Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

“Rose’s mom?” Lou said, getting to her feet. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Instead of shaking Mom’s hand, Lou pulled her in for a hug. I almost smiled as Mom’s eyes widened at me over Lou’s shoulder.

“Careful, Mom,” I said. “She’s a kisser.”

“I wait until the second date for kissing,” Lou said as she let go. She opened her mouth to say something else, but snapped it shut again as two policemen stepped off the elevator.

“Showtime,” my mom said under her breath. “You up for it?”

I got to my feet without replying.

“Somethin’ I can help you fellas with?” Dragon asked, planting himself between our group and the cops.

“Man, you knew there were gonna be questions,” the younger cop said. “Don’t give us shit, and we can be out of here quick.”

“Ask your questions,” my dad said, getting up from his seat.

“For starters,” the older cop said, “how’d your man end up here, looking like he’d been tortured and covered in stab wounds?”

Lou inhaled sharply, but kept her shit together.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Dragon said emotionlessly. “He got dropped at the gate in that condition.”

“That’s the story you’re going with?” the younger cop asked, surveying the room.

“Only story there is,” Dragon replied.

“What happened to her?” the cop said, gesturing toward me with his chin.

Dragon turned to look at me. “What?” he asked innocently.

“Woman’s been beaten,” the cop said in disgust. “Miss, can you come over here, please?”

I knew it would happen, but I still felt my heart pound as I made my way toward the officers. Surprisingly, Lou went with me, her shoulder brushing mine.

“Yes?” I asked when I reached them.

“What happened to your face, ma’am?” he asked kindly.

“The eye?” I asked, cocking my head to the side like I couldn’t figure out why he was asking.

“Yes.”

“I got elbowed in the face,” I said with a shrug, “wrestling with my cousin last week.”

“Wrestling with your cousin?” he asked dubiously.

“She’s thirteen and she tried to steal my remote,” I replied.

“You leave any marks on her?” he snapped.

“Over a remote?” I said in disgust. “Of course not.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “Ma’am, is there a reason that you haven’t seemed to um, bathe—”

“Now, that’s just insulting,” Louise snapped.

“I apologize,” he stuttered.

“We done here?” Dragon asked.

“Not quite,” the older cop replied. He looked at me, and I swear he saw right through our story. “You can go back to your seat, miss. I’m sorry my partner bothered you.”

I held my shoulders straight as I walked back to my seat, the feel of their eyes on my back burning like a brand.

“You’re sticking with your story?” the older cop asked Dragon.

“Got dropped off at the gates,” Dragon confirmed. “Brought him straight here.”

“We’ll be back,” the cop replied with a sigh. “Gonna need to talk to Mr. MacKenzie when he wakes up.”

“You do that,” Dragon said with a nod. Then he turned his back and walked away, showing exactly how much he cared about their presence.

I let out a sigh of relief when the police officers disappeared behind the elevator doors.

A few minutes later, Molly strode toward me, her face emotionless.

“Tell me,” I ordered, getting to my feet.

“They’re almost done,” she said.

“How did it go?” I asked.

“We won’t know that until they come out here,” she said sympathetically. “The surgery didn’t take as long as I thought it would.” She looked at Louise then met my eyes again. “That could either mean that it went very well, or that they decided not to put his body through any more trauma.”

“Jesus,” I muttered, staring blankly at the floor.

“But we’ll know soon,” she said. “I’m so sorry, Rose.”

“Don’t be,” I said, reaching out to pat her shoulder. “It must suck being the only one who knows what the hell is going on around here.”

“How’s your arm?” she asked quietly.

“Fine,” I replied. “Bandage is still doing its job.”

“Let me know if it starts seeping through,” she said. “I brought some extra supplies in my purse.”

“Thanks, Mol.”

I sat back down as she walked away.

“What’s wrong with your arm?” Louise asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

“Just a scratch,” I said, shaking my head as I watched the doors to the operating rooms.

“It sounds worse than that,” she argued.

“One thing at a time,” I said tiredly. Thankfully, she dropped it.

I stared at the doors for at least a half hour, silently begging them to open, my knee bouncing up and down. The longer we went without news, the harder it became to keep calm. When they finally opened and two doctors came out, I was almost too afraid to stand up to meet them.

“Family of Jacob MacKenzie?” one of them asked.

“That’s us,” Will said.

The doctors looked around the room. “Immediate family?”

“Here,” I said, striding forward with Louise and Howie on my heels.

“I’m Dr. Halstead and this is Dr. Mark.”