Page 77 of Hostile Love
I take the wool face covering from her and roll it onto the crown of my head, wearing it as a hat for now.
“Yeah. They’re in the neonatal unit while Dré is in recovery. Sin won’t let them leave without her and she won’t leave Dré.”
“Where’s India likely to be? With the twins, or Sinéad?”
A wisp of hair drifts across her wet lips in the light breeze.
The bulge between my legs gets harder and my muscles tense.
“Tommy thinks she’ll be with my mama and Carina,” I say, breathing out hard. “Which means India is most likely in the twins' ward. When we get inside, you head straight to Sinéad and stay with her. I’ll look for Indy. Gio will have a team flying in as we speak, and he and Tommy are on their way too. Backup should arrive any minute.”
Dani digs out a switchblade from the bag and holds it between us.
“Here, take this…and Mat…” Her cute nose scrunches and her expression turns dark. “Don't take any chances. Protect yourself first. No matter what. Promise me.”
“They’re my family, Dani. I’ll protect them the same way I’d protect you. I hope you can extend your promise to have my back and keep them safe too.”
“Matheus,” she warns, her voice fierce and firm. “Do not take any risks.”
I nudge her chin upward with my knuckles and gaze into her eyes.
“Stay with Sinéad. I’ll come for you when I can, okay? And don’t disappear this time.”
She swallows and looks away, forcing her emotional shutters to slam into place.
“Understood, Crow. Stick to the plan. Protect the Souzas at all costs.”
At that moment, the fire alarm goes off and my spine goes poker straight.
“Fuck. They must be here already.”
Dani backs up and fixes her balaclava over face.
“I’m guessing they’re emptying the hospital. I’ll head straight to André’s room.”
Turning to the fire exit doors, her sexy body covered in leather and her beautiful features hidden, she glances over her shoulder to find me with a serious sheen glistening her eyes like gunpowder.
The profound intensity of her stare twists in my chest.
“Be careful, Crow,” she calls out, her voice a little breathy, but her stance every bit the savage sicario I know her to be.
I manage to contain my impulses, even when she darts away from me before I can respond. I’m hot on her heels though, jogging from warm sunshine into artificial light.
Letting her take the lead for now, I brush against the heavily painted pale green wall and stay a few steps behind, swearing under my breath when the electricity suddenly cuts out.
Backup generators automatically kick in, keeping the life support machines on and other necessary healthcare equipment working.
Emergency lighting flicks on too, but the lights overhead blink like we’re in a horror movie.
Moving deeper inside, medical staff and worried visitors crowd the main entrance while we linger in the shadows and check the floor plans stuck to the wall.
The mission takes us to different floors. She’ll go her way and I'll have to go mine. Separating doesn’t sit well with me. Despite that, this isn’t just any mission, and I’m not the only one our enemies should fear.
Dani holds the monopoly on murder.
Catching her eye, I point across the corridor to the illuminated sign for the stairs. Dani nods and darts ahead of me, pushing through the swinging door.
For the few seconds she’s out of sight, a flurry of panic crawls over me. Flying into the stairwell, I gaze up at the shadowy mouth of a twisting staircase fringed by a red metal banister, the space lit only by the emergency exit signs on each floor.
