Chapter 44
Yasmine
The hospital room was full of flowers. Not just from her friends and from the team, but a huge bouquet and card from her students, more from women at the shelter whom she’d taught or worked with.
The most meaningful bouquet was also the smallest – eight pink carnations from Pete James’ wife, who was now safe from him forever. The card just said “I’m so sorry.”
So was Yasmine, but at the same time, she didn’t have any regrets and she was glad the woman was free of him. Yasmine hoped she lived a safe and happy life.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come home with us?” Maman asked, clearly fretting at the idea of not being able to watch over Yasmine personally. Which Yasmine did feel bad about.
“I’m sure, Maman,” she replied gently. “You and Papa can visit me at Zeus’ any time.”
As much as Yasmine wanted to give her mother peace of mind, the truth was no, she did not want to go to her parents to be fussed over.
She was very excited about getting out of the strict confines of the hospital.
Going to her parents would be even worse.
Plus, she wasn’t sure how it would be to have Zeus visit her there.
Once she was awake and fully present, it had quickly become clear to her how much her parents already adored Zeus, but…
“I do like that boy, very much.” Her mother tilted her head, consideringly. “He would make a very good husband.”
That right there was why. Her mother had been dropping hints nonstop about Yasmine and Zeus getting married from the moment Yasmine had woken up. Yasmine could only hope her mother hadn’t done it too much before that.
“Mom, I don’t know if we’re getting married.
It is too soon to say,” Yasmine said firmly.
This wasn’t the first time she’d said that, so this time, she added a little more.
She didn’t want to get her mother’s expectations—or hopes—up.
“I don’t even know if he ever wants to get married.
That’s not why we’re together.” After all, he’d been willing to have a friends-with-benefits relationship.
They’d moved beyond that, but not very far.
They hadn’t really discussed how they saw their future together.
Which was something Yasmine would want to talk about eventually, but she wasn’t going to try to rush it.
She wasn’t going to try to predict or arrange the future, not like she’d done in the past.
Maman frowned.
“Then why are you together? What is the point of a relationship that does not have a goal?” Maman put her hands on her hips, demanding an answer as much as she was asking for one.
“The goal is to enjoy each other’s company. Maybe we’ll get married in the future, if that’s what we both want.” The look of disappointment on her mother’s face made Yasmine’s chest hurt. Her shoulder still hurt, too, but it was two different kinds of pain. She hated disappointing her mother.
“What if he does not want to get married?”
“Then I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” Yasmine took a deep breath. “I don’t want to try to rush things this time. I want to do things differently from how I’ve done them in the past.”
Her mother’s voice lowered. “Are you worried about the curse?”
“Yes and no.” Yasmine shook her head. “It has come to my attention that perhaps it’s not so much a curse as me not being willing to settle for someone I don’t actually want.
I was so focused on getting married, I was trying to force it with men I didn’t actually want to be married to because marriage was the end goal, not the man. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Maman’s expression softened, and she reached down to put her hand on Yasmine’s thigh. “Of course, you should not settle.”
“I just didn’t want to disappoint you,” Yasmine said quietly, her gaze dropping. It was so difficult to admit the truth to her mother. “I know you wanted me to get married.”
“I want you to be happy.” The words were said so fiercely, there was no doubting their sincerity.
“That is all Papa and I want… for you to be happy. I would never want you to marry a man you did not want to… I…” Now it was her mother’s turn to look away, as Yasmine put her hand over her mother’s.
“I suppose I thought marriage would make you happy. You loved playing wedding and house when you were a little girl with your dolls. And you were always looking for the right partner once you started dating.”
“I think marriage to the right person could make me happy. But I need to start focusing on the person and not on marriage as an end goal.” Yasmine smiled. “I like being with Zeus a lot. I might even love him, even though it’s too soon for that.”
“Pshaw.” Her mother waved her hand. “There is no timeline for such things. And he is a very good boy. If you ever do decide to marry him, your father and I will be very happy.” Maman met Yasmine’s gaze again, beaming at her.
“Not the point, Maman.” Yasmine put her hands over her eyes, covering them.
“If it makes you happy, then we are happy.” Maman leaned over and gave Yasmine a kiss on the head. “That is all we want. Although it would be fun to plan a wedding…”
“Maman.” Leaning back against her pillows, Yasmine threw her hand in the air. Her mother was beaming at her.
“You are a good girl, Yasmine. A good daughter.” Maman snickered. “Too easy to tease sometimes, though.”
Zeus
“Everyone to the lobby, please, immediately.” Jennifer’s crisp tones over the loudspeaker system had Zeus raising his head and frowning.
He was packing up his things to go to the hospital.
Yas’ parents were with her this morning.
She was supposed to be released this afternoon, then they’d all take her over to his house.
Maybe they shouldn’t be basically living together when they’d just gone public with their relationship, but Yas hadn’t wanted to go back to her own house, and she needed someone there with her regularly.
Since all her friends had to work, their houses hadn’t been options, either.
He knew her parents wanted her to stay with them, but she’d insisted that wasn’t a good idea.
She wanted to feel semi-independent and not like she was a child again.
Zeus’ house made the most sense. Not only would he be with her when he wasn’t at work, but when he was at work, Sarah and Grace could come over, or she could go over to Sarah’s.
Since Grace was already there to fuss over Sarah, it just made sense.
Plus, his place was closer to her friends, while her parents lived a little farther away.
He was just happy to have her close by, where he could keep an eye on her.
Even though Pete James was out of the picture, there was still the sniper to contend with.
A sniper he still hadn’t told Yasmine about.
A small news story had run yesterday about the shooting at a women’s shelter, with the perpetrator being killed in self-defense.
The press release had been vague but somewhat twisted to make it sound like the shelter’s security guards had done the deed.
At the moment, both Black Fox and the police were operating under the assumption that the sniper had been aiming for the senator.
They’d found the tree the sniper had been in, and Pete James’ path through the parking lot would have blocked some of the view—they hadn’t been very high up, possibly because of timing or possibly to ensure their ability to get away quickly.
“Everyone to the lobby, immediately.”
Fuck. Zeus grabbed his bag and headed into the hallway, already behind the rest of the team. He’d leave from whatever this was rather than coming back to his office.
The lobby was already full, and everyone was facing the television when he walked in. Since the office was made up of very large men, it wasn’t exactly easy to get a glimpse of the screen, though he could hear the exclamations and outrage before he’d even arrived.
“What the fuck?”
“That… shit, that’s gotta be fake, right?”
“That or Devlin’s men are completely falling down on the job.”
“What the fuck does he think he’s doing?”
“Fuck!”
“What’s going on?” Zeus asked Drew as he stepped up beside the big man, going up on his toes to try to see the screen.
He caught a glimpse of Macleod, arms flung out to either side, head flung back, with men in suits all around him, from his armpits down. What the fuck?
“Quiet!” Lincoln roared, shutting down the exclamations and questions.
“It appears to have been an assassination attempt at today’s brunch where Royce Macleod was attending a fundraiser for his race to be governor,” the television reporter said, talking over footage as it looped back around to show Macleod getting up from a long table set in what looked like a large garden and starting toward a microphone in the center of it.
The sound had been muted, but the reactions over the rest of the table when the shots were fired made it clear when it happened.
The bodyguards—including Devlin—all jumped forward to cover the target.
But Macleod didn’t duck like everyone else. He turned outward, as though he was facing the bullets, throwing his arms out and flinging back his head. Thrusting his chest out like he was daring the universe to try to take him out.
“Mr. Macleod took in an unprecedented amount of donations today, after the drama—”
Whatever else the reporter said was cut off as the room exploded in noise again, Lincoln’s order notwithstanding.
“Fucker!”
“What are the odds of two assassination attempts in one week?”
“Is anyone else even running? Why would someone try to take out both candidates?”
“Quiet!” This time, Lincoln and Harris spoke in unison, quelling both teams. They’d also muted the television, which was now showing footage of a possible suspect, according to the banner across the bottom of the screen, disappearing from the premises and fleeing down the street.
They were completely covered in a grey hoodie and black sweats, with a black duffel bag over their shoulder, looking like any one of the hundreds of people who were headed home from the gym.
“This just happened this morning,” Harris said, his eyes blazing. “This is what we’re on right now. Getting all the information we can about this morning’s attempt and comparing it to what we have on the shooting at the women’s shelter. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Through the crowd, Lincoln caught Zeus’ eye and tilted his head toward the hallway.
Nodding, Zeus made his way through everyone to the door, where Lincoln was already waiting for him.
Several other members of the teams had peeled off, heading back to their offices, probably to get started.
Zeus had a feeling it was going to be a long day of watching the same clips over and over for quite a few team members.
It was probably what he should be doing.
Lincoln pushed the door open and waved his hand for Zeus to precede him into the hallway.
“You’re picking up Yasmine?”
“Yes. Well, as soon as she’s released, which should be sometime this afternoon.” Zeus tensed. He really didn’t want to have to choose between what Lincoln wanted and getting Yasmine.
“You can get started tomorrow, then. Get her settled in tonight.”
Zeus blinked in surprise, feeling his tension recede.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Our people come first. The rest of the team will be focused on this; you won’t be far behind.
” Lincoln shook his head. “If you can do a deep dive into Devlin’s team—I didn’t recognize several of the men in that clip—I want that as soon as you can get it to me, and by that I mean as soon as you can after taking care of Yasmine. ”
Fuck. Zeus felt his throat getting clogged, and his eyes suddenly felt a little stingy.
“Thanks, boss.”
“Tell her we’re all sending her the best. I’m sure she’ll have plenty of visitors over the next few days.” Lincoln put his hand on Zeus’ shoulder. “Including Ashley and me.”
“Looking forward to it,” he said as Lincoln gave him another pat on the shoulder before walking back into the office.
The lobby was already half cleared out. Surprisingly, Zeus really was looking forward to it.
The thought of so many people invading his house, his space, didn’t seem so bad now.
He wouldn’t even care if Mason showed up.
The other man had mostly been avoiding talking to Zeus over the past few days, which was fine with Zeus.
But he wouldn’t care if Mason and Audrey came to visit, and he was fairly certain they would.
Despite the circumstances, Audrey and Yasmine appeared to have become good friends, and there were no hard feelings between Yasmine and Mason.
And if Mason had issues with Zeus, that was his own damn problem to figure out.
“Zeus.”
Shit. He’d thought Mason’s name too hard and accidentally summoned him.
Dropping his hand away from where he’d been about to hit the button for the elevator, he turned to face Yas’ ex-fiancé.
As usual, Mason was dressed for the office, with his glasses perched on his nose, making him look even more professional and serious.
A sharp contrast to Zeus’ jeans and tank top.
But no one cared what the tech guy looked like, and he never had to meet with anyone.
“Mason.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m on my way out.”
“I won’t be long.” Mason took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders.
“I owe you an apology for my behavior the day of the shooting. I didn’t know anything about you and Yasmine, and although things didn’t work out between her and me, I do feel especially protective of her.
I still could have handled myself better. I’m sorry.”
Well, shit. Now he couldn’t even think petty thoughts about the guy.
“No harm done,” he said, holding out his hand for Mason to take, which the other man did immediately. “You didn’t know because we didn’t say anything. Now you do.”
“I think you two will be good for each other.” Mason smiled as he released Zeus’ hand. “I doubt you care about my opinion, but in case it helps to hear in any way.”
“Ah. Well.” Zeus shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt.” Which was the closest he could come to admitting that it actually did help a bit to hear. He sure as hell didn’t need Mason’s approval, or anyone else on the team, for his personal life, yet he was glad to hear it.
“Let us know if you need any help,” Mason said, glancing over his shoulder at the now mostly-empty lobby. David was still there, talking to Jennifer at the front desk, likely waiting for Mason. “We’re a team. We want to be there for you.”
“Thanks.” Surprisingly, Zeus really felt like he meant it. “If we need anything, I’ll let you all know.”
Group Text Started by Mason
Group renamed to Spice Chat
Posh
Thought it was about time our team had an easy way to get in touch with each other outside of work.
Baby
Woo hoo!
Wait, I thought group chats weren’t allowed.
Ginger
Well….
Posh
It’s time. Claudia will have to deal.
Sporty
Zeus
Scary
OH HELL NO