Page 73 of Pure Vengeance

I didn’t want her to leave, but I couldn’t physically stop her after promising I wouldn’t touch her. Before she could walk away, I asked, “Natasha, what would it take for you to let us start over?”

“It would take a miracle, Lachlan, and I think we’re both too old believe in them.” She smiled, but her thickly lashed brown eyes seemed to look right through me. “Sign the papers and let me go.”

Without waiting for me to answer, she walked out. However, she left me with probably more information than she intended.

The kitchen wasn’t the only thing I needed to clean up, and I’d already put it off too long.

After wiping my hands, I got my phone and tapped Finn’s contact. He answered on the first ring.

“Do you need us to return, sir?”

“No. I have a job for you.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Natasha

“Look at you, my beautiful baby boy,” I crooned, encouraging Dante as he tottered toward me. The kitten kept pace with Dante, her purrs seeming to reassure him.

“He’s doing really well,” Dr. Mendez said as she knelt next to me. “All the exercises are helping.”

“So is Angel,” I replied, pointing at the kitten.

Jerome had been right. Cats—at least the right cat—helped people find kindness. Despite Lachlan’s continued presence in my life, Angel and Dante healed my spirit more than any amount of therapy or Krav Maga training.

Dr. Mendez laughed and held out her fingers for the kitten to sniff. “Can’t forget Angel.”

We’d somehow become friends during Dante’s recovery, and Teresa wasn’t afraid of me anymore. It was nice, but very strange to have a real friend—not one who only pretended to make it easier for her brother to abuse me.

Bitter, much?

“You helped more than anything,” I replied. “I don’t think he’d have made it without you.”

She smiled and wiped a bit of drool from his jowls. “Natasha, he is doing better, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t remind you?—”

“I know.” I kissed my baby dog between his ears, then sighed. “He’s almost eleven, and I can’t move across country without risking his health. I bought a house about ten minutes from the clinic. It’s handicap accessible and doesn’t have stairs.”

Although small with only two bedrooms and one bathroom, the Craftsman bungalow was perfect for me and my baby dog. I especially loved the gourmet kitchen with its original cupboards and hardwood flooring, and I absolutely would not paint over the height markings carved into the bathroom door frame from the previous owner’s grown children. They were incontrovertible proof that some families got to grow up happy.

Thankfully, I’d managed to unload my father’s house quickly, and at a fair price, but I wondered if I should find an exorcist or something to cleanse the place of lingering evil before the new owners took possession.

Ack. Don’t mention possession.

“Sounds perfect.” Teresa gave Dante a pat and scritched Angel under her chin, then rose to her feet. “I need to get back to the clinic, but text me if you need anything.”

“I have leftover sweet potato gnocchi if you’re interested in lunch. You could take it home to Vince if you don’t have time now.”

“Tempting, but no.” She sighed and patted her stomach. “My scrubs are already too tight from your cooking, and Vince is threatening to divorce me so he can marry you for your food.”

Laughing, I got up and escorted her to the door. “Fair enough. Are we still on for that wine tasting Friday?”

“You know it! Vince will be our designated driver.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Look at you, all scheduling outings with friends and shit.

I waved as she got into her truck and drove away, then trudged to the kitchen. As usual, I found Lachlan at the table waiting for me.

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