Page 57 of Revere: A Legacy Novel

The gun shifted suddenly, and the noise deafened when it fired. Cross felt pain rip through his shoulder that instantly made him grab at the wound. Something hot, wet, and sticky slipped through his fingertips.

Dante let him go. “So you’ll have something to keep from this meeting. A reminder, if you will. A gift.”

“Dante,” Lucian hissed one last time.

Cross still couldn’t move when he heard the door slam shut seconds later.

Cross shook the memory off as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. He ignored the chill in the mid-September wind as he headed across the street. He hadn’t even shut off his Rover, and actually left it running right where he parked it.

A horn blared as he walked through traffic.

Cross flipped up his middle finger.

He didn’t look at the car.

“Cross!”

The voice calling his name was familiar, and oh, so sweet. Unfortunately, stopping to answer her call or talk would mean calming down and taking time to think about what he was going to do.

Cross couldn’t afford that.

He didn’t want to think.

Or feel.

Right then, he had one fucking thing on his mind. One man to find who had shit to answer for, and that was it. Nothing, and no one, was going to stop him from getting this done.

It was a long time coming.

Almost seven long years.

Cross took the uptown Manhattan restaurant’s steps two at a time. He kept his head down, and acted like he didn’t hear the second shout of his name.

“Cross, wait!”

He pulled open the restaurant’s doors.

“Cross!”

“Cross. What the hell?”

He groaned, tender and sore.

He was pretty sure he was dead.

“Shit, man … can you get your eyes open at all”

Cross tried to blink, or pry his eyes open, but it only hurt more. He could taste dried blood on his lips and old blood inside his mouth. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Holy Christ, I bet,” Zeke muttered. “No wonder you were passed out. You’re bleeding all over the damn floor.”

Something touched his burning shoulder.

Cross jerked away with a shout.

“Okay, that’s bad. That bullet graze is long and deep. It’s still bleeding, Cross.”

“Just don’t fucking touch it.”