Page 148 of After 5
“Who’s Chuck?”
“Darryl’s pet spider.”
“Who’s Darryl?” Caiyan’s jaw clenched.
“My cousin. He moved in next door.”
His body relaxed and he pulled me in tight.
“I missed ye, Sunshine.” He snuggled his face in my hair and inhaled.
I wiggled away from his intoxicating scent and shushed the spider out the door. It made a quick scurry over the balcony railing and disappeared into Darryl’s backyard.
“Can I come inside?”
I waved my hand, and he walked past me. His hair and clothes were damp from the rain. He’d stolen a pair of scrubs with a doctor’s name embroidered on the right chest pocket.
“How long have you been out there, Doctor Goldberg?” I cocked an eyebrow at him.
“A few hours. I called up to ye, like Romeo, but ye didnae answer. So, I came up. When I gained my nerve to wake ye, I noticed the spider.”
Jeez. How could I be mad at the guy?
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound?”
“Aye, when I woke and had my key, I knew you were the one who returned it to me.”
“So, you just yanked out the IVs and vanished in the night. I bet the nurses were beside themselves trying to find you.”
“’Twas a bit dodgy. I had to find clothes. I couldnae show up at yer doorstep with my bare bum flapping in the breeze.”
I laughed at the image.
“Weel, I couldnae keep lying in the hospital bed wondering if Marco was here keeping yer sheets warm, as he put it.”
His eyes held questions, and I thought maybe he deserved to suffer, a little.
“You’re right about the key. I was the one who returned it to you,” I said.
“How did ye get it?”
I explained the situation with the Mafusos. A grin tugged at his lips. “Ye did all that?”
“I did.”
“I dinnae like ye being so close to Gian-Carlo. He may be an old man, but he’s naugh a nice one. He’ll play by the rules in the present, but he willnae be nice when we travel back in time. And now that he knows aboot yer gift, he’ll be ruthless to turn ye to the dark side.”
“Does that mean you’re going to stay with the WTF?”
“If that’s where ye are.”
He started toward me, and I put a hand up.
He stopped.
“I dinnae handle this situation weel, Sunshine, but I’d like to explain things, shed some light on my actions.”
I gestured to my comfy chair.
