Page 33 of Twisted Little Games (New York City Mafia #3)

Tristan

“ C reed?” I say in surprise, sitting up straighter in my chair when my cousin appears in the hospital room. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? You got fucking shot! Why wouldn’t I be here? Not to mention, your DA chewed my ass out about how I don’t appreciate you before I showed up at the hospital, and she assaulted me.”

“Wait, what? I refused all pain meds, but I must be high because it sounded like you just said that Kirsten assaulted you.”

“She did. In public. Right outside, in front of the ER, in front of God and everyone. And because she’s a woman, the goddamn DA, and your girlfriend, I couldn’t do anything but stand there and stare at her like an idiot.”

“Kirsten slapped you?”

“Yes”

“In the face?”

“Yes,” he mutters, rubbing the left side of his cheek.

“Damn. Why would she do that? She must have had a good reason.”

Creed slips his hands into his pants pockets and stares at his feet. “I may have said something that insulted her.”

“What did you say?”

“I think I called her dick-whipped.”

“Wow.”

“Pathetically dick-whipped. Oh, and desperate for a fuck that you finally gave her.”

“Fuck, Creed.” I scrub my hand over my face, wincing when the move pulls at the ache in my right arm and upper back. “You have to go apologize to her.”

“I don’t have to do shit,” he replies. “She should apologize for slapping me!”

Dropping my hands, I stare at him. “Is that what you think? That you don’t owe her an apology.”

“I don’t.”

“So, you wouldn’t care if I told Zara she was pathetic, dick-whipped, and desperate. Is that what you said?”

“Fine. I’ll apologize. But if she hits me again —”

“It’ll be because you deserve it, and you know it. Jesus, for her to lose control, to assault you in public, knowing anyone could be getting a video of it, she must have been pissed.”

“She’s worried about you.”

“She thinks she owes me for saving her life.”

“Doesn’t she?”

“No. She didn’t ask me to jump in front of bullets for her. I did it because I’d rather die than let her be hurt. And even when I was trying to protect her, I smashed her head into the sidewalk. Is she okay? Has she been examined?”

“I don’t know.”

“She probably has a concussion. Another explanation for why she hit you.”

“It’s funny watching you make excuses for her, but it’s not funny to see you in here with bullet wounds. You could’ve been killed because of her!”

“But I wasn’t.”

“Well, now we’re sure as shit going after Bowen because he’s fucked up and hurt my family.”

“So, you didn’t care before that he wanted to kill the DA, but because I caught a few slugs, you’re ready to string his ass up?”

“Yes. I don’t know her. That woman tried to send me to prison!”

“We broke the law. Yes, the raid at the club was bullshit, and it never should’ve happened. Carmine would still be here if those cops hadn’t snuck up on us.”

Creed turns away at the mention of his dead brother.

“But despite how it all went down, we still committed a crime by carrying the guns, knowing they’re illegal in the city.”

“Your DA said she could’ve killed you when she woke up the first time with you in her apartment.”

“Nah, I had gone through her shit before I got into bed. I found her gun, unloaded it, and made sure there wasn’t one in the chamber, knowing she would probably go right for it.”

“At least you were thinking with a little bit of your brain that night instead of your dick.” I shrug my uninjured shoulder, and he asks, “What have the doctors said so far?”

“Nothing, except I need to get the bullets out. After that, I’m going home.”

“I’ll stay until you’re released.”

“Oh, I’m going home tonight, even if I’m not cleared by the doctor. Kirsten and I have plans.”

“You need to rest and get some distance from that woman before she gets you killed.”

“This isn’t her fault. It’s Bowen’s, and whichever cops he’s been working with to come after her. Now, go apologize and go home.”

Creed arches a dark eyebrow. “You never would’ve spoken to me like that before her.”

“Well, maybe I should have. Sometimes you’re a dick,” I reply with a grin, making him chuckle.

“Hey,” Kirsten says when she pokes her head into my room. “Are you up for a visitor?”

“I’m always up for you,” I tell her. “Where have you been? Getting your head checked out?”

“No. I was outside talking to Bryan before Creed came and actually apologized to me. I’m sure you put him up to that.” She walks in but leaves the door open before she crouches in front of me. “How are you really? And why aren’t you in the bed?”

“I’m fine,” I say, though my back teeth grind together so loudly even she hears it at the mention of her ex.

“Bryan asked about you, and I wanted to know if he had found out anything about the men in the car.”

“Has he?”

“Yes. He has their names. They were traffic cops in one of their personal vehicles.”

“Wow. So, three cops are dead after trying to take you out.”

“Any chance they’ll give up now?” she asks when she stands.

“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly, then pull her down onto my lap, since there’s no other chair in the room, and the hospital bed is too far away. “We need to set up that meeting with Bowen’s sister.”

“Right. That’s on me. I’ve been distracted the past few days, and it almost got you killed.”

“I’m fine,” I assure her, then look at the blood in the back of her hair, combing my fingers through it to feel if there’s a knot. “I’m more worried about your head. You must have knocked it hard if you were brave enough to slap the boss of bosses.”

Kirsten wrinkles her nose but doesn’t wince in pain at my touch. “I can’t believe Creed came snitching to you about that.”

“What were you thinking, sweetheart?”

“I was thinking that he needed to shut the hell up.”

“Obviously.”

Her shoulders slump. “I shouldn’t have hit him. He apologized, and so did I before he left. I should’ve walked away from him. Before I met you, I would have.”

“So, you’re saying I’m a bad influence on you.”

“I feel…protective of you, and I got pissed when he mentioned that this, what’s going on between us, is just sex.”

“It’s not.”

“I didn’t think so either, but when he was running his mouth, I started to have doubts.”

“I get it. You still don’t trust me. And I don’t blame you after what I did, lying to you, blackmailing you and shit.

But I was falling for you even when I was doing all of that,” I admit.

“Before the first time we spoke, I was obsessed with you, following your every move, thinking about what I would say to you if I got the chance and what it would feel like to touch you. I didn’t ever fantasize about you touching me, knowing it was too ridiculous to even imagine. ”

“Apparently, not,” she points out. “So, what are you trying to say? That we’re a couple? That this is a…relationship?”

“Hell yes, it’s a relationship. I don’t care if we have to keep it a secret for the rest of our lives, either. I won’t come in the courthouse again. I’ll do anything to keep you.”

“I don’t want it to be a secret forever. I hate lying and having to hide this, us.”

“If you come out publicly and say we’re together, you’ll lose the next election.”

“Losing for you is a chance that I’m willing to take.”

“Well, it’s not one I want to take. I don’t want you to have to give up anything for me, especially not the job you love, that you worked so hard to earn. And I don’t want you to resent me for losing your position.”

“Tristan, we can’t have it both ways. I hate it, but it’s true.”

“Just give me time to think about it before you just blurt it out to the press.”

“Fine.”

“Alright, Mr. Ferraro, are you ready to get the lead out?”

Kirsten quickly jumps off my lap when a young doctor strolls into the room in his green scrubs and long white coat with a tablet in his hands. He eyes Kirsten a little too long. “You look familiar.”

“She’s just leaving,” I tell him and nod my head toward the door for her to go before he starts asking questions.

“I’ll be in the hallway,” she says before walking out.

Once she’s gone, the doctor grabs a pair of rubber gloves from the box on the counter and snaps them on. “The Ferraros and Hunts. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet. Or West Side Story.”

Shit. He fucking knows.

“I hope it works out better for you two than it did for the Capulets and Montagues.”

“Me too. And you better not mention that she was in here to any-fucking-one,” I warn him.

“I consider patient visitors to be covered by doctor/patient confidentiality, so I won’t say a word. Now, let’s get those bullets out of you so you can get home. Just to warn you, gunshot wounds have to be reported to law enforcement…”

“Trust me, the cops already know. A detective witnessed the shooting outside the courthouse and took out the shooters before they could get away.”

“Oh, well, then I’m not as worried about my neck getting sliced open. I saw Creed Ferraro in here earlier.”

“Yeah, remember that before you run your mouth about Kirsten,” I tell him. “Actually, after we get done, could you look at her head? Check her eyes and all for a concussion? She hit her head on the sidewalk during the shooting, and she hasn’t let anyone assess her yet.”

“Sure. But I got a good look at her just now, and it doesn’t look like she’s having trouble walking or speaking. She’s probably fine with just a superficial wound.”

“That’s what the paramedic said, but I’d rather be sure than guess in case her brain is swelling. Or bleeding.”

“I’ll examine her and order a head CT after we’re done here.”

“Great, thank you.”

“You must be one hell of a man to make that woman change her tune on organized crime,” he remarks.

“Oh, she hasn’t changed her tune. She barely tolerates me.”

In fact, I figure it’s only a matter of time before Kirsten realizes that slumming it with me, even if I am a human shield for her, isn’t worth the consequences.

That’s the main reason why I don’t want her to throw her career away on me. No matter how much I wish that it could, this, us, will never last.