Page 35 of Pretty Little Kitty

“But my world revolves around you, Kia.”

Suero’s voice cracked on the truth. His feet slowed as he said it, like his body knew this part needed to land, not chase.

“Soy un maldito idiota, ¿vale? Me importa demasiado cómo me veas, y nunca quiero parecer imperfecto ante tus ojos, hermosa.”

Kia stopped like he’d hit an invisible wall. He spun around so fast his heel scraped on the pavement, and Suero’s breath caught the moment he saw them. Tears. Sliding quietly down his mate’s cheeks, no dramatics. No anger.

Just pain.

And that shattered him more than anything Kia could’ve yelled.

“I’m not going to tell you to speak English, because that’s insensitive,” Kia said, voice shaky. “But I am going to ask you to help me understand what you’re saying.”

“I said I was a fucking idiot, okay?” Suero exhaled hard. “I care too much about how you see me, and I never want to seem imperfect in your eyes, beautiful.”

“That’s…” Kia swiped at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Poetic and ridiculous. We’re all flawed, Suero. If you were perfect, I wouldn’t want you.”

“Why not?”

The question came out before he could stop it. Seeing Kia cry twisted something deep in Suero’s gut.

He wanted to close the distance. Wanted to pull Kia into his arms and promise to do better, to be better.

But that look on Kia’s face? Yeah, that was a vibe.

And it said loud and clear: Back off.

Kia stared at him, incredulous. “Because your standard would be too high,” he said. “Who wants to live with that kind of stress? I want messy. Imperfect. Playful. Dominant.”

Then his voice softened. “All those texts and late-night calls we shared. Those dates. That’s the man I fell in love with, Suero. Not someone afraid to show me how incredible he is around a mom.”

Suero stepped forward and hauled him in, arms wrapping around Kia in a crushing hug. “I really am an idiot.”

“But you’re my idiot,” Kia sniffed. “And if you ever try to feed me to another dog, you’ll be my neutered idiot.”

Suero’s very soul clenched at the threat just as his phone began to ring in his back pocket. He didn’t want to answer it, to interrupt this moment, but it was Matias’s ringtone. Reluctantly, he released Kia, pulling his phone out to answer. “Yeah?”

“Where’s the cat?” Matias demanded.

“Mi elegido is with me. Why?”

The words came out tight, clipped. Not just because Matias had interrupted a moment Suero didn’t want to end—but because of the way he’d said it.

The cat.

Like Kia wasn’t his. Like he was some stray, some afterthought, not the center of Suero’s goddamn world.

Irritation flared in his chest, but it was chased quickly by something colder. Dread. Matias didn’t use that tone unless things were bad.

Suero straightened, one arm still resting protectively around Kia’s back as he held the phone to his ear. “What’s going on?”

“Xavier is demanding his and Jared’s return,” Matias said slowly, his voice a deep rumble. “He wants them at the borderline in one hour or he’s threatening to invade our territory to get them back.”

“How does he even know Kia and Jared are here?”

“I have no idea, but he knows.”

Suero glanced around, scanning the streets. “I’m not handing over my elegido,” he ground out.

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