Page 20 of Unholy Cross

“Don’t fuck with me.”

“Not even a please?”

“Goddamn it,” Cross muttered under this breath.“Please.”

Evren gave a shit-eating grin and turned.“Come on, Lover Boy.This way.”

Cross bit his tongue, when all he wanted to do was hit Evren.Out of all his stepbrothers, Evren Grenier was hands down the most irritating out of all of them.Not only was he very judgmental about Cross’s MC lifestyle despite the fact he worked for a Sin City loan shark, but he liked playing the knight in shining armor.They entered an elevator car and Evren swiped his badge to access the private penthouse suites their oldest brother, Jeremiah, resided in.A moment later, the car stopped and the doors slid open.They walked up to the door where Evren scanned his fingerprint and entered a pin number.The door clicked open and his brother led him inside.

Jeremiah had always been refined, even when they lived in squalor, and his penthouse reflected that taste of stark sophistication.It was like stepping into some sort of staged photo shoot with white upon white décor and accents in gold and black.His brother snarled into the phone he held to his ear, pacing back and forth in front of the bifold glass doors that led out to a private balcony with a swimming pool.

“...I’ve gone out of my way giving you enough time to repay my loan, and I feel like you’re spitting in my face.Do I need to cut off your balls and stuff them down your throat for you to take me seriously?”Jeremiah glanced up and met Cross’s narrow-eyed gaze.“You’re out of time, Shrewbridge.”He ended the call, then gave him a once-over up and down.“You look like shit.”

“Where is she?”

Jeremiah jutted his chin toward a hallway and Cross hurried that way.In one of the guest rooms, Lorelei lay on a bed.Pale.Barely breathing.Cross’s heart stuttered in his chest and he hurried to her, leaning over to gently touch her cheeks.Her lips.Her delicate throat.Movement had him looking up at a woman who wore a white lab coat.

“What’s wrong with her?”he demanded.

“I don’t know yet,” the physician said.“Can you tell me what happened right before this?”

“A man attacked her,” he replied.

The doctor swiped a thermometer across Lorelei’s forehead.“She’s burning up, but I don’t see an injury.Did he hurt her?”

“No.”

“Has she consumed drugs?”

“No.”

“Alcohol?”

“No.”

“Well, she’s clearly fighting an infection.”

He stilled.“An infection?From a wound?”

Fear gripped him at the realization of what she’d done for him.She absorbed his gunshot wound, healing him while she now battled for her life.Lorelei had to know this would happen, right?How could she save him if this was the consequence?

“How did she get the bruises?”

Cross looked at Evren, not sure how much he could trust the lady doctor.When his brother nodded it was okay to talk, Cross focused his attention back on her.

“She was in Noble Vale Sanatorium,” he explained.“They were doing experiments on her.The asshole doctor running the place had someone hunt her down.They beat her so often that she doesn’t speak anymore.”

The doctor’s face softened as pity flooded her eyes.“I’m glad you rescued her.”

“He said she’d been implanted with a GPS chip.”

“Really?I thought that was just a movie myth.”

She stared at him, as if waiting for him to say something.He just stared back.

The doctor cleared her throat.“I’ll have my assistant bring my portable X-ray machine here.If there is a chip, I’ll find it.”

“Hey, Aera,” Evren said, capturing his attention.“Jeremiah wants to see you.”

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