spoke up.
“Nah, she kept things running for you. We just came from there. Place was packed solid all day.”
“Shaniqua’s closing for me,” I added, my throat tight. “The restaurant’s fine, Nat. But you and the others? Can you tell us what happened?”
Nat stared at me for long moments, his cracked lips parted. He drew breath as though to speak... but then his eyes squeezed shut, and he broke down into harsh, ragged sobbing instead.