I got us to the hospital across town in record time thanks to the sirens that had been installed in my truck when I took over as captain. Gus's office was closest to St. Augustine's, but it was the furthest hospital from my station and Kindling. I didn't even remember the moment that I slipped into 'protector' mode. At this point in my life and my career, it just happened naturally, but it seemed when it came to the Castellanos, the sassy one especially, it happened even faster. Truth be told, I was likely just as worried as they were, but I didn't have time to think about that. I needed to get them to Gus. That was all that mattered. My own feelings on the matter could wait.
After about an hour of sitting in the waiting room, a doctor finally came out to give Eleni and Gigi the prognosis. It was a heart attack, albeit a mild one, and Gus, in the long run, would likely be fine. There would be medication and the strict need for a diet change, but for the time being, that was it, no surgery necessary. The doctor led Eleni to her husband's side while Galena remained in the waiting room, making sure all five of her sisters had every last bit of information. I gave her some space and headed out to locate some coffee, and when I returned, Gigi was still sitting in the waiting room, her head reclined on the back of the stiff seat, eyes closed.
"You doin' okay?" I asked softly.
Gigi's eyes fluttered open, and she gave me a soft smile as I extended the second paper cup of coffee in my hand toward her. She immediately took a sip and let out a hum of satisfaction. "Thank you," she said before looking up at me again. "I'm... fine. I think the adrenaline wiped me out. Today has been one whirlwind of emotion after another."
"I'm sorry," I apologized as I sank into the seat next to her.
Her head waved lazily from side to side. "It's not your fault. At least entirely." She turned to look at me with a smile. "I suppose I should thank you, actually."
I snickered and took a sip of the hot, black fuel in my tiny paper cup. "What for?"
Gigi sighed. "My dad came to see me earlier. Said you might've talked some sense into him about how he and my mom react to my life choices."
I shrugged. "Just being honest," I stated. "I understand how it feels. My parents weren't always the most supportive of my career path."
Gigi arched one meticulously arched dark brow in my direction. "Yeah. Their kid signed up to be a fuckin' hero every day. Must be fuckin' rough."
I chuckled deeply at that. "I think they only saw the danger for a while. It was hard for them. I was their only kid and the second I turned eighteen, I enlisted. Then the second I got back from fighting in wars, I decided to fight fires. They were practically waiting for the call that something horrible had happened to me, so I kind of understood. Didn't necessarily make it gnaw at me any less, but I at least partially got it."
"But they're proud of you now? Right? They have to be."
I nodded. "Yeah, they always were, they just struggled to say it and I struggled to see it without out the words. My dad passed last year, but we'd gotten through any bullshit that was between us a long time ago. My mom is about as sweet as they come, so the second she found out I thought she was disappointed in me, it was a flood of tears and apologies." I chuckled as I pictured that day. "Still apologizes, even though it's been years since it was a concern."
Gigi let out a breath of laugh and smiled. "She sounds amazing."
"She is. Trying to convince her to leave Chicago and move here so that I can keep an eye on her is another matter all together though."
"Mm. So that's where the stubbornness comes from."
I scoffed out a laugh as Gigi grinned at me. "Like you're one to talk."
"Never said I was," she retorted before a yawn overtook her. She tipped her head back against the chair once again and closed her eyes. "Ya know, you're alright for simultaneously being a huge chicken."
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"
She shrugged sleepily. "Just saying."
I swallowed had, knowing exactly what she was referencing. She obviously meant about us, or about what could've been us anyway. "It's not really about being a chicken, Snow..."
She sat up straight and looked at me, her bright blue eyes glistening even in the dull hospital lighting. "Why do you call me that?"
"What?" I asked, not even realizing what I had said.
"Snow. You've called me that a couple times now," Gigi explained. "Why?"
I felt the tops of my ears heat in embarrassment. I hadn't even noticed that I'd said the little pet name my brain had given her out loud, but apparently my mouth had let it slip. "Because you remind me of Snow White," I answered. "An edgier, meaner Snow White, but Snow White nonetheless."
Gigi giggled as her eyes went soft. "Does that make you the Huntsman?"
"I'm certainly not Prince fucking Charming."
"Ya know, in some of the more... adult re-tellings, she ends up with the Huntsman instead."
"I didn't even know there was adult re-tellings."
"Oh honey," Gigi responded, her voice low and buttery. "I'd lend you my kindle, but it might offend your delicate sensibilities."
I swear I almost pouted. "I don't have delicate sensibilities."
"Mm. Gonna have to prove that one, Cap. So far you don't seem like you can handle me... I mean, my kindle."
"Girl, you are trouble."
Her laugh was nothing more than a breath through her nose, and her voice came out almost completely engulfed by sleep. "Honey, you ain't seen nothing yet."
I watched her as she dozed off, my eyes tracing every inch of her porcelain-skinned face. She was fucking exquisite, from the apples of her cheeks to the slope of her nose. The woman was utter perfection and for the briefest moment, I wondered if I could put away my hang ups. I mean, maybe she was right. Age was nothing but a number, right? And her parents already adored me. Just maybe...
"It's time for bed," Eleni's exhausted voice sighed before I even noticed she was in front of me.
I immediately snapped to attention (and out of the thought of how desperately I wanted to kiss her daughter). "Gus is doing okay?" I asked, my voice creaking with awkwardness.
Eleni nodded yet rolled her eyes."He be fine. I told him he needed more salads. This is what happens. Doctor said as long as things keep moving upward, he'll be home in a couple days."
"That's good, Eleni. Really good."
"Mama?" Gigi's voice asked as her blue eyes fluttered open. "How's Daddy?"
"Impossible," Eleni huffed. "But sleeping. We come back tomorrow."
"Alright, let's get you ladies home," I answered as I rose to my feet.
"You don't have to..." Gigi began.
"I gotta go back to that side of town anyway," I interrupted. "Makes no sense to leave you here when we're heading in the same direction."
"You're a good man, Sully," Eleni stated, patting my shoulder. "Isn't he, Galena?"
Gigi's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Too good if you ask me."
I bit back a smile and rolled my eyes as Eleni hightailed it for the exit. "Be good," I whispered as Gigi rose directly in front of me. She was practically on top of me. I could smell her, and I couldn't help but commit the scent to memory. Gardenia and lilies. Fucking intoxicating.
Gigi looked up at me, her face so close that with barely a turn of my head I could've pressed our lips together. "But Cap... being bad is so much more fun."
My whole body was tight with restraint. I wanted so fucking desperately to close that last tiny bit of space. I wanted to feel her, to taste her, to lose myself in everything she was. She had been right. I wanted to devour her that night, but that was nothing compared to what I wanted in this moment. Fucking nothing.
"Hey!" Eleni's voice suddenly shouted. "You come or what?"
"Coming, Mama!" Gigi responded, as she gave me a shit-eating grin. She knew she was wearing me down. She knew it as much as I did. "Shall we, Huntsman?"
"After you, Snow."
"Such a gentleman," Gigi replied, tossing a wink in my direction before sauntering toward her mother, a little extra sway to her luscious hips.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to cleanse myself of the sins I was struggling not to commit. The good guy in me needed to put some space between us. He needed to not slip anymore into the lust-filled haze that Gigi put me in simply by existing, but fuck, the bad guy in me was currently louder. So much fucking louder.
One more deep inhale and I headed for the door, hoping the cold of the December air would bring some relief the heat strumming through my veins.
Unfortunately for the good guy part of my brain, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was far from the last time the walking temptation that was Galena Castellanos would push my limits. And lord, that internal bad guy?
He was fucking counting the seconds to the next time.
I dropped Eleni off at home, but Gigi insisted I take her back to the bar. It was closing time when we finally made it to the parking lot, but she wanted to help Becca before she let herself rest.
"Thank you," Gigi began as I walked her to the back door. "Seriously. Thank you for everything tonight. I don't know what Mama and I would've done without you."
"Something tells me you would've been just fine," I insisted as we crunched through the snow, side by side. "But I'm happy I was there regardless."
Gigi swallowed and stuffed her hands into the pockets of the same well-worn leather jacket she'd been wearing a few nights ago. "Ya know... I haven't had a lot of men, aside from my father, be real nice to me. Not that I usually let anyone in enough that it's necessary for them to be, but I gotta admit: the whole alpha-male, protector thing... it works for you. It's kinda hot."
I chuckled softly and shook my head. "Stop making me out to be one of the heroes in your dirty retellings. I ain't worth all that, trust me."
Gigi stopped in front of Kindling's back door and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling like sapphires in the parking lot's street lamps. "Gonna have to beg to differ there, Cap."
I watched her hesitate for a moment, barely a millisecond, before she rose up on her toes and brushed her lips against my cheek, just shy of the corner of my own lips. Instantly, a warmth spread through me like wildfire. It took everything I had in me not to turn and catch her mouth with mine, but it wasn't out of lust like it had been before. It was something different, something deeper, something I wasn't sure I could explain.
"Goodnight, Sully," Gigi said softly, still on her toes as the puffs of our breaths mingled in the cold of the air. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Galena," I responded just as softly. "Goodnight."
Gigi set her heels back on the ground and opened the back door, tossing me a warm smile before she disappeared inside and left me standing in the cold, questioning every thought I'd ever had about what could, what should happen between us.
She was a fire; a gorgeous, wonderful, magical fire and I was but a moth drawn to her flames. Ignoring the pull between us was going to be damn near impossible, but I had to. She wasn't even thirty. In another life, I could've, mathematically at least, been her father. I had to stay the course. I had to make sure that line wasn't crossed.
I had to.
Right?