Page 21 of Unholy Cross

He shook his head.“I’m staying with her.”

“Aera...”

“Tell Jeremiah if he wants to talk, he should come here.”He shot a glower at Evren.“I’m not leaving her.”

His stepbrother threw his arms up in the air and marched off, stomping down the hallway.Cross didn’t give a shit if Evren and Jeremiah were pissed at him.All that mattered was the woman lying unconscious on the bed.He hovered over her, silently willing her to open her eyes.Then, a single tear rolled down her cheek, and it almost broke his heart.He had stared men in the eye as he gutted them.Gloated as he slit their throats.Had watched women have a train run on them as they floated on a heroin high.His MC had transported everything from guns to drugs to people, and he hadn’t given a flying fuck.

Cross had always known he was a horrible person, but seeing her suffer from saving his life changed something.What she’d done had been selfless, and kindness wasn’t something he encountered very often.His world had never revolved around altruism, yet this girl proved she was stronger than any man he’d ever known.Including himself.What she did stunned him, and he vowed right then and there he would take care of her forever.Give her everything she needed and wanted.Put her on a fucking pedestal and worship her.

“Aera.”

He glanced at the doorway, where Jeremiah stood with his hands on his hips.Their gazes met and held.Jeremiah Delance tried to stare him down, no doubt like he did with all his minions.Cross had never been intimidated by his older stepbrother, even when they were still part of a family.He certainly didn’t give a rat’s ass now.That was, until Jeremiah sent a pointed look at Lorelei.

Bastard.

Cross leaned over and gave Lorelei a kiss on her forehead, feeling the heat of her skin.Then he joined his stepbrother in the doorway, unwilling to move his sight any further off her.

“I see the clothes fit,” Jeremiah said.“You’re welcome.How is she?”

Cross didn’t reply.He didn’t think he had to point out the obvious.

“When I got your call, I was surprised,” Jeremiah continued.“First, being in my city.Second, calling me for help.Sloppy work killing someone in plain sight, so who was the asshole?”

“A bounty hunter.”

Jeremiah raised one eyebrow.Waiting.

Cross reluctantly continued.“He was sent from this asshole named Birsha, a doctor out of the Noble Vale Sanatorium, to fetch her.”

Jeremiah’s eyebrows rose.“You were in a sanatorium?”

“Not me.”

“Ah.”He shot a quick glance at Lorelei.“Was she supposed to be there?”

“No.I thought we were in the clear but he had us tracked.Your doctor assured me she can find the damn chip and remove it.”

“And where do you plan on going after here?”

Cross shrugged.“I don’t know.Someplace where Lorelei can feel safe.We’ve got a few ideas.”

Jeremiah crossed arms over his chest and tilted his head.“You don’t want to stay here?You’re the only one of us who doesn’t live in Vegas.”

“I left this sewage of a city for a reason,” Cross muttered.“Speaking about sewage, how long has it been since you saw Georgie and Cricket?They’re practically the walking dead.”

“Low blow,” Evren muttered.

“I tried to get them sober,” Jeremiah said, shaking his head.“They kept relapsing.So, now I make sure the house they live in stays upright.That’s all I can do for them.I can’t force them to stay alive if they have not even a modicum of self-preservation.”

“Whatever.I really don’t give a shit about Georgie and Cricket.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Cross shrugged, already tired of talking.

“Asshole,” Evren muttered.

“Fuck off,” Cross told him.

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