Chapter 10 Krista
KRISTA
I smiled down at those bright blue eyes.
Willa.
She was absolutely adorable, and I wanted to eat every inch of her from those tiny fingers to her cute button nose. I wasn’t really a kid person, but this little girl would have me wrapped around her finger in no time.
I ran my fingers over the dusting of blonde hair on her head, marveling at how soft it was. “She’s so adorable.”
Lizzy blinked sleepily from her bed, smiling as I carefully picked Willa up and adjusted her in my arms. “You’re going to wake her up.”
“She’s already awake,” I whispered. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Seriously, this child was adorable. “She has your hair and eyes.”
“Right now. Who knows what she’ll look like as she gets older.”
“Maybe she’ll take after her dad,” I said, glancing up at my sister.
But it was the wrong comment to make. She almost looked panicked at the thought. I knew she didn’t want to tell anyone, but I didn’t think she would actually be upset if her kid ended up looking like the father.
“No,” she said vehemently. “She’ll look like our side of the family. You can see it in the eyes.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice placating. The last thing I wanted to do was upset my sister after she just went through hours of labor. Willa started rooting at my boob, but it wasn’t like I had anything to offer her. “Somebody’s hungry.”
Carrying her over to Lizzy, I carefully shifted her over to her mother and stepped back. “I’ll go get some food and come back in a little bit. Do you want me to bring you anything?”
“No,” she sighed. “I just want to sleep after this.”
“Do you want me to stay until you’re finished?”
“No, I’ll call the nurse when I’m done.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
But she didn’t answer. She was already focused on her princess.
I headed down the crisp, white halls to the elevator.
Hardly anyone was wandering around right now.
It was already pushing the end of visiting hours, but I’d convinced Caroline to allow me to stay since Lizzy didn’t have a husband to help her out.
Exhaustion swept over me with every step I took. I could really use some sleep, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say anything after what Lizzy just went through. But a cup of coffee should do the trick.
I made my way down to the cafeteria, only to find it was already closed. My hand landed on the metal security gate with a thud.
“Seriously? This is a hospital. The cafeteria should always be open.”
“They close at nine,” a voice said from behind me.
I jumped at the voice, surprised anyone had snuck up behind me when there wasn’t a soul around. “Jesus, you scared me,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to.”
The man smiled at me, and dimples popped out of his cheeks, giving him a boyish look that shouldn’t have made me blush. I normally liked my men rugged with a sharp jaw—like Rob.
I shook that thought away because Rob wasn’t here, and I doubted I would ever see him again.
This man…dark hair sideswept in a messy way that suggested he’d been here for hours, running his fingers through the waves. And the stubble on his chin reminded me of someone who hadn’t shaved in at least a day. But it was those handsome, green eyes that really struck me hard.
“Uh…” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, hoping I wasn’t turning bright red. “I was just hungry. My sister had a baby earlier, and I got hungry,” I rambled.
“I figured that,” he grinned.
“That my sister had a baby?”
“No, that you were hungry.”
Yeah, that was a stupid question. God, I was such an idiot. “What are you here for?”
He ran a hand along the back of his neck, ducking his head. “Uh…”
“Oh, God, that was so personal.”
“No, it’s fine. I just came to visit my dad. Heart attack.”
“Oh, is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. The doctors are great here.”
I nodded, keeping myself from saying anything else really stupid. Not that I was planning on picking anyone up at the hospital, but this guy was gorgeous. A few dates with him might cure this insane hangup that I seemed to have on Rob.
“Do you want to run out for some food? I hear there’s a great place just down the road. Good sandwiches.”
“Yeah,” I answered a little too quickly. “I mean, I have to get my purse from upstairs first. I could meet you down here.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll buy,” he answered, holding out his arm like a gentleman for me.
I hesitated, looking at his arm warily. He was offering to pay, not bring me home or anything like that.
But leaving my purse behind felt wrong. Suspicious?
Maybe I was being delusional. Maybe he really was just being nice, but walking off without identification with a stranger didn’t sit right with me.
“I really appreciate that, but I’ll grab my purse first,” I said, walking past him to the elevator.
But I didn’t get more than two steps when he grabbed me by the arm and tugged me harshly to his side.
“I said I got it,” he hissed.
“Let go of my arm,” I snapped.
“Why can’t you just let a guy do something nice for you?”
“Honestly? You don’t seem like you’re trying to do something nice at the moment,” I argued.
His grip tightened as he pulled me closer. “You’re coming with me.”
A fire lit in my belly at the command, and not in a sexual way. If only he knew I grew up with three brothers, and I didn’t take shit from anybody. I slackened my arm, tricking him into thinking I was giving up. And just when he smirked at me, I let my fist fly, hitting him right in the nose.
“Fuck!” he cried out.
I drove my knee up into his balls, and as he bent over to cover his junk, I brought my knee up a second time and got him one more time in the nose. He fell backward, blood spewing everywhere as he groaned on the ground.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snapped, slamming the toe of my boot into his stomach. “Is that really how you treat a lad—”
I was grabbed from behind, both my arms locked at my sides. The room spun as I was whipped around, and when my feet hit the ground a second time, I shoved upward, slamming my head back into the man’s face.
His grip loosened enough for me to thrust my elbow back into the man’s gut, and then I spun, shoving the heel of my hand into the man’s nose. His head snapped back as he cried out.
“That’s two, fucker!”
But the footsteps rushing my way signaled more danger.
I didn’t know who they were or why they were after me, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out.
I took off at a sprint toward the elevators, but I wasn’t fast enough.
A heavy body slammed into mine and I went crashing to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall on my left side.
I immediately twisted, thrusting my elbow back, only to meet air. Another body straddled mine, gripping my wrists in a tight hold as a zip tie was wrapped around my hands.
“No! Get off me!” I shouted, bucking my hips and twisting to try to knock the man off.
He stood and grabbed me by the wrists, hauling me upright.
As soon as he released me, I swung with both fists together, nearly catching him in the jaw.
He shifted at the last second, then grabbed me by the hair, yanking me toward him.
Whimpering in pain, I drew him in, then rammed my knee up into his groin. His eyes rolled back as he bent over, wheezing. Not a single one of them learned. But he didn’t let go of my hair, and in the process, dragged me to the ground with him.
I was about to slam my fists into his face when another man came flying at us from my right side. I barely caught him in my periphery as he slammed into the man holding me, tackling him to the ground.
Jumping to my feet, I spun just as another man pulled a gun, but he wasn’t aiming it at me. The gun fired and I yelped, not used to guns being fired in a public place. Spinning, I saw one of my attackers fall to the ground.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Claire! Not the grenades!”
Gasping, I spun again, only to see a woman looking rather disappointed that she couldn’t throw the deadly device in her hand. “But—”
“We’re in a hospital!” the man shouted.
I was grabbed again from behind, but couldn’t struggle out of his grasp. “Bad fucking idea. This could have gone smoothly,” my first attacker whispered. “I would have even shown you a good time first.”
Disgusted, I writhed in his arms, struggling to get free, but he was aware of how capable I was now, and he wasn’t giving me any openings.
“Let her go!”
I was jerked around again, but this time, I was facing someone I actually knew. “Rob?” I gasped in surprise.
But he didn’t show any signs of recognition. His eyes were focused on the man behind me. I noted the way his body moved as if he was in situations like this all the time, how his muscles contracted as he stood ready to attack, and most importantly, the gun he held in his hands so expertly.
Yeah, it was totally hot.
“Cheryl, I need you to trust me.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “It’s Krista.”
“Right. Just trust me. I’ll get you out of this.”
“She’s going with me. There’s something we need to take care of.”
Rob’s jaw clenched as he tightened his grip on the gun. “That’s not gonna happen. You’re outnumbered. There’s no way out for you.”
“That’s what you think.” I heard the confidence in his voice and knew this was gonna be bad. “Hope you’re ready for a little fun,” he whispered in my ear.
A scream unlike anything I’d heard before came from my right, followed by a shout of terror. The man behind me jerked us in the direction of the sound, and the woman from earlier came running at us with a book in her hands.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, she swung with all her might. Except I was the person standing in front, and that book was coming right for my face.
I dropped my weight, but it wasn’t enough. The spine of the heavy book hit me right in the cheek, and my whole body jerked to the right. I wasn’t sure what happened after that. The man behind me disappeared, and I fell hard to the ground, landing on my ziptied wrists.