Page 80 of Unruly

“That’s fair.”

“It is.”

“Why do I hear a but in there, Cross?”

“But it could just as easily be any of them, you know? Cosa Nostra has a way of suffocating made men with all its rules and expectations. Nobody wants to admit it or say it out loud, but there are always times when rules are not the most important thing in life. A man can’t always be good and honorable to the life. Sometimes, shit happens.”

“Shit like love?”

Cross did grin a little at that. “Yeah, babe. Things like love, I guess.”

“It’s not that simple, though, is it?”

“Never.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Cross sighed heavily, and his hand dropped from her hair to toy with the edge of her silk robe. It had fallen open in the tumble to his lap, leaving her body on display and in reach for him to touch. He did just that, and Catherine got lost in the sensation of deft fingers gliding over her soft skin.

“He still put them in a bad position—me, too.”

“Sure.”

“So I have to let them be pissed, and have their … fucking feelings,” Cross muttered with a dark laugh.

“What about the rest?”

“Hmm?”

“The Russians,” she clarified.

“Vlad Sokolov is not a man who is easy to work with.”

Catherine made a face. “To be fair, neither are you.”

“No, but I’m not out there looking for a street war, either. He seems perfectly happy to jump right into one.”

“Oh.”

She twisted her hands together on her lap. A nervous tic that helped her to settle anxiety whenever it popped up.

Cross didn’t miss it.

“I wanted to work it out in a way that at least satisfied both sides,” he said quietly.

“You knew that was unlikely, though, considering everything.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“So what now?”

“Now … I just work on removing the problem.”

Catherine folded her arms over her chest, and ignored Cross’s fingertips edging along the waistband of her cotton panties. “What about the rest of us? What are we going to do while you remove the problem?”

“Stay safe.”

“How exactly—”