“Heartbeat is sounding quite strong at one-twenty-two beats per minute,” the ultrasound technician said with a wide smile. “Let’s see what else we can look at, and make sure the size matches your weeks.”
On the screen, gray, white, and black masses swirled while the tech moved the wand across Catherine’s flat stomach.
“It says on your chart you’re almost eleven weeks along, right?”
“Just about.”
The woman nodded.
Through the speakers, the baby’s heartbeat rushed with a whooshing sound in the background. Like the hooves of horses galloping in white noise.
In the masses, the picture slowed to show the shape of a developing baby. Shortened limbs, a large head, and small body. In the chest area, the heart fluttered away.
“Everything is measuring well,” the woman said.
“It’s too early for a gender, right?”
“By a few weeks, unfortunately. Your doctor did want you to have an early ultrasound just to make sure everything was looking well, though. I expect you’ll be in here for another one around the time we can definitively tell. I mean, as long as the baby cooperates.”
Catherine laughed to herself, but when the woman looked to her for an explanation, she said nothing. The tech didn’t know Cross, after all, so she wouldn’t understand.
But this baby was his.
It was very unlikely to cooperate at all.
Even when she had her ultrasound for Cece, it had taken quite a bit of time, and three techs to come in to weigh odds on the grainy images to decide she was a girl. And even then, they hadn’t been entirely sure.
Catherine had to go back for another ultrasound to find out—a three-dimensional one. Cece had not wanted to stay still long enough to show what her gender would be.
“Okay, Catherine. I think that’s all.”
The tech hit a button, and pages started to print out of the machine while she turned her chair. She grabbed a facecloth from the counter, and Catherine took it to wipe the blue gel from her stomach.
“Nothing to worry about?” Catherine asked.
She didn’t think there was, of course, but pregnancies could be fickle. Plus, she wasn’t twenty-five, now. After thirty, a whole new set of worries came with pregnancy.
“Not that I could deliver the news to you if there was something wrong,” the tech replied, “but no, everything looks good with baby.”
“Great.”
The tech grabbed the papers that had printed out the side, and the black and white grainy images of the baby. She handed them over to Catherine with a smile.
“You’re on your way upstairs for the OB-GYN, right?”
“Can’t forget to pee in a cup,” Catherine joked.
Laughing, the woman nodded. “Yeah, I don’t miss that, either. Give the paperwork to the doctor, and she will add it to the file for you after going over everything.”
“Thanks.”
“Have a great day.”
Catherine fixed her dress before leaving the private room. She just stepped out into the hallway when her phone started ringing. She didn’t even bother to check it as she answered, and put it to her ear.
“Catherine here,” she said.
“Hey, reginella. You have a minute?”
At Miguel’s voice, Catherine darted for the closest bathroom. She didn’t want to be late for her appointment, but she also wanted to hear whatever the hell Miguel had found out for her about Evira Masters. Inside the bathroom, she locked the door and faced her reflection in the mirror.
“Talk to me, Miguel.”
“You were right.”
“I usually am. Indulge me on what, though.”
“Masters is still residing in California. Wine country, apparently. From what I have found out from a couple of sources, she’s got a man she cozies up to.”
Catherine fixed a stray curl and asked, “Who is the man?”
“Small time coke dealer. His father comes from Miami. Think Cocaine Cowboys back in the eighties or whatever. You know, when flying coke into and out of Miami with single engine planes used to be a thing. Anyway, the guy has connections to somewhere.”
She didn’t really care about the guy.
Just Evira.
“He’s not going to be a problem, is he?”
“No, but he’s clearly the one supplying her. Or, that’s what I would think considering the situation. Where the hell else is she going to get her hands on cocaine and whatever else she’s peddling?”
“Have you got eyes on her yet?”
“Not exactly,” Miguel said. “I think she might be on a vacation or something.”
Catherine cursed lowly. “Or she’s skipped town.”
“Definitely not. Ugly little Pepto-pink Beamer in the garage of the house the guy owns. He’s not driving around in that piece of shit. No self-respecting man would.”
“Cute.”
“Seriously.”
“Get eyes on her Miguel, and follow her when you do. I want proof it is her delivering to the clients. I don’t feel particularly good about assuming, and then retaliating without absolute proof it is her.”
“It’s her, reginella.”
“Likely, but my point remains the same.”
“I’ll update you when she’s back in town,” Miguel said.
Catherine touched up her lipstick in the mirror, and ended the call with, “Make sure you stay out of that girl’s sight, Miguel.”
“Yes, reginella. Act like this is my first rodeo.”
“Reminders are always good.”
“I’ll call you.”
Catherine found a black town car waiting outside the hospital once she was finally done with her appointments. Instead of the previous driver who had taken her earlier, a new man was waiting. He stood beside her mother.
“Ma,” Catherine said as she strolled toward the car, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
At all.
Catrina was still avoiding Catherine, after all.
“I thought you might like to go to lunch with me,” her mother said.
Dressed in black Dolce & Gabbana with the heels and mink coat to match, Catrina looked every inch a queen in her place. Then again, she always did.
“So, you’re done ignoring me, then?”
Catrina raised a perfectly manicured brow. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Do you have something to say to me?”
Catherine smiled because yeah, she did. “I crossed a line, Ma.”
“Keep going.”
“It’s kind of cold out here, you know. It is March.”
“Keep going,” Catrina repeated, unmoved.
“I questioned you when I shouldn’t have. I overstepped my place. You taught me a valuable lesson that was well learned.”
“Was it?”
Catherine stuffed her hands in the pockets of her trench coat in an effort to keep them warm. “This … what you do, I mean, isn’t easy. It was one thing for me to handle a piece at a time, but when it’s all shoveled on, it’s different.”
“And difficult,” Catrina said.
“That, too. I didn’t realize just how much you’re always dealing with.”
Catrina sighed. “I throw things at you—like the Giuseppe meeting—because I know you can handle it, Catherine. You thought that meeting was a failure on your part, but it was far from it. You learned something invaluable. Not every person I deal with will be amicable to you, or pleasing to your personality. You have to be able to manage a changing business on your own because I will not always be here.”
“Abril definitely wouldn’t have been amicable to you,” Catherine said, grinning.
“Abril?”
“New supplier. Cartel leader. Certainly likes her place acknowledged. Kind of like you.”
Catrina pursed her lips. “Mmm.”
Catherine pointed at her mother, saying, “And that attitude right there would not have worked. I don’t mind stepping aside when it comes to business to get shit done. I can tell when my place is lost because it’s no longer my throne to sit on for the moment. Overstepping my boundary with you taught me that, too, Ma.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t give people an inch, Catty, or they—”
“Take a mile, I know.”
Catrina smiled softly. “However, well done.”
Pride swelled through Catherine, but she managed to keep from preening like a little peacock with its pretty feathers. Barely.
“You think?”
“I suppose I can take a step back from suppliers and shipments, then?” Catrina asked instead of indulging Catherine’s question.
“I would … really prefer it if you had as little as possible to do with Abril in the way of business, Ma. It would be a Giuseppe situation all over again, and I don’t have the time to go out and find myself a new supplier.”
Catrina’s gaze darted down to Catherine’s flat stomach. “I guess not. How’s the pregnancy?”
“A lot like Cece’s was, I think.”
“So, exhausting, vomiting … the usual.”
Catherine laughed. “Yeah, about like that.”
Catrina gestured toward the hospital. “And nothing is wrong?”
“Standard tests, Ma. An ultrasound. Heartbeat. Pee in a cup. Bloodwork results. Everything is great, really.”
“I was told you would need a driver, and your guards would follow behind today. Things are not very good on Cross’s side of business, are they?”
“It’s always something.”
“It is,” her mother echoed. “But that was the life we signed up for. Knowingly.”
“I found the competition you kept quiet.”
Catrina’s gaze narrowed with interest. “Oh?”
“Just another thing to add on the pile.”
Her mother turned, and waved at the waiting driver to open the car door. “As you said, Catty, there is always something.”
“I suppose you’re not going to help me clean up these problems that have come up in your absence?”
Catrina slid into the car. “Not at all. You’re doing so well. Why would I step in?”
Catherine climbed in after her mother. “Not even surprised.”
“You needed this, Catty.”
She had.
More than she had known.
“Close your eyes.”
Cross sat at the head of the table, but had turned the chair to face Catherine. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
“But—”
“Stop ruining our moment, Cross.”
“What moment?”
She gave him a look, and he raised his hands in surrender before closing his eyes. Digging in her clutch, Catherine pulled out the black and white images she had gotten at the hospital the day before.
Cross had been so busy with things that he hadn’t gotten home until late. Catherine was distracted by their daughter, and Cece’s interest in decorating her “second room” as she was now calling the bedroom she used in the brownstone. Now that she had five minutes with Cross alone while Cece was busy in the next room, she could do this.
Catherine held the pictures up. “Okay, open your eyes.”
Cross opened one. And then two as soon as he saw what was in front of his face.
With a laugh, he plucked the sonogram pictures out of Catherine’s hands. There wasn’t very much to see, given she wasn’t far along, but it was enough.
The baby was growing.
Thriving.
“The heartbeat is strong,” Catherine told him.
Cross smiled, but kept looking at the images in front of him. She figured that was just his way of reminding himself that this was one less thing he had to worry about for the moment. The baby was okay, and the pregnancy was coming along well.
“It’s a girl,” Cross said, quiet and sure.
Catherine put a hand to her hip. “Why do you think that?”
“I just … do.”
“That’s not very scientific or factual.”
Cross shrugged. “My gut says girl, Catty.”
“Well, two is all you get. So if you were hoping for a boy, and it is a girl, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Instantly, Cross was up off the chair with a laugh and a grin. He caught Catherine around her waist with one arm, tipped her back, and kissed her mouth three times in quick succession. His forehead pressed to hers while his eyes locked on her gaze.
“Keep thinking I couldn’t convince you otherwise, babe.”
She tried to glare, and failed. “Be fair, Cross.”
“I am, by being honest.”
“Two is my limit.”
He nodded. “I know.”
Then, he kissed her once more. Softer and slower, lingering for longer and deepening the kiss until her lungs burned with the need for air and her body felt weightless.
Yes.
She still very much loved this man.
“The bloodwork came back good, too,” Catherine said when Cross finally let her go. “Nothing abnormal, I guess.”
“Perfect.”
“And I didn’t get the chance to mention it yesterday because you basically fell into bed and heard nothing until this morning, but Ma showed up yesterday.”
Cross glanced over his shoulder at her as he headed for the coffee pot. “I thought she might. Dante called to ask about what you planned on doing for the day. I assumed he was going to meet up with you somewhere, but he mentioned Catrina might like to.”
“Didn’t think to give me a heads up?”
“You needed to talk to your mother, Catherine.”
“So?”
“So, I was not about to risk you bailing on her if I did tell you.”
She did glare at him that time. “I would not have.”
“Maybe.”
“Cross.”
“You needed to talk to your mother,” he repeated.
Catherine heaved a heavy sigh. “And I did.”
“Yes, and I bet you needed it.”
“I did,” she admitted quietly.
Cross made his coffee, turned his back to the counter, and sipped from the drink. Facing her, she couldn’t hide a damn thing from him. She never could. “Maybe I should have told you, babe. I guess you had kind of realized you needed to step up and apologize anyway.”
“Did that, too, thank you very much.”
He smirked.
Catherine waved it all off.
“It’s all good, anyway,” Catherine said.
“I know,” her husband replied in that knowing way of his.
So smug.
Damn arrogant.
Cross would never change.
“She offered to take Cece,” Catherine said after a minute.
Cross’s gaze darted to hers. “Take her for what?”
“She and Dad would take Cece out of the state or country, if we needed them to.”
“For safety purposes, you mean.”
“Yeah.”
Catherine could see just how much Cross disliked that idea. She also knew they might not have a choice. For the moment, they were good in the safe house, but that couldn’t last forever. At some point, their location would get noticed, and then it would make the rounds back to the Russians.
It couldn’t be avoided forever.
It was now a waiting game.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Cross murmured.
“Yet, it sounds like someone just kicked your puppy.”
He chuckled dryly, while Catherine closed the distance between them to snuggle against his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she patted his scruffy cheek with her palm.
“I feel like she’s been gone more often than she’s been with me lately, Catherine. You, too. I don’t like that.”
“Once this is all over—”
“You’ll go back to work like you do, and she’ll want to go along. In a couple of years, she’ll be in school half the fucking day. She needs to go back to being a baby again, that’s all.”
“Not possible.”
Cross scowled, but said nothing. His love for Cece was sickeningly cute.
Catherine adored it.
He tipped his head down, and buried his face into Catherine’s hair. It made his voice muffled when he spoke, but she still managed to hear the words loud enough. “Tell your parents we might take them up on that offer.”
“Okay.”
“Any other news?”
“Andino called this morning when you were in the shower.”
Cross glowered at the wall. “A couple of days late, isn’t he?”
“Hey, at least he did eventually call.”
“With an apology?”
“Actually, he asked if I would meet up with him tomorrow for lunch.”
Cross’s bad mood was back in an instant. Catherine could see it in her husband’s eyes, and the hard set of his tensing jaw.
“I figured I could meet up with him at the park when Katya and I take Cece for a walk and go for coffee.”
Catherine had decided to finally meet up with the Russian girl. Also, Cece had been asking about her Uncle Zeke for a while. It was time to get all that shit sorted. She had also told Cross they had to let Katya in, so she was going to try to do just that.
“You’ll have enforcers from both sides, then,” Cross said more to himself than her. “That makes me feel slightly better. More you being out, than you with Andino.”
“Don’t worry about me and Andino. Take no shit, right?”
Cross looked down at her, and then nodded once. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Peace offering?”
Andino held out the to-go cup usually used for coffee, and Catherine eyed the item curiously. “Depends on what’s in it, frankly.”
“Not poison, thanks.”
“No, I meant what is it?”
“Well, a little bird mentioned caffeine isn’t good for women in your condition.”
Catherine gave him a look. “Condition, really? You have two kids, and your wife is pregnant again, and you call it a condition, Andino?”
“I was trying to be polite. According to Dante, I have no business knowing that you’re pregnant to begin with. When I mentioned bringing you a coffee to soften you up, he let the news slip. Also, it’s a fucking hot chocolate. Take it and like it.”
She snatched the cup from her cousin’s hand, and sipped from the spout hole in the top. The sweetened, hot liquid flooded her tongue.
“Peace offering accepted, asshole.”
Andino smirked. “Thanks.”
“You called my father?”
“Actually, I called Catrina.”
That did surprise Catherine.
“Yet, you talked to my dad,” she said.
“Only after Catrina reminded me she has no patience for my shit,” Andino replied with a dry laugh.
“I love my mother.”
Andino made a noise in the back of his throat. “I bet you do.”
Walking along the pathway around the park, the two cousins stayed side by side. Andino hadn’t brought his daughters along, but that was because he had work to do after their meeting. Or so he said.
Across the park, Catherine could see Cece running away from Zeke as he tossed a small slushy snowball at her. Acting as Cece’s bodyguard and snowball thrower to fend off Zeke’s attack, was Katya. Instantly, Cece had taken to the woman. Catherine thought it might take a little urging from her and Zeke, but nope.
Katya was a soft-spoken, yet happy woman. Catherine hadn’t really gotten the chance to have a conversation with Zeke’s wife—and the cause of one of their issues—but she figured she didn’t need to. Cece liked her. That was enough for Catherine.
Right now, anyway.
Later, Catherine was hoping to get that conversation with Katya. She wanted to learn more about her, and make friends. After all this was over, Katya would be a part of their lives. Catherine at least owed it to the woman to let her in.
Being it was early March, they wouldn’t have snow for much longer. Soon, the rain would come in to make a damn mess until the flowers began to grow. She had made sure to bundle Cece up well so she wouldn’t catch a damn cold. That was the last thing she needed.
“And then Dante kindly reminded me that while I am in fact an asshole, you—”
“Be very careful with your next words, Andino.”
He shook his head. “You were raised by them.”
Catherine sipped from her drink to hide her smile.
“I’m very accustomed to bulling my way in this business, Catty,” Andino said when she stayed silent, “because that’s what’s gotten me everything I wanted, and where I am now. Before, everyone saw me as … the laidback one, never too severe, and always taking care of someone else before I ever took care of me and mine. All that allowed was for people to walk all over me, and so being this way is simply easier.”
“You can’t bull your way through shit with me.”
Andino nodded. “Can’t, or shouldn’t?”
“You know what, it’s both.”
“Noted.”
Catherine stopped walking, and turned to face her cousin with a smile. “Listen, what matters is that you respect me at the end of the day, Andino. As your family. As a business partner with the Three Families. And as the head of my own organization. Otherwise, you’re going to force my hand when you push my limits a little too far.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
“If you can’t respect me, then I will teach you how to. Trust me when I say that is not a road either of us want to travel.”
Silence stretched on between them. Still, Catherine saw the flash of admiration in her cousin’s gaze before he glanced away.
“Threats, huh?” he asked.
“Promises, actually.”
“I worked some numbers with John on the cocaine thing, by the way.”
Catherine’s gaze narrowed. “Ten percent more is not that bad, Andino.”
“It’s actually only about three percent higher when you factor in the costs of moving it from where they plan to drop a shipment to our territory.”
“Oh?”
“Just about three percent, yeah. I mean, those are detail numbers, but you know how I am.”
“Details are where the money is at.”
Andino grinned. “Usually. You made a good deal, Catty. Grazie.”
She smiled right back. “Just don’t forget that I can take it away, Andino.”
“Also noted.”
Catherine looked back across the park for her daughter, Katya, and Zeke. She didn’t immediately see them where they had been playing just moments before. Her gaze swept over the crowd at the playground once, then twice, before her heart rate picked up.
“Where did they go?”
Andino turned to look, too.
“Where is my daughter?” Catherine asked.
“Hey, don’t stress, Catty. She was with Zeke and his wife just a second ago. I’m sure—”
“Katya! Cece!”
Zeke’s shouts carried from the parking lot. Catherine turned in that direction only to see her husband’s best friend’s back as he ran into the lot full of cars.
Then, pops of gunfire shattered the peace of the park. Screams from kids and parents pierced the air as panic swelled, and people began to run. That hot chocolate Andino brought along spilled across Catherine’s suede boots, and stained the snowy ground as it dropped from her hand.
Catherine didn’t even think about it; she bolted in the same direction Zeke had gone. Andino was right behind her.
All she heard were her heartbeats.
They sounded like someone was whispering, “Cece, Cece … Cece.”