She wanted to argue the point; she even opened her mouth but snapped it closed almost at the same instant.
Was it worth fighting over? Catalina asked herself and the answer was no. Because she wasn’t naive enough to think they lived in the world where every citizen had equal rights.
And money was always opening more doors than its lack.
“Do you know his family? Anyone you could call and let them know what happened and where he is?” She asked, instead of defending the system that was faulty and wrong.
“I know only about his ex-wife but there is no love lost between them.” He shrugged and Catalina thought he seemed closed off and uncooperative once more.
“You don’t need to get involved in it; I can still drop you off at your place,” he said and she wondered if he was offering her the out because he didn’t want her to be a part of his world any more than she already was, or if he was just being… considerate without any ulterior motive.
“I’m fine, Xan, thank you. What is his name? So far I only know he was the one you fought the night I came to Cul-de-sac and that people referred to him as Dragon.”
“Noah. Noah Michaels.” It didn’t make much sense but saying his name out loud was making it all so much more real, Xan thought.
He would rather be anywhere else right now than speeding through the night toward the hospital. He didn’t want to think about Dragon’s condition, didn’t want to imagine himself in his place, but his mind had a will of its own and kept bombarding him with all those things he preferred not to consider.
“Well then, let’s learn about Noah’s condition,” she said when Xan parked his car in front of the hospital.
“Cat… I appreciate your company; you didn’t have to come here with me,” he said and she smiled.
“Of course.”
This time she reached for his hand and was glad he took it instantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It wasn’t, but she thought she was adapting to it surprisingly fast.
The ER was full of people, but then Xan had never seen one that was empty. Some were waiting patiently, others pacing restlessly, and he thought he could relate to the latter because patience had never been his way.
He glanced at Catalina, thinking that now he was going have to learn it and do it fast if he wanted to give this… thing between them a chance.
He didn’t do relationships, but he wanted her and that was taking all choices out of his hands. Ceding the reins didn’t hold a particular appeal to him; it equaled vulnerability in his eyes, but in this case he was ready to risk it.
He should have been focused on learning about Noah’s condition but instead he found his gaze following Catalina’s every step.
He swore low under his breath and grim understanding dawned on him when he realized he didn’t like the way her slender legs were exposed by the bright light coming off the artificial lamps of the ER, while not so long ago he was admiring the very same thing in the seclusion of the club.
Xan frowned telling himself he had never been possessive toward any woman and that was what suited him perfectly. He had no intentions of changing that, but he still regretted not having a jacket he could cover her with.
What the fuck was wrong with him?
He shook his head, deciding it wasn’t the right time or place to answer this loaded question.
“Hello, I was wondering if you could help me. Our friend was brought here not long ago and I would like to learn about his condition.” Catalina smiled at the visibly tired and irritated nurse at the front desk.
“What’s your friend’s name?” The woman asked.
“Noah Michaels.”
“I can tell you he was admitted but any other information can be given only to his immediate family,” the nurse said after running her fingers over the keyboard.
“Of course. Could you please tell me his doctor’s name? I don’t think it would be against the rules?” Cat smiled sweetly and Xan decided it was a good thing she was doing all the talking because he could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes at what he considered an utter waste of time and bullshit.
“Doctor Abra Mallory,” the nurse told them after checking the information in her computer.
“Thank you so much for your help.” Catalina was as polite and collected as ever.
“You know they will tell us shit since we are not his family, right?” Xan looked at her when they stepped away from the front desk.
“I thought you didn’t back down?” She winked at him and he chuckled because the little witch was teasing him, thinking herself safe in the public place.
He felt the need to prove her wrong so he bent his head and brushed his lips over her ear.
“I don’t, that is why I am going to be your first lover,” he whispered, and should have withered under the shocked and reproachful look she sent him.
He wrapped his arm around her waist bringing her closer under the shelter of his body.
“So… you know Doctor Abra Mallory I take it?” He asked conversationally and Catalina wondered how he could switch moods and topics with such ease.
“I’ve met her once or twice.” She took out her cell phone and scrolled down her contact list, dialing the number after finding the right one. “Hi Abra, it’s Catalina Bennett. I have a favor to ask…” She started and Xan looked after her when she walked away continuing her conversation.
“Abra said it’s a very busy night but she agreed to meet us down here in a moment,” she told him after hanging up.
And all of it didn’t take her longer than a few minutes, Xan thought, knowing it was more than likely he would have been still running in circles if he were here by himself.
“Cat…” He shook his head unable to express his thoughts or gratitude since he was not used to it.
“It’s okay. Let’s wait until we hear from her.” She smiled softly and a moment later her smile brightened when the doctor joined them.
Xan couldn’t estimate her age but if he had to guess, he would have placed her in her late thirties or early forties. Tall and lean with dark hair tied at the nape, she was the quintessence of a competent specialist.
She smiled at Cat and gave him a measuring glance, raising one of her eyebrows which he roughly translated as surprise.
“Catalina, I didn’t have time to congratulate you. Maxwell fell in love with your photos during exhibition and he wants to talk to you about a session. I can’t tell you any details since he is trying to keep it all a secret.” She rolled her eyes and the line of her lips softened under the weight of a smile.
“Well, your wedding anniversary is fast approaching; I would think it has something to do with that. I would love to hear his ideas.”
“I will let him know, thank you. Now, about your friend… paramedics weren’t very specific about where they found him but the guy took a heavy beating…” She hesitated and looked at Xan, his bandaged hand. “Did you have anything to do with it?” She tilted her head.
“No.” He said, not surprised she took him for someone who could have given another person this kind of ass whopping.
Apparently Catalina was appalled by doctor’s suspicion.
“Abra!”
“I had to ask.” The woman raised her hands in pacifying gesture. “The same as I need to ask: are you in some kind of trouble, Catalina?”
“Of course not! The man you admitted is our friend and we would like to learn about his condition. He doesn’t have family nearby and before I call them I need to have something I can give them.”
“Fine, he is conscious but suffered a concussion, three of his ribs are cracked and we were worried about his right kidney due to severe bruising. Turned out it was just pounded and he is experiencing hematuria.” She counted down.
“What is that?” Catalina asked.
“Blood in his urine,” Xan said and the doctor narrowed her eyes on him once more.
“That is correct.”
“Is it… serious?” Cat fro
wned and looked at Xan.
“Depends, but should be temporary and at least it is not painful, right Doctor?” He held the woman’s gaze without blinking.
“Correct again. I would say he will experience severe pain but overall his condition is not very bad. He is young and otherwise healthy but we are keeping him for observation.”
“Can we…”
“No visitors, Catalina. I’m sorry but I’ve already bent rules which I would have never done under normal conditions. Please excuse me, but I have to get back to my patients. I will tell Maxwell to give you a call.” She smiled at Cat, ignoring Xan and left them hurriedly after glancing at her pager.
“I’m sorry Xan,” Catalina said.
“Why? News is not that bad.”
“No, she was rude and it was uncalled for.” She looked apologetically at him as if she were responsible for her acquaintance’s behavior herself.
“Come on, Kitten, she is a doctor. I am sure she saw many things and fast assessment is a requirement in her job.” He shrugged because it didn’t affect him in the least.
It didn’t even register as annoyance in his book.
“She was wrong in her judgment this time.”
“Was she? She took me for who I am. Let’s get you home.” He took her hand in his, half expecting her to pull away from him.
The fact she didn’t still managed to surprise him.
“Alex…” Cat started when they were driving away from the hospital and he wasn’t sure he would like whatever came after the beginning like that.
“Just ask.”
“What are you going to do about the other fighter?” She turned in her seat looking at him.
“What do you think I will do?” He couldn’t wait to hear her answer.
“If I knew I wouldn’t ask you. What did you learn?”
“His name is Dorian Carrey aka Gray and he is fighting for… another club. He wasn’t even supposed to be there. It wasn’t his fight. It wasn’t Dragon’s either; he took my spot,” he explained.
“So it could have been you in this hospital.”
He didn’t miss her flinching.
“I appreciate your trust in my skills,” he smirked but wasn’t offended. “Told you, my fight was supposed to be with someone else. Plans were changed the last minute.” That was the truth and he knew Tony did this on purpose, yet he still had a hard time believing in his motives.
After all these years he shouldn’t have been surprised by literally anything Tony did anymore, Xan thought, but this was a new low even for him.
“This really wasn’t the way I wanted to spend this night. I’m sorry it panned out the way it did. And I really appreciate what you did at the hospital.”
“I know, you told me already,” she said absently and he wondered why she was pulling away from him right this moment.
Catalina couldn’t rid her mind of bloody images, but instead of Noah’s face she kept seeing Xan’s. His knowledge about Dragon’s injuries was a telltale on its own and it was painfully obvious he had suffered plenty himself.
Then why was he purposefully putting himself through it again and again?
He didn’t strike her as an adrenaline junkie, didn’t seem in desperate need of money either.
What other reasons could there be?
She didn’t know, just like she didn’t expect him to answer her fully if she dared to ask him that.
“What are you thinking about?” Xan asked when he was walking her to her door.
“I am glad you were not in the ring tonight, no matter the opponent,” she admitted and he didn’t even attempt to temper his reaction this time.
He pulled her roughly against his body, placing his hands on her buttocks. He didn’t care how soft the material of her dress was because it still felt abrasive compared with the delicacy of her skin.
“What are you doing to me, Cat?” He asked her, not really expecting any answer.
What was she doing to him? She wondered, absorbed by the way their bodies were taking over each time they came together.
His mouth hovered above hers and he was giving her a chance to push him away but she wrapped her arms around his neck and the remaining threads of his noble motives disintegrated as if never there.
She moaned when his tongue swiped over her lips, flicked past them and licked over her own. He let the fingers of his healthy hand weave into the heavy length of her hair, but there was no need to hold her in place because she seemed perfectly satisfied with having him wrapped so tightly around her.
But for him it was hardly enough.
“More,” he rasped tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth, letting his hands squeeze her bottom with possessiveness that would have given him pause if he hadn’t been utterly consumed by sensations right now.
“Fuck!” He nearly snarled a moment later when his battered hand protested against the harshness of his grip the way he imagined Cat would do.
But she just blinked helplessly at him when he let her go as suddenly as he grabbed her.
Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen from his kiss and he wanted nothing more than to continue until eventually they ended up in her bed.
But merely two hours earlier she had told him she was not ready for more, he thought and swore under his breath.
“Go inside, Cat, and don’t invite me in,” he told her roughly, going against all he was. “Go!” He repeated when she didn’t do it fast enough.
There was no way he was going to survive many more encounters like that, he told himself.
CHAPTER 22
Catalina propped her elbows on her desk and rested her head in her upraised hands.
She knew it was pointless, but the sheer stubbornness that had never failed to simply let her be refused to give up just yet.
She was attempting to select the ten best snapshots from numerous collections she had managed to put together. But how could she choose since, if she had been given another chance, she would have made some adjustments or chosen something else completely.
Besides, she could hardly consider any of those snapshots her best, she thought, rubbing at her pounding temples.
Perfectionism had its price, she knew well, and it had the capacity to exhaust even the most resilient individual.
She pushed her chair away from the desk, straightening her stiffened body after hours of sitting in the same position.
What did she know about children in the first place? She asked herself when her gaze persistently swung back to the pictures scattered on the surface of the table.
She used to be a child herself, even if she was not allowed to act like one, she thought.
Not after her parents died anyway.
‘Children are not meant to be heard or seen’–Florence Bennett’s words were still loud and clear in her mind as if she uttered them a day and not years ago.
If that was the case, what was the purpose of having kids in the first place? Catalina had always wanted to ask the very question but had never dared to, knowing her grandmother would take it as an insult and insolence both.
And neither was permitted.
Cat looked down at laughing and happy faces on the pictures, not able to recall a single time being so carefree herself after she had been given to Florence’s care.
She wasn’t allowed to do something as simple as play without considering the consequences of her every word and action, heedless of other people’s opinion.
A sigh parted her lips when it dawned on her that she was nothing but a fraud trying to capture something she had never experienced firsthand, not even understanding how it all should work.
A hot flush crept on her cheeks when the deep feeling of abashment overfilled her, threatening to spill her shame over at any moment now.
Simply looking at things was a far cry from tasting how they felt on one’s skin.
Was that why she was reacting so strongly to Xan and all that his presence was silently promising?
He was inviting h
er to break taboos with that cocky smile of his and she was more than happy to oblige, she thought.
They had both been busy for the last two weeks and their meetings were nothing but stolen moments here and there since the night of the fight that resulted in his friend’s stay at the hospital.
Catalina knew that Dragon was getting better; apparently good enough so that he started to talk about getting back on the ring.
She shook her head, unable to comprehend it.
Two weeks were not nearly enough for his cracked ribs to heal, but she was convinced he knew that himself.
She tried very hard to understand what kind of a magical spell this bloody sport cast over otherwise sensible men, but she was coming up empty-handed each and every time.
She was happy Xan’s hand didn’t allow him to return to the ring, but she knew it was just a matter of time, especially now, since he went back to his regular trainings.
Catalina wondered if the pull they felt toward the ring was something akin to the addicting ways of hazard.
She had no experience with either but she was about to taste the latter, she thought, since Xan was taking her to a casino.
At least that was what she gathered because he was very stingy with details.
All he had told her was that she needed to look gorgeous and leave her camera at home–which took some of the wind out of her sails–but she still hoped to change his mind about it. She had the whole afternoon for it after she talked him into going shopping together.
She was curious what his preferences were and what would fulfill his idea of the perfect attire for the mysterious evening. Catalina didn’t think he would agree, but she should have known better: it seemed he was incapable of looking away from a challenge of any kind.
She laughed softly and shook her head because she simply couldn’t imagine someone as restless as he was patiently enduring one of the things the majority of men hated the most in the world and found tedious at best.
She glanced at the face of her wristwatch and sighed, knowing she still had work ahead of her before she could indulge herself and have fun.
The pictures displayed on the surface of her desk were still waiting for her approval and she was determined to finish the task no matter her doubts and her inadequate knowledge about simple joys of childhood.
CUL-DE-SAC (On The Edge Book 1) Page 17