Page 120 of Unruly

“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.