She was about to tease Emma about that when she turned toward the buzzing phone on the nightstand. “The world better be on fire,” she said as Emma moved to answer it.

“Hello,” Emma said and glanced back at her, listening to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Hold on, Lou.” Emma handed her the phone and got out of bed. A few seconds later the shower started. That didn’t bode well. She’d brought Emma here to give her some truly undivided attention. Since the baby’s birth, that had been what seemed to be driving Emma’s happiness.

“What’s going on?” She sat up and put her feet on the floor.

“The pub got hit again,” Lou said, and she could almost feel his anger. “Josh was there with the contractors about the expansion.”

“Fuck,” she said, clenching her fist. Josh had been with her for years, and she trusted him implicitly. When a business was mostly cash, you either had to be there all the time or you had to trust the people who ran it for you. Bars were great places to work if you liked to skim. Josh was not only loyal and honest, but he was smart enough to realize what a bad idea that would be. “What happened?”

“It was late this afternoon—”

“Why are we just hearing about this?” It wasn’t Lou’s fault, but she couldn’t help but interrupt him.

“Sanders Riggole just finished with the police and called me. He called me on the way to the hospital with Josh.”

“So.” She took a deep breath. Josh was a good man and a friend, but Emma loved him like a big brother. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Sanders said he was critical, but he’s young and healthy. He’s a fighter, boss, so I’m sure he’ll pull through. The contractor got winged, but the guy with him was unharmed since he was taking measurements behind the bar.”

“That’s fortuitous.”

“I talked to Sanders and called Dino.” Lou referred to his nephew who was now Emma’s driver. Lou had left him behind looking out for the house and the business as a way to see what he could do under pressure. She liked the young man who’d taken such good care of Emma and had gone out of his way to be friendly with Hannah. “He’ll keep Josh safe from any other attack and from any questions from the cops until he’s ready.”

“Give me thirty minutes and get in here.”

“What’s going on?” Emma said as Cain opened the shower door and joined her.

It was hard to beat down the rage, and Emma seemed to sense that when she walked to her and placed her hand over Cain’s heart. “Someone shot up the pub again, and Josh got caught in the crossfire. Sanders is with him.”