Page 117 of Where the Wicked Reign

“It’s something I ran by Cat earlier. Partnering together on a mega-hub of sorts.”

“Mega-hub?”

“A hotel, retail space, conference facilities, a wealth of entertainment offerings starting with a club, the whole nine.” He smiled. “You’ll see. I’m just working on the proposal and business plan right now.”

“That’s ambitious.”

He chuckled. “That’s what Cat said.”

“And she’s up for this?”

“She’s looking to grow her empire.”

“I meant the partnership aspect.”

“She told me to send her the details. She was interested for sure.”

“And you think doing this now with the shitshow we’re buried in is the best idea?”

He stared at me over his phone, giving me his full attention, instead of his divided, multi-tasking attention. “She needs something to look forward to. Something to bolster her, give her hope.Andafter we found out exactly what Santino and that sleazy shit, Angelo, want to do to her, something to give her a sense of empowerment, while everything and everyone else looks to be trying to take that away from her.”

Talk about a kick in the emotional gut. “Sunshine, that’s really thoughtful,” I said, reaching out and clasping his free hand.

That wasn’t the only thoughtful thing he’d done for her tonight. She’d accidentally left her award behind at the event earlier, and he’d made sure to retrieve it for her. Beyond that was the fact that he’d been slated to receive aSocial Good Awardfor the Carver Foundation’s philanthropic efforts that had aided communities in and around the City of Tolhurst in a massive way over the last few years, but he’d declined to accept it in-person, asking for it to be sent to him instead, all so that Caterina’s moment wasn’t stolen from her with his. Julian Carver turning down publicity and recognition was a hell of a thing. Him going to those efforts for her was another.

He'd really taken a shine to her. Usually it was just sexual interest for him, but this was beyond that. He liked her as a person, respected her, and he wanted to be in her company, irrespective of anything sexual.

He wasn’t the only one who she’d grown on either. What had occurred in that alley between us was still playing on my mind.

A snarl from Nico pulled me from my thoughts.

I looked out to see his fingers tightened around my phone so much he was damn close to breaking the thing.

“Nico,” I called.

His head shot up and his gaze clashed with mine, that dangerous look in his eyes that promised punishment and a whole fucking massacre flaming with fury.

No… wait. Not just fury.Pain.

For her, for Caterina.

Somehow, with that in play and a factor this time, it enabled him to blink out of that dangerous state and even walk to me and hand me my phone back without a burst of violence thrown into the mix. Without him escalating.

He wasn’t alone with those feelings. I was fighting them, too. And Julian was focusing on the expansion thing in a bid to sublimate his. We were all sick about it.

“All right?” I asked, warily.

“He’s mine. I’ll rip him apart with my bare fucking hands.”

“No arguments here,” Julian said, pocketing his phone in his suit jacket.

“He’s first,” Nico growled.

“No. Angelo is,” Caterina’s voice sounded a moment before we looked to see her striding back into her living room. She was dressed down in black yoga pants and a turquoise strappy tank, her wavy hair pulled into a high ponytail. My fist clenched almost of its own accord as I zoned in on her bleeding cheek.

She headed straight for her laptop, snatched it off the coffee table, then sat beside Julian, opened it up, and began typing rapid-fire.

“What are you doing?” Nico asked, walking to her.

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