Page 71 of Where the Wicked Reign

I mean, the way it had felt last night had been unbelievable.

So honest and open. So completely liberating. So fucking fulfilling in every way.

But what about all the rest?

What about the stakes? The complications? The three families? My cold war with my father? Nico and the boys’ war with Marco?

Could this… thing really have a place in our lives, in the world that we existed in? Or would it only serve to drive us to our downfall?

As I caught sight of the clock and the fact that it was nearly nine in the morning, it was already clear that last night had impacted my business. I was unbelievably and unacceptably late. I started work promptly at 7.a.m. each and every day.

I couldn’t allow it. I couldn’t allowanythingto impact what I’d spent years building, and even more years than that dreaming of.

I looked down at myself, finding that I was covered in Nico’s tee. Where were my clothes? Wait, hadn’t he ripped my chemise? I still had my coat, though. That hadn’t been damaged. Had it? Where was it? Where the hell indeed?

As I spun around and scanned the room, I heard the bed shift, and I turned to see Nico now sitting up, rubbing his face.

Shit.He was in a bruised, bloodied, and marked state, just like me. He even had some nasty scratches down his cheeks.

“Rushing off so soon, Caterina?” he rumbled in a sleep-infused voice that was unfortunately so beyond sexy.

“I need to get to work. I’m late.”

“Right, your 7.a.m. starts. Insanity, if you ask me.”

“I’mnotasking you.”

I saw him register all the stress—and panic, to be honest—coming off me, and he spoke calmly and so surely, telling me, “It’s all going to be okay.”

“It will once I make it to work. Where the hell even are we?”

“Julian’s penthouse.”

I started. “What?”

“You thought this was my place?” he gestured at the leopard-print sheets. “Not my style. I thought you knew that about me.”

“I wasn’t really thinking about the décor and how that related to you or whoever the shit.” I shoved my hand through my wild hair again. “I don’t… why are we here?”

“Logistically, it was the optimal decision.”

“How?”

“You and I weren’t in the best state after what happened in the viewing room. Julian’s place was the closest. He’s also not being watched in the intense and overbearing way that I am. Or you, for that matter, with your father. Carrying you into your apartment building would have been like firing off a flare gun. So, I had Milo create a distraction while we brought you here. You were conscious at the time, but not lucid enough to do much else other than rest.”

I sighed heavily at his report. I couldn’t believe I’d allowed myself to reach that kind of state. The reason I didn’t drink was so that I avoided ever being in a situation like that, so I was always in my right mind, on alert, and thinking clearly.

When I winced as I shifted my weight, he gestured to the bedside table. “Those will take the edge off.”

I looked to see a couple of pain pills beside a bottle of water, along with a note. And most importantly, my phone.

That was another way in which I’d fucked up, not knowing where my phone was the moment I’d woken up. Being separated from it at all. At least it was locked and protected with several intense layers of security.

I walked to the table, intending to pick it up, when the note caught my eye.

Kitty Cat,

You’ve certainly got claws. Witnessing that last night, the pleasure was all mine. Thank you for one hell of a show. I saw to you afterward, not sure you remember. Either way, you’ll be okay, just might need a little assist tostart the day.

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