Page 234 of American Hellhound
“Shit.” He could envision the scene, the dangerous impossibility. “Try to calm down, okay? Badger’s after me and mine. He doesn’t care about hurting Alec, alright?” When we get there, he’ll turn him loose.”
“You’d better hope you’re right.” Fury that bled into terror. A jagged breath. “I…”
“It’s alright, kid. Hang tight. We’re coming.”
~*~
Sitting in the waiting room, Harry prowling at the door with his figurative hackles raised, Maggie wanted a lot of things. A cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a cigarette. Her husband’s arm around her. Her baby in her lap. Her other baby at her side, providing droll commentary. None of which she could have at the moment. But most of all she wanted – prayed – for her father to be okay, because she hadn’t finished trying to get to know him again, adult-to-adult.
Her thoughts wouldn’t hold still, flying from Ghost, to Ava, to Aidan, to Ash, her worry for her family like a second consciousness inside her head, one that wouldn’t be drowned out or silenced, no matter what was going on in the immediate vicinity.
Something cold and dry touched the back of her hand and it startled her to realize it was her mother’s hand, pale and cold as bone, shaking with emotion. Maggie twisted hers beneath it, palm-up, and laced their fingers together.
“It’s okay, Mom. He’ll be alright.” They were the only words she could offer.
Denise closed her eyes and nodded, lashes shiny with tears. “I know.” Her lips trembled. “I know.”
But they didn’t know, and that was the unbearable part.
The doctor had come by just before she went to the OR, already dressed in mint green scrubs and cap. She was optimistic, she said, but they should be prepared. She said she’d send someone to update them as soon as there was news. That had been thirty minutes ago, and since then, Maggie had tried her best to keep it together for her mom.
What they needed was a distraction.
Across from them, Kristin and Roman sat side-by-side, heads down, hands folded in their laps. At another time, Maggie would have chuckled over their mirrored posture.
Now, trying to stem her guilt over being a terrible daughter, she said the first thing that popped into her head when she looked at them. “Explain to me why you two aren’t together.”
Kristin’s head jerked up, expression stricken.
Roman said, “Fuck. You sound just like your old man, you know that?”
Denise pulled in a breath to protest – either thefuckor theold man, or maybe Roman’s tone in general.
Maggie squeezed her hand.Wait. And miraculously, she waited.
Maggie gave Roman her best Ghost impression: an unimpressed stare. She couldn’t do the single eyebrow lift, so she raised both. “That didn’t sound like an answer, Roman.”
He grumbled something under his breath and folded his arms, tucked his hands into his armpits.
“What was that?”
“What’s it to you?” he asked.
“My dad’s in surgery and I’m looking to take my mind off the fact. Sue me.”
Kris fidgeted in her chair. She looked ready to bolt.
Roman gave Maggie a flat look. “We’re just not, okay?” His tone saiddrop it.
“You know,” Maggie said, her anxiety finding an outlet in anger. “I don’t want to embarrass Kristin or make her uncomfortable. You, though” – she pointed at him – “you I have no qualms about.”
“That why you wanted me to come up here? Embarrass me?”
She wasn’t going to answer that in front of her mother, but she saw in his face that he didn’t need her to. She’d brought Roman along for one reason: he might serve as a good bargaining chip if they ran into the Saints. It was a long shot, but better than no shot at all.
Roman’s grin was mean. “You always were more ruthless than I gave you credit for. You and Ghost – that’s a match made in heaven, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me, young man,” Denise said. “You’d do well to keep a civil tongue in your head.” She was still trembling, still fighting fear, but some of her usual haughtiness was bleeding back to the surface.
