BLBF, thanks again for such a nice review. I agree, Danny may not be the person for Jaime to tell if he wants to live. :) But now you've got me thinking about avenues I hadn't planned to go down, ha! Guest reviewer, WOW. Saying this is one of your favorite stories is possibly one of the nicest reviews I've gotten on any of my fics. Thank you so much.
Chapter 6
Carlos nudged Kate. "Take the lime jello stuff," he whispered in her ear. "It's disgusting, but will keep us both in Aunt Gina's good graces."
Kate did as he said, her paper plate weighed down with lasagna, garlic bread, meatballs, green beans, fruit salad, and now the suspicious lime stuff.
He thought they were going to make a clean break to the backyard, but Sophia's voice stopped them before they made it from the buffet laid out on the dining room table.
"So, Kate," came his oldest sister's voice. "How did you two meet?" Carlos could hear his sister was making an effort, though clearly uncertain about Kate.
Kate didn't flinch. She met Sophia's eyes evenly. "At a bar."
Carlos grinned at the flash of shock on his sister's face. Kate wasn't going to make this easy.
Lara, more tentative, ventured. "That sounds like a fun way to meet," she said uncertainly.
"What do you do for a living?" Bella asked.
For a split second, Carlos thought Kate would tell her she ran guns for one of the major arms dealers on the East Coast. He halfway wanted to see his sisters' reactions.
"I'm a bartender," Kate answered. He could hear the rough attitude starting to edge into her voice.
"She's a great bartender," Carlos interjected, starting to move toward the door and taking Kate with him. "Makes the best Tom Collins you've ever had."
He let the door close on his sisters, his hand gripping his plate tighter than it needed to. He handed the other plate to Joe. He could see the pain etching deeper on his partner's face.
Joe nodded toward Carlos. Carlos set his own plate off to the side and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, meeting Kate's eyes.
"We should talk now."
He could see her mentally brace herself for whatever was coming, but her face didn't flicker. She waited.
"With Hux gone, there's a void in the gang. We need to know who's going to be making a power play and what are the chances it explodes into a gang war?"
Kate picked at her food for a minute, then set her own plate aside. She looked from Joe to Carlos. "You met Johnny," she finally said. Her face flickered with emotion when she said his name. "He was Hux's number two and will step up. And everyone will accept it. Except for Wes. There's a history between him and Johnny and he'll fight him for power. But they'll keep it in-house. They aren't going to let word get out that there's any upheaval in the Dime Boys."
"How is it going to affect everyone within the Dime Boys?" How is it going to affect you? He couldn't ask her straight out, he knew she wouldn't give him a straight answer, but that's what he needed to know more than anything.
Kate didn't answer right away. He saw her run her fingers over the tattoo on her left wrist. He had seen her do that before, when Hux got violent or one of the gang shot his mouth off and she got caught in the crossfire.
"It's going to be ugly," she said.
"So you're not going back," Joe said what Carlos was thinking.
Any emotion was gone from her face, her sleeve was pulled down over her tattoo and wherever she had withdrawn, it wasn't with them. "I don't have a choice."
Carlos exchanged a look with Joe. "We can give you a choice. We'll make sure—"
Kate's eyes hardened and any of the easy companionship that had crept in during the day was gone. "You're not going to do anything. I can take care of myself." She stood too quickly and Carlos saw her press her lips together, heard the quick gasp of pain.
Joe shook his head slightly at Carlos, warning him not to push her on this. "So you'll be there when we go back under," Joe said mildly.
That got a reaction. Fear flared in her eyes. "You're going back undercover?"
"We spent a lot of time cultivating this business relationship. No way we're backing out if our cover's intact."
Kate swallowed hard, then the fear was gone, her face emotionless. "I'll make sure your cover's still good and let you know. I'm going back tonight."
Carlos hated it, but it was going to have to be enough. He could get back into the gang and keep an eye on Kate there. Though he could never let her know he was doing anything to protect her.
Joe frowned, clearly no happier about the arrangement than he was. Carlos had lost his appetite. Kate and Joe didn't look like they planned on eating.
"You two look terrible," he said. "I'll take you both home."
#
Kate was silent after they dropped Joe off at his apartment. She had stayed away from the gang and avoided the initial upheaval the shooting had caused, but she couldn't stay at Jaime's any longer. It wasn't going to be safe once the shock of Hux's death passed and they came looking for her. Johnny wasn't going to let her go that easily.
Carlos parked in front of Jaime's building and started to get out. Kate frowned. "You don't have to walk me up."
Carlos met her eyes, held them. "I know. But I want to."
It was easier than arguing with him. So she let him walk her to the building. They rode the elevator in silence. The walk from the car to the building, then the short walk down the hall to Jaime and Eddie's apartment was enough to leave her ribs aching. Carlos noticed.
"You look like you're hurting."
"I'm fine," she muttered, pulling out the key Jaime had given her with the instruction to keep it and stay with him and Eddie any time and for as long as she wanted.
"Did the doctor give you something to wrap your ribs?" he asked. "My brother-in-law broke his ribs a couple of years ago and said wrapping them helped."
The lock turned with a click and Kate pushed the door open. The apartment was dark.
"Yeah, it helps," she said. "I just…I couldn't do it on my own this morning." And she wasn't going to let Jaime or Eddie see any weakness. She tried to shrug off his concern.
"Do you want some help?"
Carlos' quiet words in the still apartment sounded like he was offering help with more than a simple ace wrap. She wished he was, then mentally slammed the door on any thoughts like that.
But her ribs were on fire, it hurt to breathe, and she was going to have to go back to the bar tomorrow.
"Thanks," she said.
She flipped on a table lamp in the living room, the soft glow somehow more intimate than the darkness had been. She opened her backpack and dug to the bottom for the elastic wrap the doctor had sent home from the hospital.
"You kept it," Carlos commented. Kate looked over her shoulder at him and saw him looking at the teddy bear in her backpack.
She didn't answer, just handed him the ace wrap. She shrugged off her sweatshirt, wincing at the movement.
Her eyes met Carlos'. He was just helping her out. There was no way he saw her as anything more than the bartender who had helped him and his partner out. She wrapped her fingers around the hem of her tshirt and lifted it just enough to expose her lower ribs.
Carlos stepped closer. He wrapped the bandage around her, his warm fingers grazing her bare skin. Kate held her breath, trying to think about anything but Carlos' presence.
Carlos reached around her, passing the roll of bandage from one of his hands to the other. His chest pressed against her shoulders as he reached to fasten the bandage in place. She risked a glance up at him. Big mistake. His face was right there, his head angled down to see what he was doing. His lips were just a breath away. Carlos' hand rested against her side.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
Again Kate could swear he wasn't just asking about her ribs or the bandage. She opened her mouth, not sure if she was going to tell him the truth or lie and say she was just fine, but there was the sound of scuffling in the hall and a door somewhere pushed open, then shut with a bang.
Carlos quickly stepped away and Kate tugged her shirt down, keeping her head angled down and away from Carlos.
"I'm heading home tonight," she said, still not looking at him.
Silence told her what Carlos thought about that. With her ribs wrapped, she could move more easily. She picked up her backpack, but Carlos carefully took it from her.
"I'll drive you home," he said.
"I can take the subway," Kate said, reaching for her bag.
Carlos didn't let her take it, didn't engage in the argument, just started for the door.
Kate turned out the light and looked around Jaime's apartment one last time. She was glad she had gotten a glimpse into his life, met his wife, even though it hurt even worse to walk away than it had the first time.
She closed the door and locked it. Before they made it to the elevator, her phone rang. Carlos held out her bag so she could get her phone.
She slid the green button on the screen to answer.
"Kate?" came Jaime's harried voice.
"Yeah."
"Where are you?" he asked. "Eddie and I have been looking everywhere for you. We came home and you were gone."
Kate glanced at Carlos. "I was out." She knew that answer wasn't going to satisfy her brother.
"We can talk when I get home. I'm ten minutes away. Just stay put—"
"I'm going home," she cut him off. She tried to cut off the pain in her chest at the words.
"What? No, just wait there—"
"Thanks for letting me crash with you," Kate said, hoping Jaime knew what she really meant and couldn't get the words out. Thanks for showing up for me. Thanks for still loving me. Thanks for being my brother. Thanks for trying, but it's too late.
She ended the call before she lost control. She slid the phone in her pocket and followed Carlos onto the elevator, ignoring the questioning look he sent her way.
The drive to the projects was quiet. Carlos didn't push her and Kate used the silence to steel herself for whatever she was going to face at the bar tomorrow or whenever Johnny and Wes found out she was out of the hospital.
She got out before Carlos could turn the car off in front of her building. "Thanks for the ride," she said. Another inadequate thank you, hiding what she really felt.
"I'll walk you up."
"No." Her sharp tone made Carlos pause. But she couldn't give in on this. Before Carlos could say anything, she slammed her door shut and hurried as fast as her broken ribs would let her into the old building.
Once inside, she made sure Carlos pulled away. The loneliness that fell over her didn't make any sense. But that didn't make it any less lonely.
Gripping her backpack, she turned toward the graffiti covered staircase. As she got closer to the third floor, her pace quickened. She had shut down any feeling, knowing she couldn't leave the hospital, then that it was better to go to Jaime's rather than him finding out where she lived. But now she was home and couldn't get to her apartment quickly enough.
She pulled out her key, but the door swung open. Lacy launched herself at Kate, gripping her in a tight hug.
"I was so worried!"
Kate grunted in response, her roommates hug pressing on her bullet wound and cracked ribs.
Lacy immediately released her and jumped back. "Sorry," she said. She dashed away tears that threatened to fall and blinked her green eyes quickly. "I was worried."
"I couldn't get home right away," Kate said.
Lacy sobered. "Yeah. It's good you didn't. Johnny is on the warpath. He would have…" she trailed off.
Kate knew exactly what Johnny would have done.
"But he's calmed down now," Lacy said. "He heard you were in the hospital and didn't even come here."
Kate didn't answer. She was crossing the room. To the reason she had stayed away and hadn't risked bringing Johnny's wrath to the apartment right after Hux was shot.
She bent over the crib and picked up the thirteen month old, breathed in the scent of baby shampoo from the dark wispy curls. The familiar weight settled in her arms, snuggled against her.
Her daughter.
#
