Chapter 31 Rob #2
Sinner pushed up from his seat and strode toward the door. “If I stick around, I’m gonna be sick.”
“I’m out,” Derek said, getting up. “Let us know when you get released. We’ll be looking for food. You coming, Knight?”
“I’ll stand guard,” he said, walking to the door.
“Hey,” I said, stopping him. He turned back to me, his eyebrow lifted in question. “Keep them the fuck out of my room.”
“You keep them out of your room,” he grumbled, swinging the door open and striding out.
“So, did you see the light?” Krista asked, sitting on the side of my bed. “Did you hear voices or meet Dumbledore in a train station?”
I was confused by the last reference, but understood in general what she meant. That was a good thing. At least all my faculties seemed to be intact. Which made sense, considering I was shot in the side and not in the head.
“Are you okay?” Krista asked when I didn’t immediately answer.
“Sorry, I’m being philosophical at the moment.”
“About what?”
“Language, mostly. So, any word from the Ratti Family?”
“That, you would have to ask Knight. I’ve decided that I don’t particularly like your line of work, and frankly, I don’t want to know anything else unless I’m about to be attacked and need to defend myself.”
Her words struck something deep inside me, though they really shouldn’t. It was understandable that she wouldn’t want to be involved in my life after what happened. How many women had to walk into a situation with a mafia underboss and then shoot their way out?
Still…if she didn’t want any part of my life, where did that leave us?
“So, I was thinking that we’d go back to my house where you can fully recover.
The doctor said it would take several weeks until you were able to do any lifting over ten pounds, which means I have several weeks to keep you to myself,” she grinned.
“I’m thinking a naughty nurse costume and lots of bed rest,” she said, leaning forward, pressing her lips to mine.
But I barely moved. I was still stuck on the whole she wanted nothing to do with my life thing.
She pulled back, frowning down at me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I croaked out, forcing myself to grin. “Just…waking up still. My brain isn’t one hundred percent online. Must be the drugs.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Not even a little, as long as I’m laying still.”
“Do you want me to ask the doctor to lower the pain meds?”
Hell no. I wanted to sleep through all this and wake up in a different situation. One where she didn’t want to leave me behind because of my life.
The door swung open and Cap walked in, flinging his laptop bag onto the chair, completely ignoring Krista.
“So, I send you out for one trial, and you somehow manage to get yourself drugged, stumble into another team’s op, and you get shot. Seriously, what is it with you guys?”
“Boss, this is Krista.”
He glanced at her, nodding before holding out his hand for her to shake. “The woman of the hour. I hear you have some great skills. Want to join the team?”
She couldn’t hide her cringe as she got up. “No thanks. No offense, but that wasn’t the highlight of my life.”
“Interesting,” he said, his eyes twinkling with humor. “Are you sure she’ll fit in around the rest of the women?”
I choked on my spit, then really started coughing, which only made the pain flare up. Krista poured me a cup of water, and while that would ease the ache in my throat, it would do nothing for the stabbing pain in my chest from her words.
“Should I get the doctor?” she asked, worrying her lower lip.
“No,” I shook my head, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m fine.”
Cap, reading the situation, glanced between the two of us and handled everything for me. “Krista, if you don’t mind, I need Rob to fill me in on a few details. Would you mind giving us a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
Pressing her lips to mine, she smiled before walking out of the room. But it felt like she was walking out of my life, and I didn’t know how to deal with that.
“So, that’s Krista. She seems nice.”
I grunted in agreement.
“What’s the problem? Derek said she handled herself well. Maybe she can keep Freckles under control,” he chuckled.
“She wants no part of this life,” I informed him. Saying it out loud was even worse than thinking it.
“You can’t listen to anything she’s saying right now. You were shot, and she’s full of gushy emotions that are making her say stupid things.”
“Cap, she sat right here and said she didn’t like my life and wanted no part of it. There was no hesitancy in her voice. This isn’t something she has to think about.”
“And what did you say?”
I sighed, wishing I had thought of something clever to say. “Absolutely nothing. I was stunned. What do you say when the woman you’re falling for says she wants nothing to do with your life?”
Cap took the seat beside me, thinking about it. “Maybe she’ll change her mind with time.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.”
“It’s not like she’d be in constant danger. And you don’t go out on jobs that often. Her life wouldn’t be like the others.”
“Can you guarantee we’ll never get attacked again? Can you tell me that one of the ladies won’t decide to blow something up?”
He grimaced at that. “Look, we’re past all the crazy—”
“Knight was shot helping Cash get vengeance for their brother. He allowed Cash to shoot him,” I pointed out. “At any time, that could have come back on us.”
“But it didn’t.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “But we have no way to know that it won’t happen again. We thought it ended with the virus, and then Knight ran off for months, and now this! When is it ever going to end?”
“Hey,” he said, glancing at my monitor as it beeped, as my heart rate skyrocketed. “Just take it easy. We’ll figure it out.”
Would we? I’d been going through life, screwing around because I had time. Well, now I found a woman I could spend my life with, and she wanted no part of this. How the hell was I supposed to solve that problem?
There was nothing for me in Montana besides her, and she didn’t want to be around explosions and gunfire all the time. How the hell were we supposed to find a solution to this?
“Maybe she’s not the one for you,” Cap said quietly. “Maybe she was just a wakeup call.”
“Yeah? For what?”
“To stop sleeping around. To find the woman who is right for you.”
Very philosophical, indeed.
But that was the thing…I didn’t want to find another woman. I liked the one already in my bed.