Cash Money (Bad Money #4) (12 page)

Chapter 22

Jon

"Pull it together, goddammit." Jon stared at himself in the mirror and took another shaky breath. He'd lost too many people over the last few weeks to even contemplate losing Kate. She was it. All he had left, and part of him knew that she was slipping out of his grasp too.

Letting his head drop, he took a shallow breath and forced himself away from the sink. It was go time, and Marcus was probably already dealing with Billy - alone.

He dried his hands and pushed the door to exit the bathroom, a little surprised to find Zak still standing out in the lobby as if waiting on him.

"Marcus isn't here yet?" Jon rolled his shoulders and glanced around.

"Yeah, he's up in the middle of the party, looking about as good as you do."

"Was that a compliment?" Jon's lip lifted in a smirk. He couldn't stop himself from searching for Kate with everyone that passed by him.

"No. You both look like you've been throwing up your damn shoes for the last three days." He patted Jon on the back. "Get up there. I'll be a shadow, but know that I have your backs."

"Right. Thank you." Jon turned and jogged up the stairs, not quite sure he was ready for the night to come, but without choice in the matter. "Just like the rest of the shit I'm dealing with."

The music pumped out of the large room before him, and he walked straight to the bar, picking Marcus and his big bald head out of the crowd easily.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late." Jon turned to the bartender. "Shot of whiskey. Two, actually."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Marcus turned to face him and lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I gotta find some way to slow my heart down a little. I've been through a lot of shit, Marcus, more than you can imagine, but nothing has ever bent me over quite like this is." He reached for the shots and took them one after the other, grimacing at the strong burn of the liquor as it lit his chest on fire. "A beer please. Whatever you have in a bottle."

"Yeah, I get it." Marcus lifted his beer to his lips and glanced around the room. "Billy just found me, but he didn't have Kate with him."

"What? Why not?" Jon jerked around as angst filled his insides.

"She's here, he's just got her tucked away. We're supposed to meet him on the roof." Marcus took another long drink of his beer and set the empty bottle on a tray as someone passed by holding one. "I have the information from Victor's too. Zak got it for us last night."

"About last night..." Jon shook his head.

"It's all right man. I needed to see you fucked up. Leaving Kate is going to be the hardest thing I ever have to do, Jon. Knowing that you love her enough to lose your shit like that is comforting. You love her like I do. Everything is going to be okay." He smiled and nodded toward the other side of the room. "The elevator is over there. Let's go. Let's get this shit over with."

"Right." Jon followed after him, downing his beer and trying hard not to think through all the things that could go wrong with the night. He wanted to ask Marcus why him and Kate fucked in the store room. Did she need the attention? The release, or was it because she knew he was leaving and was hurting over it? Did she love Marcus more than him?

"Stop thinking so much." Marcus elbowed him as the doors to the elevator closed.

"Does she love you more than she loves me? I asked her once, and she said yes, but I need to know how she feels now."

"No, you don't. You need to help me save her life and worry about the rest later. Keep your head in the game right here and now, Jon. You're going to lose her if you don't fight hard and smart over the next few minutes. Don't turn into the guy you've been lately when shit goes wrong. Grow up and fight for the woman you want beside you, like I’m doing." He popped Jon in the chest as the door opened. "Do that, and she's all yours."

Jon nodded and bent down to set his beer down beside the open elevator. The wind was fierce on top of the roof, but it felt good. It reminded him that he was alive.

The sound of Billy's voice sent a shiver of fear down his back, though the man had nothing on Jon other than holding the most precious cargo he might ever know.

Kate.

"There you boys are. I thought maybe you had decided to stand me up." Billy chuckled as he pulled Kate to his side, his arm wrapped around her tightly. "No sudden moves from either of you. I have my boys waiting in the wings to take each of you out if you get excited and start pulling guns."

Jon's eyes moved over Kate, the tight blue dress fitting her like a glove.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Jon barked out, unable to stop himself.

"No. I'm fine." Kate's face was a mask of indifference, and he could see quite clearly why Marcus was assured that she was okay. She wasn't the sensitive woman Jon wanted to make her into, but she wasn't the cold-hearted bitch Marcus knew her to be either. She was somewhere in the middle. A beautiful conundrum.

"Give me the supplier and the cop, and you walk away with the girl." Billy turned his attention to Marcus. "A deal is a deal."

"True dat." Marcus walked toward Billy as Kate pulled away from him a little.

"Marcus. No." She turned her attention to the big bald guy as Jon forced himself to stay put. Marcus knew what he was doing, and though everything inside of him screamed that he'd been betrayed, he refused to believe it. They'd grown too close, and life wasn't so cruel as to deal him such a shitty hand to have Marcus leave him with Billy as partial payment for Kate.

At least he prayed that it wasn't.

"Shut up, Kate." Billy jerked her back toward him as he took the paper from Marcus.

Jon realized that Billy had a gun in his hand almost a moment too late. He lifted it and pointed it at Marcus, but Jon had already pulled his piece out and fired off a round that hit Billy square in the chest.

The door opened behind Kate and Billy, and Reni walked out and fired off three rounds. Another two rounds were fired from somewhere in the distance, and Jon stood in stony silence and watched Billy hit the ground. Reni was right behind him, as were the three others who piled out the door on the rooftop.

The horror on Kate's face was confusing. She was stunning, even with tears running down her face as she bolted toward him. He tried to lift his arms to grab her, but they wouldn't respond to him. Time slowed significantly, and the world tilted as Jon let out a long exhale.

Kate was fine. Marcus would take care of her and become the man Jon longed to be for her. The past would be forgotten and all the shit with Adam, and then Seth and Victor would be buried in the cold earth alongside them. Nothing more than a bad memory.

Kate's voice was slurred horribly, as was Marcus's as they moved frantically above him.

A smile tugged at Jon's lips as he forced his arm to move. He had to touch her one more time. To remember just how soft her skin felt. He cupped her face as she screamed something and tears dripped down her cheeks.

He couldn't make out her words, but it didn't matter. She was safe.

"I love you, baby." Jon closed his eyes and tried to open them again, but the warmth of the darkness surrounding him was almost too much. The taste of metal filled his mouth, and he let out a slow exhale as someone pressed themselves to the top of him.

Kate. His girl. Forever.

Chapter 23

Kate

"Kate. Come sit down, baby. Stop pacing the floor. Please." Marcus's voice was gruff and filled with far more emotion than she'd ever heard.

"No. I can't." She pressed her shaking hands to her mouth and swallowed the bile that rose up inside of her again.

A beautiful dark-haired woman in black leather pants and a tight shirt caught her attention, and she turned to lock eyes with the girl.

"Marcus," the girl glanced over at Marcus, breaking the contact, "I'm leaving. You guys okay?"

"Yes. Thank you so much." Marcus got up and walked toward the woman, leaving Kate to return to her pacing. She had to be from Marcus's new life in Chicago. Kate waited for jealousy to blast through her, but it didn't. Nothing could permeate the fear of losing Jon for good.

Marcus walked back over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "That was Izabella. She was a sniper for us tonight. She took out everyone that came onto the roof." He kissed the top of her head. "Let's go to the cafeteria and get-"

"No. Stop fucking babying me. I'm fine. I just..." She pressed her hands to her face and let out a strangled sob. "I don't want to lose again. I don't want to try and dig through the ashes of losing him, Marcus. I can't. I won't."

She sagged against his strong hold, wishing that her heart wasn't nearly as connected to the man who lay dying on the hospital table in the room just beyond her reach. Marcus should have been enough. He was the one she wanted in her bed, pressed to her body, loving her, taking care of her, saving her, but that was an illusion.

A comfort of the past breaching the walls of the future.

Marcus wasn't that man anymore. He would love her forever, and she would return the favor, but watching Jon go down on the top of the roof that night had ripped open the truth inside of her. She wanted a normal life with two kids and a house to clean, or laundry to do. She was done experiencing the wild side of life and wanted more than anything to create memories that didn't force her to her knees.

There were so many bad ones.

"Baby. He's going to make it, okay? He loves you too much not to." Marcus pressed his mouth to her ear and rocked her back and forth. "I promise you."

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Hey, guys."

Kate turned to watch Zak walk up. He gave her a quick hug and turned to Marcus.

"I'm so fucking sorry man. I should have been up there with you guys. Me hanging around the edges of the damn room did no good with you on the roof."

The door opened behind Kate, and she jerked around as Marcus and Zak hushed their conversation mid-sentence.

"Are any of you related to Mr. Peterson?" The young doctor slipped his hands in his pockets and gave a sad smile that had Kate's insides souring.

"She's his wife." Marcus moved up beside Kate and put an arm over her shoulders.

"Ma'am. Come this way with me?" He reached out and Kate took his hand, moving on shaky legs away from Marcus.

Her best friend mumbled something behind her, but she couldn't make it out over the whoosh of blood racing by her ears. She wanted to ask a million questions, but couldn't force her voice to work. They stopped by the ICU recovery room, and Kate moved in as the doctor picked up a clipboard.

"He's not out of the woods, and he's lost a lot of blood, but the hope is that he will make a full recovery."

"Thank God," Kate whispered and moved to the side of the bed, reaching over to brush Jon's disheveled hair back as tears streamed down her face. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his forehead, his cheeks and beside his ear as she cried. "Wake up for me, baby. I need you. Please. Please don't leave me here without you."

The door closed behind her, and she pulled a chair up beside the bed and dropped down into it before taking Jon's hand and pressing her cheek to his thigh. Her tears ceased a few minutes later, and she started to babble. She told him about her childhood, and her teenage years. She laughed through the stories about her and Adam and cried through a few of the ones with Marcus.

A nurse touched her shoulder a few hours later and smiled down at her. "Visiting hours are over. You want us to pull a bed in here or are you going home to rest?"

"I'm not leaving here without him." She stood up, ready to fight anyone who would disagree.

The older woman smiled and nodded. "Okay, well, your friends are right outside the door with a change of clothes. How about you stick your head out there for a minute and we'll pull a bed in here for you to stay beside your husband for the night."

"Okay." Kate squeezed Jon's hand and moved up to kiss his lips softly a few times. "Wake up for me, baby. Please."

She moved back and walked out to find Marcus's complexion off. He was beyond pale. Frightened.

"You okay?" He pulled her into a tight hug.

"Yeah. I will be. He's going to pull through." She wrapped her arms around him and breathed in deeply. "You guys go home and I'll call you later. I want to be here when he wakes up."

"All right. I'm just a phone call away."

Kate glanced up at him. "Will you always be just a call away, Marcus?"

"Always." He leaned down and brushed his lips by hers. "You know that you love someone with every ounce of your soul when you're willing to let them go."

"I realize that." She touched the side of his face. "I love you."

"All the girls do. Take a ticket, baby. Get in line." He winked and pulled back, turning to Zak and smiling. "Let's go get something greasy to eat. I'm fucking starving."

Zak waved and walked down the hospital hallway with Marcus, both of them laughing.

Things wouldn't be easy, but they would be right.