Chapter 10
TEN
KITTY
Playlist recommendation:
Unsteady - X Ambassadors
I only stopped hiding my face once he settled us in an SUV because I needed to make sure we were on the same page.
“My family can’t see me like this, Stan.”
“I’m taking you to my mother’s home, duci,” he replied, his tone odd. Light but heavy. Solemn but… God. Reverent.
Uncomfortable, I shuffled until I could see him better but made no move to leave his lap. “Taube said that Star would hear about this soon. She meant Star Sullivan, right?”
“She did.”
“I want to talk to her first.”
“My phone’s in the inner pocket of my jacket.” I blinked at him in confusion. “I don’t want to touch you until you’re ready for me to.”
Oh.
Tears pricked my stupid eyes at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you. But they… didn’t, you know? Close but… didn’t.”
He graced me with a stiff nod. “I’ll touch you when you’re ready, liunissa. Not a moment sooner.”
Throat tight with appreciation for his care, I delved into his pocket and slipped out his cell. When he reeled off his pin number, my breath hitched at the second display of trust.
Then, I realized… “That’s the same as my credit card’s.”
Before he could reply, the vehicle pulled out into the street, making me jump.
God, I hated myself for being so delicate right now. I’d survived. My captors were either dead or severely injured. How could I be delicate when I was the reason for their fates?
“I need to move my hands so I can hold you better. Is that okay?” Stan queried, breaking into my thoughts.
“It is.”
I let him maneuver me until I sank between his thighs, finding comfort within that divot of space.
Honestly, he held me better than a seatbelt could.
I typed Star Sullivan into his contacts and hit connect as soon as I found her name.
“Twice in one day, my man, we gonna start calling each other besties soon?”
Though the greeting took me aback, I cleared my throat. “Not sure if you know me, Star, but I’m Kitty Frasier.”
I felt her hesitation down the line. “You murder Stan, Kitty? I bet he deserved it, but I need to know so I can fix things with the—”
“No, she didn’t, Star. Your new BFF’s safe.” Stan clucked his tongue. “Appreciate you having her back though.”
Crazily enough, I sensed he meant it.
“Oh. Good. To clarify, Kitty, I’d have helped you get rid of the body—”
“Charming!” Stan retorted, but a teasing twinkle gleamed in his eye as he winked at me.
Winked.
The sudden levity came as such a relief, I almost wept.
“—but I’m glad you didn’t,” Star prattled on. “He’s pretty decent for a boneheaded lab rat who produces drugs that’d give the White Rabbit nightmares.”
My lips almost curved. “Well, I like him.”
“I bet.” Star cackled. “Okay, so what’s with the call?”
“I-I was taken earlier from his home.”
“Taken as in kidnapped?” Was it me or did her voice grow cooler? “Stan, what the fuck is wrong with your security?”
“We’re working on it,” he fumed.
“You’re obvs with him now so what gives?”
“Yes, he got me back, but Dead To—I mean, Taube—”
“DEAD TO ME IS ALIVE?!”
Wincing as her shriek went to war with my concussion, I let Stan answer for me, “I should probably have led with that.”
“That fucking cunt! What the fuck is she fucking playing at, going fucking silent on me?! I swear I’d fucking hate her if I didn’t fucking love her!”
“Star!” I barked when the ‘F’ bomb-loaded rant continued for a lot longer than my brain could handle. “I need your help!”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure. What do you need?”
As easy as that?
“Taube said—”
“Who the fuck is Taube?”
Stan inserted, “Dead To Me claims it’s her new alias.”
“What a psycho.” This was said fondly. “Okay, continue.”
“Taube said she’d share what happened to me with you—”
“Oh! So she intends on calling me sometime this century to confirm she isn’t dead?!”
“Star, for fuck’s sake. Shut up and listen to her, goddammit,” Stan growled, his voice low enough that it didn’t hurt my aching head.
Shakily, I pleaded, “Don’t tell my family. Please.”
Silence was her answer. Then… “You want me not to tell your family that you were kidnapped? Just making sure you didn’t switch to talking Sicilian because this doesn’t sound like something a kidnapping victim would say.”
“I’m badly…” I hated that I hiccuped. “There are a lot of bruises.” I wanted to be strong.
If I was strong, then I wouldn’t break down.
And I couldn’t do that yet. I … I had to hold it together.
I. Had. To. “My family’s dramatic. I can’t deal with that right now.
They’ll take me from Stan and I don’t want that—”
“But surely you’re going home?!”
“I’m going with Stan to his place in Brooklyn.”
Star wondered, “This seems pretty fast.”
Stan’s arms tightened around me, not enough to trigger claustrophobia but enough to encourage me to rest my head against his shoulder.
“One day, I’ll tell you about how my mom and dad met,” I muttered grimly, aware that he tensed then relaxed behind me.
Mostly, I was amazed he didn’t have a boner. I’d once dated this dick who’d expected to come back to my place after I’d been mugged prior to our date.
God, my standards were too low.
“So, you’re staying with him for the interim?” Star inquired.
“If he doesn’t mind.”
Stan grunted. “I don’t.”
“This is very odd, but fuck, I don’t mind odd.” Star clucked her tongue. “A touch of oddity is pretty satisfying sometimes. Okay, so as long as you tell them you’re away or something, then I won’t let anyone know the reason.”
“You can do that?”
“I can. Ish. But I tell Conor everything—this dumb rule he came up with after the last bombing—so you might get a call too, Stan.”
My eyes bugged. The last bombing?!
“That’s fine. I’m doing what she wants here.”
“Bullshit. Don’t make it out like you’re not happy she wants to go to your place.”
“What I am is relieved that she doesn’t hate me, Star. I’m grateful she isn’t pushing me away. As for everything else, if she wants fresh peaches from Georgia, tomatoes from San Marzano, or goddamn chocolates from Zurich, whatever she needs, she gets.”
Star hmphed. “That was pretty sweet for a nutty pharmacologist—”
“She knows, so you can stop trying to muddy the waters.”
“Wow. She does? And she still wants to go home with you? You’re lucky I don’t kill you after what that brain of yours cooked up—”
When I tensed, he gritted out, “Star. Not now.”
“Okay, I’ll stop Conor from sending a SWAT team over to your place. Speak later. Got an incoming from an unknown number and if that’s not Dead To Me, I’ll fucking—”
We never found out what she’d ‘fucking’ do because she cut the call.
Immediately, I relaxed into Stan, reassured now that that was handled.
I loved my family, but I had to focus on getting through the night without losing my shit. Ma hovering, my brothers posturing, and my sisters coddling would only accelerate my visit to crazy town.
Rory: A doctor will be waiting at the house.
The banner flashed at the top of his screen.
“Rory?”
“My sister.”
“Oh.”
“Short for Aurora.” The name Aurora, I’d known. “My hands are full. Would you text her back for me?”
Touched by the intimate offer, I tapped onto the message. Though I tried not to read their other texts, I did notice Stan’s meme game was strong and that Rory appeared to have little patience for them.
“What should I say?”
“Just tell her ‘thank you.’”
When I did as requested, we received another message.
Rory: Where are the ten million emojis?
Stan: Kitty is typing the message for me
Rory: You gave her your phone?
I tilted my head to the side in silent query.
“Tell her, ‘I gave her my heart. So what’s my phone?’”
The pink on my cheeks blazed hotter than ever.
“You really want me to type that?”
“I really do.”
Rory: God, I’m surrounded by saps
An unexpected chuckle burst from me. I didn’t mind that it hurt my ribs. “I think I’d like her.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. She’s in Vegas right now, but she’ll be home shortly.”
“Because of tonight?”
“Se.”
“She’ll be at your home in Brooklyn?”
“Yes. But if you don’t want to hear any business talk, I’ll have us convene at my…”
When he broke off, I sighed. “You can say it.”
“No. I don’t want to. It isn’t my home anymore.”
When I thought about how impersonal the place was, I just remarked, “It could be nice,” which earned me a snort.
“If you say so.”
“I don’t like to be afraid of anything, Stan. If I’m frightened, I face it. That’s why I was on a plane to Cancún. If you let fear grow, it’ll choke you, and I can’t afford that.”
“I want to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid of anything. That I’ll protect you. But tonight’s proved otherwise—”
“Shut up. I knew you’d come for me, Stan. I knew it. I swear. It’s what kept me going. But I don’t wait for anyone to fix my messes. You told me someone would come with food. Someone did. I should never have let that bastard near me—”
“You were somewhere that should’ve been safe. In the future, it will be.” Underneath me, he turned to stone, and I knew if I could see his expression, his fury would be clear. “What happened, duci?”
“He shocked me because he walked in. I-I thought he must need you for something. I know with Lucas… he has access to Aidan O’Donnelly Jr.’s home. In an emergency, he’d go into their bedroom, so I…”
“For future reference, liunissa, no one ever enters my room unless I ordered them to. Like with the food. May I press a kiss to your temple?”
The courtesy was cute. Especially because of how he’d been all over me when he’d first found me.
“You may.” Lips twitching at my own formal response, I snuggled into him.
Rory: I’ll be in NYC in seven hours
“Could you ask her if Hunter’s incoming?”
“Sure.”
Stan: Will Hunter be with you?
Rory: Of course. He wants to figure out how your security was breached
Rory: When are you going to get a hacker for us? I’m sick of my husband having to do two jobs!
“Tell her that Star Sullivan is finding us someone.”
When I’d been stuck in that room, contemplating rape, death, and everything in between, wondering if I’d make it out alive, refusing to let them take my life without a fight, I’d never imagined I’d be acting as Stan’s transcriber with the Consigliere of the Sicilian mafia.
His sister.
Or that I’d be going to his family home.
Where his mom actually lived.
Honestly, this kind of chaos was exactly what I needed to stop my emotions from imploding.
Rory: Is Kitty still typing this?
Stan: Yes. (Hi?)
Rory: Jesus Christ. No offense, Kitty, but I don’t feel like discussing illegal acts with you as a go-between
Rory: My brother’s a moron. You’ve been warned. But he loves hard. He loves well. And he’ll make you happy if you let him.
Rory: This’ll be the last compliment you hear from me about him. (Idiot, frate)
“Tell her that I think she’s cute, duci.”
Stan: He says to tell you you’re cute (Obviously, he has a death wish)
Rory: ()
Sharing in his amusement, I turned his phone screen off then carefully returned it to his pocket, ignoring the vibration when it buzzed again and he didn’t ask me to show it to him.
I knew why.
No matter what Rory had to say, it didn’t matter more than me.
“You can kiss my temple whenever you want,” I said shyly.
“Thank God. Grazii, liunissa.” He promptly dropped one right on my hairline.
That was the moment I accepted that I’d be okay.
Sure, I was in for a world of aches for the next few days, a world of tears, a world of frantic emotions that I probably wouldn’t be able to keep a lid on, but I’d get through this.
I would. Not only because Catriona Frasier was a fighter, but because if I couldn’t fight, I had two mafia brotherhoods who would on my behalf.
Stan’s kiss, tender, affectionate, passionate with the depth of feeling he had for me, sealed the silent promise.
One I knew, deep in my bones, in my very soul, he’d die to keep.