“I get it. You still don’t trust me. And I don’t blame you after what I did, lying to you, blackmailing you and shit. But I was falling for you even when I was doing all of that,” I admit. “Before the first time we spoke, I was obsessed with you, following your every move, thinking about what I would say to you if I got the chance and what it would feel like to touch you. I didn’t ever fantasize about you touching me, knowing it was too ridiculous to even imagine.”
“Apparently, not,” she points out. “So, what are you trying to say? That we’re a couple? That this is a…relationship?”
“Hell yes, it’s a relationship. I don’t care if we have to keep it a secret for the rest of our lives, either. I won’t come in the courthouse again. I’ll do anything to keep you.”
“I don’t want it to be a secret forever. I hate lying and having to hide this, us.”
“If you come out publicly and say we’re together, you’ll lose the next election.”
“Losing for you is a chance that I’m willing to take.”
“Well, it’s not one I want to take. I don’t want you to have to give up anything for me, especially not the job you love, that you worked so hard to earn. And I don’t want you to resent me for losing your position.”
“Tristan, we can’t have it both ways. I hate it, but it’s true.”
“Just give me time to think about it before you just blurt it out to the press.”
“Fine.”
“Alright, Mr. Ferraro, are you ready to get the lead out?”
Kirsten quickly jumps off my lap when a young doctor strolls into the room in his green scrubs and long white coat with a tablet in his hands. He eyes Kirsten a little too long. “You look familiar.”
“She’s just leaving,” I tell him and nod my head toward the door for her to go before he starts asking questions.
“I’ll be in the hallway,” she says before walking out.
Once she’s gone, the doctor grabs a pair of rubber gloves from the box on the counter and snaps them on. “The Ferraros and Hunts. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet. Or West Side Story.”
Shit. He fucking knows.
“I hope it works out better for you two than it did for the Capulets and Montagues.”
“Me too. And you better not mention that she was in here to any-fucking-one,” I warn him.
“I consider patient visitors to be covered by doctor/patient confidentiality, so I won’t say a word. Now, let’s get those bullets out of you so you can get home. Just to warn you, gunshot wounds have to be reported to law enforcement…”
“Trust me, the cops already know. A detective witnessed the shooting outside the courthouse and took out the shooters before they could get away.”
“Oh, well, then I’m not as worried about my neck getting sliced open. I saw Creed Ferraro in here earlier.”
“Yeah, remember that before you run your mouth about Kirsten,” I tell him. “Actually, after we get done, could you look at her head? Check her eyes and all for a concussion? She hit her head on the sidewalk during the shooting, and she hasn’t let anyone assess her yet.”
“Sure. But I got a good look at her just now, and it doesn’t look like she’s having trouble walking or speaking. She’s probably fine with just a superficial wound.”
“That’s what the paramedic said, but I’d rather be sure than guess in case her brain is swelling. Or bleeding.”
“I’ll examine her and order a head CT after we’re done here.”
“Great, thank you.”
“You must be one hell of a man to make that woman change her tune on organized crime,” he remarks.
“Oh, she hasn’t changed her tune. She barely tolerates me.”
In fact, I figure it’s only a matter of time before Kirsten realizes that slumming it with me, even if I am a human shield for her, isn’t worth the consequences.
That’s the main reason why I don’t want her to throw her career away on me. No matter how much I wish that it could, this, us, will never last.
