Page 70 of Blood & Loyalties
“And Scraper and your Ghost don’t know anything about this?” my father asked.
“No. I should have at least told them so they could keep a better watch on me.” I hung my head and rolled it around. I wanted so badly to leave, but the sooner I did this, the sooner it would be over.
“Yes, you should have,” Dad chastised. “That is why they are there—to protect you from this shit.” He sighed deeply. “All right, from now on, Jag wants Rex with you at all times. You are to go nowhere without him. Scraper and Ghost, as you call him, are with you, too. For the time being, you need to stick with work and home. Got it?”
“Yeah.” That wasn’t a big deal in the least. Considering the last few months, that had been pretty much all I did, anyway. “What if he finds out I told?” My fear gripped me.
“We all have protection. We will be fine.”
“Kiera?” I asked.
“She will have the same restrictions as you. Lord help you when she finds out.” Uncle Vino chuckled.
I sighed. “I know.”
“Come here.” My dad stood, and I rose and walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed hard. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too, Daddy. I’m so sorry.” A lone tear leaked from my eye.
“No more of that. It’s done. You learned, and it’s over.”
I nodded into his shoulder.
He released me, and then the rest of my family bombarded me with hugs and words of reassurance, even Val.
“Come on. Let’s introduce you to Rex,” Jag said.
I nodded, leaving the room with him. Jag gripped my hand, leading me into the kitchen where Scraper, Blondie, and Hulk sat next to a huge hunk of a man.
Standing well over six-foot, his eyes were cold and focused, arms bulging with tattoos, and his dark hair was a free-for-all mess. If I was being honest with myself, he scared me a bit.
“Catarina, Rex,” Jag introduced.
When the man rose, coming closer, my nerves shook.
“Hello, ma’am. No funny business. You tell me every move you make. If I have to hunt you down, I’ll handcuff you to me. I don’t give a fuck if you have to pee. You tell me.”
Everything about him told me he was dead serious, and the last thing I would ever want was to be cuffed to his body.
“Okay.”
I looked to Jag for reassurance, and he smiled, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and holding me tight.
“Where is she?” Screeched from behind me, making me wince.
I turned to see Kiera charging toward me, her fists balled and her face beet red. I stepped forward as she stomped closer.
“All this time. All this time, you didn’t tell me! Me! You tell me everything. You tell me when you’re ragging, when you have a booger up your nose, and hell, how good Mr. Loverboy here is in bed, but you couldn’t tell me someone was stalking you and threatening you!” Her words came out in such a flurry that some sounded pretty jumbled.
She stood there, tapping her foot with her hands lodged on her hips.
“I’m sorry. I screwed up.”
“Screwed up!” She shook her head. “Yeah, you royally screwed up! I can’t believe you didn’t come to me!”
I moved closer to her, hoping she saw the sincerity in my eyes. “It won’t happen again.”
“Damn right.” She glared. “If you start acting like a raving bitch again, I swear to God, I’ll beat it out of you.”
