Page 65 of Forgotten Deal

“You wanted to gain access to my backrooms,” he tries.

“No, but you wanted to gain access to my backdoor.” Another round of giggles escapes my lips.

He growls in frustration. “You were ordered to spy on me.”

“Hello, are you listening to me? N-o-o-o-o.”

Fabio cocks his head. “Then why were you with me?”

“Duh. Because I really liked you. Thought I was starting to fall for you.” Holding my temples, I give my head a little shake. I can’t believe I just told him that! Dropping my hands in frustration, I say, “But then you had to fuck it all up by being Mr. Psycho. Get out.” Unfortunately, my brain and vocal box aren’t on the same page; my voice comes out sounding small.

“I’m sorry, Kitty Kat,” he murmurs, moving a curl from my face.

I try to smack his hand away, but my limbs feel like they weigh a ton. “Not your pet anymore. I’m sleepy.” I yawn, leaning my head back against the couch and closing my eyes for just a second…

Fabio

Carrying Katerina to bed, I lay her down gently before checking her pulse. She’ll feel a bit groggy when she comes to, but that’s the least of her worries.

I grab her keys and step outside to search her car. Finding nothing there, I hurry inside, working my way through the condo. No surveillance equipment. No burner phones. No piles of cash. Nothing suspicious. I do find a pack of cigarettes hidden in her bathroom that I pocket to toss later.

Grabbing Katerina’s phone—she shouldn’t use their birthday as the passcode—I scroll through her contacts. Surprisingly, her ex isn’t in her phone. Reading her messages, there’s nothing implicating her. But there is something implicating me.

Pulling up our text message thread, I sear the nude picture of Katerina in my mind before deleting the entire conversation from both her phone and mine.

Like Katerina and I never happened. The thought makes me want to punch something.

There’s a knock on the door, and I hustle down the stairs and let my crew inside. “I need eyes and ears in every room,” I instruct them.

The men get to work bugging the condo, and I walk back upstairs and take a seat on the bed next to an incapacitated Katerina. Checking her pulse again just to be sure, I move that wild curl from her cheek.

Thought I was starting to fall for you.

Gritting my teeth, I don’t know who I’m more pissed at: myself; Katerina; John Davis; or this entire shitty situation.

“I can’t wait to man this security feed.” I overhear Sal in the hallway. “Spank bank material.”

I rise from the bed and storm out of the room, grabbing Sal by his shirt and slamming him against the wall with my forearm held to his throat. The other men make themselves scarce. “I won’t have you disrespecting Darius’ cousin again,” I say, barely above a whisper. “You so much as look at Katerina, you risk your eyes.” I’d go with sodium hydroxide; make him fucking feel those orbs burning in their sockets. “Am I making myself clear?”

“Crystal,” he wheezes.

I release him, and he scurries down the stairs. Vince saunters over with a bemused look, having witnessed the exchange. “What about that cool head, skipper?”

“What about it?” I snap, and he holds up his hands in surrender. “Nobody has access to these security feeds but me.”

“You got it.” He clears his throat. “But someone will need to get into Katerina’s bedroom and bathroom to wire it up—if that’s alright with you,” he’s quick to amend.

“Go ahead.” Following him inside the bedroom, I watch over his shoulder as he works.

“Think she’s dirty?” Vince asks he finishes up, and I follow him down the stairs.

I shrug nonchalantly, like my heart hasn’t been ripped out of my chest. “Time will tell.”

After everything’s set up and my men leave, I walk to the kitchen and fill up a glass of water. Returning to Katerina’s room, I put the glass on her nightstand, along with two ibuprofen. Checking her pulse one last time, I move that wayward curl from her face yet again before walking out.

Giving the condo a final once-over, I lock up behind me and drive to the beach house that I now own. Too bad I no longer have my girl to enjoy it with.

A part of me wants to believe Katerina; she passed the polygraph and held up under the truth serum. The other part of me—the insecure part—doesn’t believe she’d ever be with me without an ulterior motive.

---