Page 61 of Entangled Mafia Princess

I watch her as she gets into her own car and wait for them to drive off first. I sit in my car, feeling oddly unsettled. I could have kidnapped her straight from The Lotus, like I had initially planned. It would have been too easy. Maybe that’s why I hesitated. That and the thought of fulfilling her fantasy the way she described intrigued me. I’d love to see the expression on her face when that happens. She doesn’t hide her enthusiasm, and it’s almost contagious. Even the way she ate her bowl of noodles was interesting to watch.

Remembering the cat behind the noodle restaurant, I decide to drive over and see if the stray is still lurking around. Like the night before, I ask for a plate of lightly cooked minced chicken from the restaurant’s kitchen and take it to the alley, but I stop in my tracks when I round the corner.

Standing across from a dumpster stinking of rotting food is Casey.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her.

She looks equally surprised to see me and answers, “I was hungry and thought I’d see if that stray cat is still here.”

Glancing down at the chicken I hold, she says with a grin, “That’s why you’re here too.”

I put the chicken down and notice her coat isn’t thick enough for hanging out in an alley late at night. “Don’t you have thicker coats than this? I thought you’re from the Midwest.”

“I wasn’t planning on being out here for long, but now that I’ve got company…”

We stand silently in the dark for several minutes. Chances are low that we’ll come across the stray again, but I hear the rustle of something moving. Casey and I don’t move or make a sound. I see a little head poke out from underneath the dumpster. It retreats, then peeks out again. The cat does this several times before venturing her full body out toward the chicken, taking slow tentative steps, ready to dart back to safety if needed.

Casey and I watch as the cat sniffs, then nibbles at the food. Slowly, I take steps toward the cat. She pauses and stares at me for a while before resuming her eating. Eventually, I’m close enough to scoop her up. To my surprise, she squirms but doesn’t put up a fight, as if she recognizes me.

“Awww,” Casey whispers as I pet the creature. “Are you going to adopt it or should we take it to a shelter?”

I pick up the plate of chicken and hold it up to the cat so she can finish eating. “Shelter’s not open at this hour, so I’ll keep her for the night.”

“I’d take her, but my dad’s allergic to cats.”

After the cat’s done eating, I take her to my car.

“You already get your noodles?” I ask.

She scratches the cat on its head. “We got it to go. My bodyguard has the order. You still have my number?”

I repeat it to her satisfaction.

“Text or call,” she says before walking away, “and let me know what you decide with the kitty.”

In my car, I turn on the seat warmer and place the cat in the passenger seat.

Back home, Athena greets me at the door. For a dog off the streets, she has developed an amazing disposition. It wasn’t like that at the beginning. She had anxiety and paranoia, but now she’s calm and devoted. She sniffs at the cat, which I expected to leap out of my arms to hide beneath the nearest sofa. Instead, she seems curious about Athena. The cat’s behavior surprises me, but one of her eyes is half closed and cloudy, which makes me suspect that she’s sick. When I’m confident Athena won’t jump on it, I gently put the cat down to answer my cell. It’s Andrian.

“So you do it?” he asks.

“No,” I reply. “I changed my mind.”

“What? Why?”

I take a beat before replying, “We should consider all alternatives thoroughly before committing to kidnapping the daughter.”

“You said it would be easy.”

“I know, but I don’t want to rush into things just because they’re easy.”

“We could go with poisoning his family.”

Andrian’s boss has an obsession with poisoning, maybe the result of his days with the KGB.

“When are you able to come back?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Three, four days maybe. But I don’t want to wait.”

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