Page 33 of Wild Card

She brushes at the cuts over the fine bones of her feet.

“That’s not all that happened, is it?”

She flicks those pretty green eyes at me, and then looks back at her feet.

“No. My father caught us sneaking back in. I told him I made her go. She tried to deny it, but why bother? He already thought I was worthless, even then.”

My stomach tightens as I imagine her standing up to her revolting father. How could he think that about a gem like Catriona?

“Then what?”

She looks at me wide-eyed for a second but quickly returns her gaze to her feet.

“Nothing.”

She’s lying.

“Are you honestly trying to protect your father from me? Catriona, you know how much I hate him. It’s not like I could hate him any more.”

Or maybe I could.

She brushes her foot again.

Or maybe it’s not him she’s trying to protect. Maybe it’s herself. Shit. I worry now that I asked her to share too personal a memory when she’s already feeling overexposed.

“He never hit us, you know?” she says. “Legend has it that he tried with my eldest brother Patrick, just once, and regretted it. I didn’t expect it. Once Siobhan ran off to bed, he punched me in the stomach. I went down like a sack of shit. He screamed in my face, spit flying everywhere, not to ruin his perfect daughter with my slutty, slutty ways.” She shrugs. “I didn’t help her sneak out after that, and she didn’t want to anyway. And he can’t blame me for Kieran—that’s her boyfriend. My father hates his family. They did that on their own.”

My vision grays as I imagine wrapping my hands around that man’s neck and squeezing the life out of him.

How many men have hurt this woman? And how can I come to terms with being one of them?

“I moved out for college and only go back for visits.” She looks up at me, and it’s like I’m the one who’s been gut punched. “As you can see, your uncle made a strategic error in his hostage selection.”

“How did your brothers let him get away with that?” I snarl. “Jesus, Catriona. You were just a kid.” I imagine she was physically just as delicate then as she is now. I choke down the hypocrisy of my righteous indignation.

“They didn’t know. We all have our own issues with our father.”

“You and your brother Callan are close?”

He’s been the most consistent with his threats.

“We’re twins.”

That surprises the hell out of me.

“We don’t have a weird twin language or anything. We weren’t close like that. But yeah, if he knew, maybe he would’ve been pissed. He’s my father’s favorite of the boys. Finn used to be at the bottom of the heap, but I think it’s just me now.”

She laughs quietly. “But maybe since this is getting him some nice publicity, he’ll remember me fondly. But it’s fine. Families are fucked up. I do okay. Well, I did, until very recently.”

I feel like complete shit. She’s nothing like her despicable father and I can’t even use his misdeeds as a justification for being complicit in this. I can’t do this anymore. I’ll offer Freddie everything I own to save this woman. I won’t be one more man who abuses her and leaves her feeling worthless. I have to protect her and Nonna, whatever the cost. I’ll die for either of them knowing I’ll keep my soul in the bargain.

I squeeze Catriona’s hand. I want to comfort her, but even as I plan to protect her, I have to be careful about not getting kneecapped by my feelings for her. So I clean up the dishes instead.

I’m glad to see that she drank all of the broth. Nonna’s cooking is magic. She’d taught me as much as she could, and I could do the basic chemistry but hadn’t fully mastered her magic yet.

I put everything away and then join her on the couch again.

“What do you do?” she asks. “Besides looking after your uncle’s hostages?” She gives me a teasing smile, and I can’t help but laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

---