Part 11 (1/2)
”Yea, so what? He's my brother first and as my brother he's an a.s.s,” Justin says eyes darting around the hall as his deep chuckles join mine.
”Justin, I can defend myself.” I give a slight nudge with my shoulder, ”However, right now my only focus is Drew. He's all that matters.”
Julie walks up. She takes in the embrace between Justin and me before she speaks.
”Is everything okay?”
”I'm good, I just want to junk punch Cole right now.” I say with a slight chuckle.
”Right I think you are more likely to junk suck him then punch him.”
Her deadpan sends Justin laughing. The vibrations rumble through my body as he continues to hold me.
That small exchange is enough to break through the tension. All three of us are soon laughing uncontrollably. My body relaxes. I was wound up tight worrying about Drew. Now that I know he is going to recover I breathe easier.
Julie keeps eyeing Justin and me strangely. It's then I realize he's still holding me and I'm not pulling away from him. I'm not sure why Julie is concerned. Justin is like a brother to me. The only guy I want in the Knight Family is Cole. I will have to be on guard around Cole. My body's reaction to being near him is indicative of how easy it would be for me to fall into bed with him again.
”Oh s.h.i.+t!” I exclaim as I pull out of Justin's embrace.
”What is it?” Julie asks alarmed by my outburst.
”I left Luke in there with Cole. It could lead to bad things, Luke's not a fan of your brother.”
The three of us walk back into the waiting room. Bruce and Luke are in a quiet conversation. Cole and Pete sit close by. Cole's eyes burn with anger as he glances at Luke. I take my seat next to Bruce. Luke looks up at me. I smile letting him know everything is fine now. Bruce reaches out and pats me on the knee. Julie sits down on my other side. Justin joins Cole and Pete.
Justin begins talking to Cole and I can tell the conversation is strained. They are talking too low for me to make out what is being said. The brothers are in a heated discussion that is clear from their faces and body language. Justin is giving his brother h.e.l.l over what I just told him in the hallway, there is no doubt in my mind about it.
Cole meets my gaze, and it's easy to see the irritation on his face. He can kiss my a.s.s. He had to know that eventually it would all come out. My anger threatens to take control of me again. Thinking of Cole leads me back to Drew taking bullets this morning. The Knight men have avoided answering my question long enough.
”What's going on? Who's after Cole, who else are they after and why?”
My eyes dart back and forth between the Knight men sitting there. Pete s.h.i.+fts in his seat. The men stare at one another. Bruce and Cole appear to have a silent conversation. Luke's face is lined with curiosity.
”Leave it alone Kat. Let us handle it,” Cole barks out.
”f.u.c.k that. My brother almost died because of what's going on.” I pause to calm myself my voice has begun to raise ”I have a right to know.”
”Kat now's not the place to discuss it.”
Bruce pointedly looks around the room as he speaks, drawing my attention to all the people sitting there. Over half of them are curious about us and listening to us talk.
A nurse walks up to us before I can say anything else. ”Robert's Family?”
”Yes” I nod my head looking at her expectantly.
”Mr. Roberts has been moved to recovery and will be transferred to ICU next. You should make your way to the ICU waiting area where they will update you.”
Once again my body relaxes. I didn't even realize how tense I still was over Drew's condition.
”How long until we can see him?” I ask.
”He will be taken into recovery for an hour and then moved to ICU. You should be able to see him once he is moved to the ICU, so I would guess in the next couple of hours,” the nurse responds.
”Why don't we go get something to eat before we move to the ICU waiting room?”
Bruce's suggestion is a good one. We have some time before we can see Drew and I haven't eaten since Luke and I had dinner the night before. Not that I'm hungry now, but I should try to eat something.
Our little group walks to the cafeteria. My body begins to tingle as someone moves next to me. I know by my reaction Cole is walking beside me. He is the only one who makes me react this way. It's pathetic I'm turned on while my brother is in the hospital fighting to survive. Instinct has me wanting to move closer to Cole, but I resist the urge.
”Please tell me what's going on?”
”Sal Martin.”
My heart speeds up. There is a mixture of fear, anxiety and antic.i.p.ation coursing through me. All Cole did is say the name.
”f.u.c.k Kitten,” Cole bites out. It's so easy for him to call me his pet name even after all these years. ”You have that same look on your face right now that you had years ago when you shot Sal's guy.”
I ignore that comment for the time.
”Why didn't anyone tell me?”
”That's what we were at the diner discussing this morning. Drew was headed to California with some more guys for security. We were planning to tell you. I was making sure you'd be protected,”
”Why?” I sigh ”Why would you care about my protection?”
”You are a Knight. I'll always protect you.”
”Sal is dead.”
”Kitten,”
”Don't Kitten me! I'm going to make him pay for this just like I made him pay for Julie and Seth.”
”Let the guys and I handle this.”
”f.u.c.k you!”
”What the h.e.l.l did you study in that f.u.c.king college you went to?” he asks with a trace of humor ”Business.”
”And part of your education was dealing with guys like Sal Martin?”
”No a.s.shole! I'm from Belmont, and a Knight that's how I learned to handle guys like Sal.”
Cole and I have stopped just outside the door of the cafeteria. Our family has already gone into the cafeteria.
”Kitten, don't' get involved.”