Page 60 of Blood & Loyalties
“I’ll pick you up at six. We’ll discuss this over dinner.”
Panic crept in.
“No. No dinners, no flowers. Nothing. We are done. Leave.” Inside, my heart was breaking all over again, the hole inside growing bigger and bigger.
“You’re not getting rid of me. I see it in your eyes. You’re afraid of something. Tell me what it is, and I’ll make it disappear.”
I wished he could, but I wouldn’t do that at the expense of his life. I cared too much about him.
I steadied myself for what I was about to say, knowing it would hurt like hell. “You. Now leave.”
“More lies. I fucking watched you shoot a man to protect me, and now, all of a sudden, you’re afraid of me? Bullshit.” He wasn’t buying anything.
Nerves raged throughout me. These last few months had sucked the strength right out of me, and my comebacks sucked ass. I was drowning in my words and not making any sense of any of it. The sad thing was all the anger I’d had over the months had washed away in his presence. I couldn’t even call on it to get him out of there. I just wanted him to wrap his arms around me and tell me that everything was going to be okay.
“Please, just leave,” I whispered, turning to the window and wrapping my arms around my body. What I felt on the inside was pushing forward, and I needed him to leave before he saw it.
Strong arms engulfed me, and I immediately tensed. He couldn’t do this to me.
Tears burned the back of my eyes and threatened to escape, but I pushed them back. The warmth of his body against mine sent daggers through my heart. I missed him more than I had ever thought possible, yet I couldn’t have him.
He leaned down, whispering in my ear, “Dolcezza, this isn’t over. I’ll leave you be. I can see how it’s tearing you up, and I don’t want to cause you pain, but I’m not going anywhere. You are mine. Trust me to take care of you.” He kissed my temple before his heat left my body, his footsteps echoing off the floor, and then the click of the door left me in silence.
Only then did I allow the tears to fall.
Chapter Fifteen
SHE WAS FLAT out lying.Something had scared her. The fear in her eyes had expanded across the room even though she had tried hiding it. I would have to be blind not to see it. My question was, did anyone else?
Leaving her office, I received many stares, but ignored each of them. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Kiera, who answered quickly.
“Hello?” Her voice had a hit of apprehension in it. Good.
“It’s Jag. I need to talk to you now. Meet me down at the coffee shop.”
She blew out a deep breath. “Is this about Catarina?”
“Who else?” I waited.
“Fine, but if she finds out, she’ll be pissed.”
“Like I give a shit. Five minutes. Be there.” I hung up the phone before she could answer and moved swiftly out of the building to the small coffee shop on the corner. Dan and Brett stayed beside me, but upon entering the shop, they sat at a nearby table. The waitress came by, so I ordered two coffees with cream, not caring at the moment about the contents.
Kiera walked in a short time later, her heels clacking on the tile. Both Dan and Brett straightened up when she waved at them. She sat in the chair across from me, the smell of lavender surrounding her.
“What do ya need?” she asked, placing her purse on the table in front of her kind of like a shield. Although her face was perfectly made up, worry lines surrounded her eyes.
I sat back in the wobbly chair and hoped it didn’t send me pummeling to the floor. “What is going on with Catarina?”
Kiera’s face fell, her eyes turning sad and somber. “I don’t know. She won’t talk to me.” That meant this might be worse than I had thought.
“What do you mean?”
Her hands moved to the strap on her purse, and she began twirling it back and forth repeatedly. “After she stopped taking your calls, she changed, became closed off. I rarely see her laugh. I ask her all the time what’s wrong, and the answer is alwaysnothing.” She stopped and moved her eyes around the room, sweeping it. “And she’s mad, so damn mad. This morning, she got into a fight with the coffee pot because it was too slow. The other day, it was the kitchen cabinet. I hear her cussing and ranting in her room and bathroom all the time. Even at work, she’s different.”
“And no one has said anything?”
“She stays away from her parents and brothers as much as possible, only going over for family meals. I’m sure she could hide it from them pretty easily, but it’s harder for her to do with me since I see her every day.” Kiera’s eyes watered up, but she held back the tears.
