“Okay.” Jai sat forward, placing her arms on the desk. “Let’s analyze that statement, shall we?”
“Let’s not.”
“You can only be trapped somewhere if you’re not allowed to leave. But if you want to stay, then I don’t see how you can be trapped. And Meghan wants to stay. Also, you left, so how trapped can she be?”
“And you saw how hard it was for me to make that happen.”
“I know. Terribly hard.” Jai placed the tips of her fingers against her chin. “Let’s see if I can remember how it all went down. Ahhh, yes. You walked into your parents’ kitchen, said, ‘I joined the Marines. Did anyone feed the baby?’ And walked out. Other than your mother’s quiet sobbing, I don’t remember much about you being caged for such a decision.”
“Some days, you know ... I just really fucking hate you.”
“Do yourself a favor, Cella. Let your daughter make her own decisions, so you don’t lose her to your aunts. Because, let’s face it, that’s what really has you worried.”
“It—” Cella began, but a knock at the office door cut her off.
“Come in.”
When Cella saw Blayne walk in, she rolled her eyes and walked out. She was in no mood for a fight over Hannah.
“You can’t avoid me forever, heifer!” Blayne yelled from the safety of Jai’s office.
Cella spun around and yelled back, “Get in my way, Thorpe, and I’ll claw your entire face off!”
Feeling her point had been made, Cella faced forward but stopped short when she found Reed standing there.
“Are you done tormenting the wolfdog?” he asked.
“At the moment.”
“Then can we get started? Everybody’s waiting for you.”
“Everybody?”
“They’ve multiplied since the last time.”
“No pressure though.”
“You can stop acting like a victim, feline. I just watched you happily threaten the sweetest being on the planet.”
“It wasn’t happily.” When he only stared at her, she insisted, “It wasn’t! Just necessary.”
“You going to be all right?” MacDermot asked as she finished the last of her fries. They sat in the booth at the back of the diner near the Sports Center, her Yankees cap pulled low to hide her swollen face. Of course, it didn’t hide much of anything and everyone kept looking at him like he was the one who’d actually hit her. Although their reaction told him a lot about full-human society.
“I’m fine.”
“You seem fine, which I find a little weird.” She finished her soda. “Gentry still wants to put a security detail on your house.”
“Why?”
“I think she cares if you die.”
“Why?”
“And we’re done.” She slipped out of the booth, reaching back to grab her jacket.
“What did I say?”
“Nothing. You’re just kind of weirding me out. I don’t know how you just accept all this.”
“What am I supposed to do? Cry?”
“Don’t irritate me, Crushek. I’ve had enough of males whose reactions I don’t understand.”
Crush smirked. “When you got home, did Llewellyn roar a lot in disapproval over your dangerous life as NYPD that led to your face looking like that or did he just lick your bruises?”
“Both. But what really freaked me out was ...”
“You really liked the licking?”
She shrugged. “It was comforting.”
“Don’t worry. We all like the licking.”
“Yeah, whatever.” She pulled the hood of her parka over her head since it was another day of close to zero temps outside. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
After MacDermot left, Crush sat at the table a little while longer. He knew he should feel something about all this, but he just ... didn’t. What did that say about him as a person?
Deciding to pay the tab and go before he thought too long about that particular question, Crush pulled out his wallet and took out a couple of bills. He was just throwing them on the table when he realized that the other side of the booth was no longer empty.
He looked up, blinked, then looked around, convinced someone was playing a joke on him.
“Um ...” He shook his head, confused about what he should say to the man sitting across from him. “Do ... do you need something, Mr. Novikov?”
“Peace. And. Quiet.” Bo Novikov looked up from the menu he was studying. “If I have to listen to one more rookie whine about me shoving the Zamboni at him when he wouldn’t get out of my way, I’m going to go off. And you can call me Bo or just Novikov. Calling me Mr. Novikov makes me feel like your dad.”
“But then wouldn’t you be Mr. Crushek? Or I’d be Mr. Novikov?”
The pair stared at each other until Novikov said, “That was a really bear moment.”
“Yeah. It really was. Sorry.” Unable not to ask the question, though ... “So you shoved a Zamboni at your teammate?” Crush had no idea how much those things weighed, but they were motor vehicles designed to keep the ice on a rink smooth. And since there were few motorized work vehicles that were light, he’d guess there was much poundage involved.
“He annoyed me.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal, but then your girlfriend told Blayne.”
“My ... my what?”
“Malone. Your girlfriend, right?”
“She’s not—”
“She always goes for the jugular, that female. She’s lucky she’s a good player.”
“Or you’d throw a Zamboni at her?”
“Nah. Wouldn’t be right. She’s a woman. I was raised better than that.” There was silence for several moments while Novikov finished looking over the menu and placed it on the table. “I did, however, toss her out a five-story window once into a Dumpster, but she’s feline. She cleared the Dumpster and totally landed on her feet. So you wanna stay and have lunch with me or what?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After spending the week chasing down drug-dealing bears and tips on Whitlan, Crush was grateful when the weekend came and he had a whole Saturday to sit at home with Lola, relax, and watch the Islanders game. It was still early and he had no intention of getting up for several more hours, when he heard the purring. No. That wasn’t right. He didn’t hear purring. He felt it. All over his body. And wow! That was kind of amazing. So amazing, he woke up. Unfortunately, as soon as he woke up the wonderful spell was broken and he was forced to face the reality that his house had been broken into—again.
“Why are you here, Malone?” he asked, even as he reached for her.
“We had a date.”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Ice Party. You’re supposed to come with me as my date.”
“But I specifically told you no.”
“That was before you kissed me.”
“You kissed me. Besides, Islanders game today.”
“You’re saying I am less important than the Islanders?”
“Yes.”
She stroked a finger across his chin. “I think you’re lying,” she purred. “I think you’re absolutely fascinated with me and you’re dying to go to the party.”
“Look, I’m sure there are a lot of guys out there who haven’t gotten to know you who would be really glad to—oh, God, please stop doing that.”
She was licking and grazing her teeth against his jaw, making Crush’s toes curl, his hands clench. But he had to fight it.
But she’d started purring again, her hands sliding up his arms, gripping his shoulders, and her hips rocking back and forth against him. They weren’t even naked! She was fully dressed and Crush had on his sweatpants. And yet he felt like he might come at any second.