Page 193 of Born in Depravity

“Catalina, look at me. Just breathe. Okay? Come on, breathe for me. We can’t have you passing out again.”

I did as he asked, sucking in a huge gulp of air before I let it out. He patted me on the back.

“That’s good. That’s good.”

His eyes took me in, and to my surprise, they were rimmed red and tears were forming.

I dipped my head to the side, pointing to his eyes.

He shook his head. “I’m so sorry, Miss. I thought I was helping you escape. I thought it was the best thing. But you … when I heard the Russian bastards took you, I—”

I wrapped my arms around him once more, and I didn’t know how it came to be that I was the one comforting him.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Even if I could speak, how could I go about telling him about my relationship with Nikolay, Damien, and Mikhail? I was still a little confused about the dynamics.

Roberto took me in, his eyes, like always, glinted with kindness.

I took in a deep breath, feeling my heart doing a small flip inside my chest as I opened my mouth once more and said softly, “No.”

And for the first time, it was Roberto who was speechless. He opened his mouth, but closed it after a moment.

I waited for him to composed himself, and when he finally spoke, his voice came out raspy.

“Did you… Did you just speak to me?”

I looked down, my bottom lip trembling. I had wanted to speak to him so many times. Had wanted to tell how much I appreciated him looking out for me all these years. Tears burned my eyes, and I felt my voice getting strong. “They didn’t hurt me, Roberto.”

The tears in his eyes fell and he wrapped me in his arms. He cupped the back of my head, and I might have imagined the kiss he placed there.

“Don’t lie to spare this old man’s feelings, Miss. You suffered enough. At the hands of your father and thenthem.”

He practically spit out the last word. I winced and shook my head, grabbing his forearms, trying to get him to understand.

But he wasn’t paying attention to that. He took a deep breath and looked at the door. “I don’t have a lot of time. Your father left with the head of the Mexican Cartels, and I don’t know when they will be back. But I’ll get you out of here, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He cupped my cheeks and looked into my eyes. The feeling I got that Roberto might love me like his daughter came back, and this time, I didn’t think it was wishful thinking on my part.

He really loved me.

I blinked.

“Never again,” he said. “I’ll bring you to California myself if that’s what it takes.”

I frowned. What was in California that he wanted me to go so badly?

He handed me something hard. I looked down and found a small blade with a thin leather strap attached to it. “Just in case, but don’t do anything reckless. Don’t make your father lose his temper. Try to stay alive, and I’ll come back for you at the first opportunity. You can strap this to your thigh. Okay?”

I nodded, looking down at the weapon, and I wondered if I was strong enough to pull this on another person, even someone as hateful as my father.

He handed me a notebook. “Write down anything you need. I’ll make the preparations, okay?”

I looked down at the small notebook and pen in my hand. I blinked and looked back up at him, biting my bottom lip in apprehension.

There were only three things I needed, but would he believe me?

I wrote it down quickly and handed him back the notebook.

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