Page 29 of Blackstone's Heart
'Christ, Krista could have been killed! How did this fucker get that close to her and Jerry?'His mind screamed.
The door opened and Nick came rushing in. He visibly relaxed when he saw Ethan holding Krista. "Thank god. Is she...."
"She seems okay, shaken but okay. An EMT friend of ours was there and said she was alert and moving. Hell, Nick she dragged Jerry out of his office." Ethan whispered.
Nick quietly moved the chair closer and stroked her hair. "That sounds like her. Always thinking of others before herself." Nick then lifted his gaze to Ethan. "Reminds me of a little boy I used to know." Ethan wanted to squirm. He opened his mouth but Nick beat him to it. "You and Krista always did look good together son."
"Nick, I..."
"You what? Care about her still? Christ, anybody with two eyes can see that much. My question now is, what are you going to do about it? Hmm?"
Ethan didn't think, just spoke. "I’m not giving her up again Nick. I’ve gone the last fourteen years without her and now that I have her again I can’t picture my life without her again. I WON’T go without her.”
“Have you told Krista any of this?” Nick inquired with a slight smile.
Ethan looked down at the woman sleeping in his arms. “Not in so many words, but she understands what this means for us being together. I’ve made sure this is one hundred percent what she wants. She said she wants to see this through and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Good. May I offer just a bit of friendly, manly advice?” Nick said.
“Sure.” Ethan nodded.
“No matter what, always be honest with each other. You know Krista better than anyone except her brothers, me and Debbie. Even if you think she shouldn’t hear it, don’t keep it from her.” Nick replied.
Ethan chuckled a little. “Nick, I don’t think Krista would let me keep anything from her. I don’t believe in secrets anyway. You start keeping secrets and things go bad, fast.”
“Very true.” Nick agreed.
Both men looked up when Lance slipped in. "Jerry's in surgery now, it could be a while. He was unconscious when they brought him in. That's about all they'd tell me."
"I'll go talk to the nurses and let them know where to find me. I'll also call his parent's in New York." Nick said.
Nick patted Ethan's shoulder, stood, shook Lance's hand then left the room. Lance moved and took up Nick's seat. The two men were silent as Krista slept peacefully in Ethan's arms. Lance leaned forward, forming a steeple his fingers under his chin.
"Tony texted me a bit ago. From what he was told, it looked like the explosion was caused by a pipe bomb. Fuck." Lance hissed.
"I know."
"What are we going to do now? This guy just escalated."
"I want you to reach out to Cain and Jimmy. You and the guys work with them and figured out what you can. I'll talk to Krista and see what she wants. She may want to still go on with the New York trip, then again she may not. If she does, we'll come up with something."
Lance lifted a brow. "You're not going to talk her out of it if she does?"
Ethan sighed. "You want to try and do that? Lance, she fucking drug her unconscious friend from a burning office. She's got bigger brass balls than most Marines."
Lance cursed. "I don't like it boss."
"I'm with you there, buddy, but it's her choice." Ethan stated.
Chapter 8
Krista sighed exiting her bathroom, wrapping the towel around her head. She had been released from the hospital that morning. They had kept her for observation overnight. Her shoulder had felt a bit stiff and other than some bumps and bruises, she was cleared. Ethan had stayed with her the whole time while his guys were out in the field gathering what information what they could.
She moved to her bed and sat at the foot of the bed just staring out in a kind of daze almost. Before leaving the hospital she and Ethan had gone to see Jerry. He was still unconscious, but he was out of the woods. The explosion had knocked him into his bookcase which had resulted in a broken leg, broken arm, several cracked ribs and a concussion as icing on the injury cake.
"Krista, you alright?" Ethan asked, bringing her back to the moment.
"Why? Why go after Jerry if I'm the target?" Krista sighed as he sat beside her, slipping an arm around her shoulders.
