On the Edge (18 page)

I need to regroup and collect myself since Cole’s words have me distracted. I can’t walk back into Sal’s office all turned on. Pete pushes me along just by walking closer to me than necessary. I speed up so that I’m back beside Cole. When we arrive back at Sal’s office, Ugly Joe opens the door and Drew steps in first. Bruce glides into the room, and all attention centers on him. His presence naturally demands control of the room and the power oozes from him. Because I’ve stopped just inside the office door, Cole nudges me to move beside Bruce.

This man is everything that Cole will become one day. I picture myself, a few years down the road, standing by Cole’s side, and my chest constricts. The intense feeling is nothing I’ve ever felt before, but it’s a feeling I like even if I’m not sure what it means.

Cole stands on my other side and Pete and Drew fall behind us. Bruce glares at Sal, and the intensely dark, hatred-filled look gives me shivers. At that moment, Bruce wouldn’t hesitate to kill Sal. I glance, see a similar look on Cole’s face, and find myself taken back by the intensity of the Knight men. I’m glad to be standing between the two and not against them. I also wouldn’t want to be Sal. He’s trying hard to be calm, cool, and collected but a bit of fear floats in his eyes.

“Gentleman, have a seat,” Sal says, indicating the chairs in front of his desk. Bruce sits and looks to Cole, who motions for me to take the seat. He moves to stand behind me, practically standing on top of me. His hand rests on my shoulder, a clear sign of his possessiveness.

“Let’s cut the crap! I have no time for your bullshit. What will it take to get my children back?” Bruce asks in an authoritative voice.

“I want the gun shipment from Devereux,” Sal states coolly.

“Who is Devereux?” I quietly ask Bruce.

“Lyric Devereux is one of our business associates from down south. He basically runs the southern Gulf Coast,” Bruce says before turning back to Sal. “That’s not happening.”

Because of the nature of the business, this conversation will be between Bruce and Sal. The rest of us are nothing more than decoration.

“Are you sure about that?” Sal sneers at Bruce and then turns to press a button.

The video monitor wakes from sleep mode, and Julie pops up on the screen. My heart stops when a guy enters her room, marches towards her, and doesn’t even hesitate before landing a swift kick to her gut.

I gasp and stiffen in my chair. “What the fuck, asshole?” I shout without warning. Cole’s hand squeezes my shoulder as if to say to shut up, but I can’t. I’m pissed.

Bruce’s face has tightened, but he makes no outward show of discomfort. The pain in his eyes is loud and clear. When the guy on the screen lifts Julie’s limp body and punches her in the gut, I lunge out of my chair and over the desk, not quite certain how I make it in one move.

“You fucking prick! This was not part of the deal!” I’m now climbing towards Sal while Drew holds Ugly Joe and Pete blocks the door.

“Kat.” I hear Cole yell from somewhere behind me, but I’m beyond pissed. I reach behind me, pull the gun out of my waistband, and place it right against Sal’s head.

“Pick up the phone and make that guy stop now.” Calm anger laces my voice.

Bruce calls my name, but I’m too far gone to be reasonable. I release the safety on my gun, and when Sal hears it cock, he reaches for his phone.

“When you make that call, you tell whoever to get Julie and Seth here now. Alive!”

Cole moves to my side and places his gun to Sal’s temple. “Kat, put your gun away and let me handle this.”

“Fuck that. I want blood. No, I want
his
blood.” Something has snapped and my anger has created a chick you don’t want to mess with. I have become everything I’ve never wanted to be or thought I could be. I’m a cold-blooded bitch who feels no guilt or shame in the fact that I want Sal’s blood on my hands.

“Kat, come, sit now,” Bruce calls out.

I peer at him and see he is not playing with me. My respect for this man compels me to do as he asks, so I place the safety back on the gun before tucking it into my pants. I move away slowly to move back to Bruce’s side. My body shakes with anger. Unlike the men in the room who can handle this without showing emotion, I’m livid. My anger spins through me like the earth revolves around the sun, only at warp speed.

Under Cole’s watchful eye, Sal makes the call. Time seems to stand still as we wait.

Bruce’s voice breaks through the cloud of anger surrounding me. “Kat, you need to calm down. Please. Cole is barely holding on to his temper. Unfortunately, I have a feeling this is going to end very badly.”

A quick nod is the only sign I give that I hear Bruce. With Cole covering Sal and Pete holding Ugly Joe, Drew moves to the door to wait for whoever arrives. An occasional glance from Cole lets me know that he’s not happy with me. Time moves slowly, but no more than thirty minutes pass before the quiet is interrupted by a light tap on the door. Drew looks out the office window before yanking open the door. A young woman leads Seth into the room, and then makes a quick retreat.

“Daddy!” Not realizing the danger around him, Seth squeals and rushes to Bruce, who drops to his knees and gathers his son close to him. The tender scene has me fighting to hold back tears. When Cole shifts his body to make sure Seth can’t see the gun trained on Sal, it makes me feel better knowing they are trying to shield Seth.

Every nerve in my body tingles as I anxiously wait for Julie to be brought through the door. Another eternity seems to pass even though, in reality, it’s only five minutes before we hear another knock on the door. When a man walks in with a battered, bloody Julie in his arms, Drew immediately takes her into his arms and cradles her carefully against him.

I wrap my arms around my stomach when I’m close enough to really see Julie. Her swollen face is so battered and distorted that I hardly recognize her beautiful features, and one arm hangs at an odd, unnatural angle. As I study her body from one end to the other, no one speaks. They just watch for my reaction.

When I see a slight sneer on Sal’s lips, rage brews inside me, but when I turn to the guy who brought her in and realize he is the one I saw kicking her on the monitor, I don’t even think. My gun is in my hand, and I’m pulling the trigger. One shot in each leg brings him to the floor, screaming and bleeding, but I don’t care. I can’t seem to stop myself.

“She needs medical attention, now!” I say, looking at Bruce, who is shielding little Seth as much as possible from the carnage I just created.

“Call an ambulance, Kat,” Bruce says. We have no time to worry about police involvement. I pull out my phone, dial 911, and explain that we need an ambulance, and the dispatcher informs me that both medic and police are en route.

“Cole, you need to put the gun away. The cops are coming.”

He engages the safety on his weapon and tucks it back in his pants but never moves from Sal.

“Well, Sal, you fucked up by taking my children. Your uncle isn’t going to be happy with you when his lawyers get this call.” Barely controlled anger fills Bruce’s voice.

I don’t understand how my men are so controlled and calm, and here I just shot a guy twice for what he did to Julie. The rage rushing through me is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I’m edgy, to say the least!

THEN, it hits me. I just
shot
this guy and the
cops
are coming. My breathing turns ragged, my pulse races, and a panic attack creeps up on me.
Oh, shit, I will lose UCLA if I get in trouble for this.

Pete picks up on my anxiety, and taking the gun from my waist, he wipes it down on his shirt, fires a shot into the wall, and then tucks it into his pocket. When the implication of what Pete just did for me sinks in, I almost fall to the ground with relief. He has just saved my ass from trouble with the law and he doesn’t even know why it’s so important to me. The only one in this room who truly understands what I would be losing is Bruce.

Before long, the sound of sirens fills the office, and the guys begin to squirm. Sal and Ugly Joe appear especially uncomfortable because they know they’re going down. When I called in about Julie, I didn’t mention the guy I shot. I’m not sure I care if he lives or dies. That hits me hard. I stagger back and lean against Bruce, who manages to wrap an arm around me. A swirl of emotions goes through me. I’m still pissed about Seth and Julie being taken. I’m pissed for what that asshole has done to Julie.

I glance to my brother. He’s still holding her close, but something is off in the way he looks at her. I can’t process that right now. I’m shaken and a little scared that I may lose everything I’ve worked so hard for, but that’s the only thing that bothers me. Cole is watching me, waiting to see how I’m holding up. I know I love him, and that, no matter what, I will always love him. No time or distance will ever take away from what I feel for him.

The police barge into the office, startling me from my thoughts. I don’t know what’s happening outside this room, but in here, we’ve been told to not move while they try to figure out the situation. When Bruce recalls the events of the last three days, the police hear enough of the story, and place Sal and Ugly Joe in cuffs while paramedics load Julie and the asshole on stretchers. The police allow us to follow Julie’s ambulance to the hospital.

“Wait!” Everyone turns to look at me. “Can I ride with her, please?” The medic nods yes and I rush out Bruce’s grip to follow them to the ambulance. They load Julie and climbs in before signaling me inside and shutting the door behind us.

“Is she going to be okay?” I ask quietly.

“She pretty beat up, but I don’t think anything is broken. But we won’t know about anything internally until they run tests in the hospital.” he says, his face grim. I can tell he doesn't like what he sees when he examines her. “Which one of those guys did this to her?” he asks me, looking at me like he isn’t sure I’ll answer him.

“The one in the other ambulance,” I say tersely. He nods his head, his lips a grim taut line. I reach out, grab Julie’s hand in mine, and hold onto as if it’s a lifeline between us. I can’t lose her. She’s my best friend, my sister. I wipe the tears beginning to fall with the back of my other hand.

When we arrive at the hospital, a nurse waits for the medics to lower Julie out of the ambulance. As they roll her into the ER, they’re speaking all kinds of medical jargon that I don’t understand to inform her of Julie’s stats. I can tell though, as she calls out something to someone behind the desk, that they’re concerned about something. I stand back, trying to stay out of the way, but I’m not leaving her. A flurry of activity happens as several others come into the room. The doctor comes in and the nurse fills him in on what’s going on, then he barks orders that make no sense to me but mean something to the staff.

“Is she a relative?” he asks me.

“Not by blood, but she is part of the only family I have,” I say. “Her dad should be in the waiting room by now.”

“We’re going to take her for some tests. Go find her father, and as soon as she is back down in the ER, we’ll call you guys back in.”

“Thank you,” I say as a younger lady comes up to me.

“Come on, doll. I’ll show you to the waiting room.” She gently prods me along.

I follow her down a hallway, and when she hits the silver circle on the wall, a set of double doors open. It’s a stark open room with generic beige walls, standard dark wood tables, and worn brown leather chairs. The hideous white tile seems typical for all hospitals. A few people are scattered throughout the waiting room, but it’s not crazy busy like it can be in the ER. I spot my family almost immediately. Drew is slumped in a chair, looking lost. This is not what I’m used to from my brother. Cole and Bruce stand in a corner speaking quietly with one another while Pete stands just off to the side of them. Bruce notices me first and moves quickly to my side.

“They took her for a bunch of tests. X-Rays, CT scan, MRI. They’re worried about internal injuries,” I explain to the best of my ability. “They think one of her shoulders is dislocated, so they’re going to check it, as well.”

“You’re fucking crazy,” is whispered in my ear. I’m slightly startled by the voice. I know it’s Cole, but him sneaking up behind me like this right now could get him hurt. I turn to face him. I’m struck by the intense gaze of fear, relief, anger, and love swirling together. Those beautiful, blue eyes are so full of emotion that my chest clenches.
Cole really does love me
. Even as I worry about Julie, I can’t help but question if I’m making a mistake by going to UCLA.

“I couldn’t just sit there,” I say softly. I’m too tired and worried to fight with him.

“Do you know how fucking scared I was when I found out you were in the building?”

“I’m not going to apologize for being there, but I’m sorry I worried you.”

He pulls me to him, holding me close.

“Don’t fucking do it again!” he says low where only I can hear him. I hold onto Cole and we take comfort in being in one another’s arms.

“You know I can’t promise that right?” I ask Cole as we move to sit down. I glance at him to see what his reaction is. He watches me closely and sighs quietly.