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I lay the blanket over his bare chest and tuck it under his sides as much as I can. “Cat.” I look at her. “What happened?” I ask again.
She shakes her head hard. “I don’t know. He busted inside the room they’ve been keeping me in, untied me, gave me his shirt, then we ran.”
“Ran? Was someone chasing you?”
Her eyes stay glued to Julius as his chest rises and falls slowly. Her lip quivers as tears continue falling. “Some guy. He’s there every day checking on me.”
“What did he look like?”
“I don’t know,” she cries.
Lucas falls back to his knees beside me and reaches across to grab her cheeks. He jerks her head toward him roughly. “What did he look like?”
Her cries get louder as her body shakes. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“What did he look like?” Lucas roars.
Her cries are finally silenced along with everything else. The only sounds are the crackling of the fire and my heartbeat thumping in my ears.
“He’s kind of short, really skinny, always wearing a suit. I don’t know his name.”
Lucas lets go of her and turns back to Julius. “Emil’s guy,” he whispers.
“What?” I ask.
“With Desi in jail, he needed another right hand. The night we went to the casino, we saw him leaving with a guy who sounds a lot like what she’s describing.” He points to Cat.
“You didn’t think that was important to let me know?”
“Don’t start this shit right now, Charlie. I didn’t want to stress you out.”
I roll my eyes and turn my focus back to Julius. “Well, now Emil will be on a fucking warpath.”
He shakes his head. “Desi is gone—that’s what Sebastian was calling to tell me. He also started on about something Julius did. Now I know why he seemed so mad. But because of this shit, now we have to act quicker. I’ll call Emil back once I know he’s okay.” He glances back to Julius. “Fuck, brother. No going back now.”
A knock sounds out from the other side of the door. When I stand, I point to Cat. “Go sit on the couch.”
Her eyebrows pull together as she crosses her arms in front of her. “I’m not leaving him.”
I step around Julius, then lean down and grip her cheeks between my fingers. I pull her up until I’m nose to nose with her. “You’ll do what the fuck I say. He’s only in this position because of you. I get you’re probably scared shitless right now, but honestly, we are only worried about him. We won’t hurt you. So please, sit on the fucking couch.” I push her away.
She grabs her cheeks with the same sour expression on her face and walks to the couch as I open the door.
Dr. Kelly hurries through the door with his leather bag in hand. He doesn’t ask questions or stop to talk; he goes straight to Julius as soon as his eyes see the blood.
He kneels beside him and pulls the blanket down to inspect his body. He rummages through his bag and pulls out gauze, a bottle of iodine, a suture kit, and a rolled-up rag. He passes the rag to Lucas. “I’m about to hurt him. He may not wake up, but in case he does, shove that in his mouth.”
Lucas takes it and nods as he grabs the bottle. “Ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“Don’t let him hit me, Lucas. I’m old and can’t take the same blows I used to.”
“Don’t worry, Doc. I got him.”
Peter takes a breath as Lucas drapes himself over the top half of Julius’s shoulders. Quickly he Peter the iodine over the gash in his side, then dons a pair of gloves. He tears open the suture kit and gives Lucas one last look. The needle slides into one side of Julius’s open skin and then the other before his eyes open and he takes a deep breath.
“Fuck!” he yells.
