Page 100 of Heart of a Monster
“Not like that, you dumbass.” Bastian glared my way. “I love that she’s a part of this unit. I love that she is who she is. With you. I don’t want things to change just because we know her bloodline.”
Would it change now? It would have to. Katalina had morphed into a fireball, ready to tear apart the city to find the answers she wanted.
“I trusted you all for so long.” Her voice was just above a whisper, and we all leaned in to hear exactly what she had to say. “I gave up my confidence in my ability to earn a seat at the table over and over again for this family. I’ve lain on my back and taken men for you. I’ve sold my soul.” Her voice cracked, but she cleared her throat and carried on. “I won’t do it anymore.”
“We never wanted that for you,” Bastian started.
“Let me go. Let them have me,” she said again.
“For what?” Bastian whispered. “They have no organization. They’re ruthless and lack morals. They don’t want you for anything but to use as a weapon against us. They’ll end up killing you.”
“Some would say the same about your father,” she shot back. “And now you.”
“But you know deep down that’s not true. I’m not my father. Woman, if I’d known you felt this way for so long, I’d have changed something. You never said—”
“It’s not my responsibility to educate you on who’s deserving, Bastian. You and your father and the whole family should have seen that. Now, I want the opportunity to figure this out on my own, to find my own answers, to see what could belong to me, to us.”
I stepped toward her, reaching for her hand. She yanked it away as if I’d burn her. “Katalina. Cleo, this isn’t a fight you need to have. Don’t do this alone.”
“I have to.” She licked her lips and scanned all of me, like she was taking me in for the last time, like she was memorizing me. “Call him, Bastian.”
She disappeared down my hallway, and we all stared after her. From the sound of drawers being opened and bottles clinking around, she was changing and packing.
Would she forgive me if I dragged her back to the panic room and locked the door?
I considered if it was worth it, if I’d rather have a shell of her than nothing at all, because walking into the enemy’s arms . . . that was just asking to disappear forever.
She breezed back in with a duffel bag over her bare shoulder. Her signature cut-off shirt was back on, and her ripped jeans hung low at her hips. It was like the traffic and wind outside stopped. We all stood there, four men about to get on their knees and beg her. We would have made a perfect picture, all the men in love with Katalina. None of us moved an inch either, like we didn’t want her to jump away from us.
My cousin, the man who was supposed to protect every single person in this family, did the one thing that could make my heart stop. He slid his hand into his suit pocket and pulled out his phone.
My blood turned cold, but I swore I could hear it pumping furiously through my veins. It felt like a sea had rushed into my heart and messed up all the chambers. Every part of my body was breaking, malfunctioning, failing. I couldn’t take in air. I could barely stand.
“Katalina will be in front of Rome’s apartment. She’d like you to come get her.” He hung up without listening to Dimitri’s response.
She backed away toward the door. “You follow me, you don’t let them have me, you ruin this for me, and I’ll tear this family apart by tearing myself apart first.”
She spun around, grabbed her knife off the counter, and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
We all stood there, stock still, so silent we could hear the traffic out in the night. We all knew the truth.
She’d turned the tables, and her words rang true.
If Katalina ripped herself apart, if she came back harmed, we’d blame one another.
I’d kill for her, die for her. I only wanted to live for her. The men in that room were the same. We waited with baited breath to see if Katalina would succeed in running into the lion’s den and then coming home to us all without our help.
I fell to my knees and let the damn tears roll down my face. Dante and Bastian laid a hand on each of my shoulders.
I knew that it might be the last time I ever saw her breathing, alive and well. And even if I did, I knew she’d never come back the same.
The monster in me stirred. The beast had fallen in love with her, had made a comfortable place to hole up in while she silenced all the noise that used to aggravate him. Without her, my mind and body screamed. The demons ricocheted around in me, trying to find a way out. The monster wanted answers and names and heads rolling. Anyone who knew, anyone who even looked sideways at how we’d come to know her, had a price to pay.
And payment was overdue.
THE END
