10. ~Caterina~
10
~Caterina~
Guilt slashed through me as I stared at the text messages I’d exchanged with my mom via the secure phone I’d given her before she’d headed off on vacation so I could get her clear and keep her safe from this mess.
Mom: How are you? Please tell me you’re being careful, Caterina.
Caterina: Being careful and I’m safe, don’t worry.
Mom: Thank goodness. How’s it going with the situation?
Caterina: More complicated than expected. Fortified location.
Mom: We’ll find another way then. Don’t go through with it, it sounds too dangerous. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would be like that. If you can’t do it like you did before—at a distance—leave it, please.
Caterina: I’ll be fine.
Mom: How can that possibly be true?
Caterina: I have help.
Mom: What? From who?
Caterina: Best if you don’t know. Just trust me that it’s under control. It can be done safely now.
Mom: Promise me.
Caterina: I promise. How’s the vacation?
Fortunately, she’d taken my push to change the subject and gone along with it.
Mom: Relaxing and peaceful. Who knew I could actually enjoy it?
Caterina: LOL. Yeah, you’re always one for being busy.
Mom: Like mother, like daughter.
Caterina: So true.
Mom: Anything else going on?
Caterina: Not much. Focusing on expansion and this unsavory situation with Santino.
And that was where the guilt had come in.
Not telling her about the recent development with Nico Marchetti, about marriage being on the horizon for me.
It was something a daughter should tell her mother. Especially when we had a good relationship where that was expected.
Under normal circumstances.
But no one could know yet.
I wasn’t even supposed to know.
Nico had taken a major risk by telling me in advance.
By priming me, basically.
I wasn’t fool enough to believe that he’d done it for my benefit.
At least, I didn’t think he had.
Not solely for my benefit, at least.
It had to be more about business, about him trying to protect himself and his boys and to make sure that I was ready to respond in a favorable way when it was finally announced to me by my father. He wanted to use this marriage arrangement to turn things around for himself, to regain control and power. And he wanted me to help him to do it.
Given that we were both about to be used as pawns in our families, I was obviously on board with that.
It also helped that we both knew how the other worked, following our crazy war over the last few years.
That didn’t go for Julian and Emilio, though.
I needed to get a handle on them as soon as possible.
So far, all I was getting from Emilio was a whole lot of cold-heartedness, him being solely focused on the business of it all, just being a good guard dog to Nico.
As for Julian, I’d basically met his upbeat and flirty persona that night, but then he’d offered to help me run things when I’d been exhausted, which had seemed like a sweet and selfless act, not exactly something the media whore and ruthless businessman beneath the surface was known for. He’d thrust a contradiction my way, and I didn’t like that. I needed to be sure as to where he was coming from and what his intentions and agenda were.
I put my phone down and sank against the wall of the empty warehouse. I was still wrapping my head around this entire thing.
“You and Nico are to marry.”
The moment Julian had uttered those words, they had sent a shudder through me.
The forced nature of it and being basically traded like that was bad enough, but I was also a loner. I didn’t do partnerships, especially not something as intimate as marriage. This mission with the hostages was a one-off and created by necessity. Nothing more.
As if Nico showing up in my penthouse and us… doing what we had… hadn’t been enough of a mind-fuck as it was.
Fortunately, I had a gift for adapting to things and pivoting when necessary, so I’d recognized the opportunity in it.
Bringing them in on this operation, for instance.
It served several purposes.
The first was obviously rescuing those hostages and destroying my father’s human trafficking venture.
The second was that if the boys worked with me as I was hoping, we’d be bound together through this, through going against the families by doing this, meaning I’d have allies. It was something I’d need in order to survive this marriage situation until more could be done about it. Until I weakened my father further to a point where I could escape from it without losing everything I’d worked for and built in the process.
The third was that I’d get to analyze Julian and Emilio more through the planning, execution, and aftermath of the operation. You could learn a great deal about people in high-stakes situations, much faster than under any other circumstances.
Now all I had to do was to keep my wits about me and maintain my focus on the upcoming operation.
Well, and be able to work in a team format, rather than as my usual lone wolf self.
“You can let go, principessa.”
I dug my nails into his pecs, and it earned me a sexy groan.
Groaning was going to be the least of it.
I proved that in the next moment as I raked my nails down the length of his chest, over his abs, all the way down to the waistband of his pants, drawing blood all the way down as I dug in deep.
“Fuck,” he cried out, grasping my thighs and grinding his very hard cock beneath the hem of my slip, right against my bare pussy.
Pleasure ignited there, but it was intensified by seeing his reaction to my viciousness. He wasn’t shocked. He wasn’t disgusted. He wasn’t turned off in the least.
He didn’t just want it. He encouraged it.
Yeah, keeping my focus just on the business at hand might be easier said than done.
The memory of him all over me, of how much I’d not only wanted it, but needed that from him, to let go so completely, had been haunting me over the last few days.
As much as I’d tried to bury it, it just kept stubbornly rising up.
That wasn’t helped in the next moment when he rounded the corner and strode into the empty storage unit warehouse space. Well, mostly empty.
He was wearing a pair of black jeans that clung to those muscular thighs of his in the best way and instead of his usual leather jacket; he had on a zipped up hoodie, the hood up and hiding most of his facial features. He’d definitely done the whole incognito thing well. I would have had to do a double take if he hadn’t already messaged me that he’d be arriving at this exact time.
He flipped his hood down as he stopped just a couple of feet from me, revealing all that gorgeous silky black hair of his, and those enthralling sapphire eyes. Stop it, jeez .
“Nice space you’ve got here,” he said, gesturing around at the storage units just beyond the large opening, the units positioned in several rows and extending all the way to the back of the massive warehouse.
“It has its purpose.”
“And what might that be? Beyond a covert meeting space, of course.”
“All in good time.”
“This wasn’t on your known list of holdings belonging to Camlann Corporation.”
“It’s not the only thing.” I folded my arms across the chest of my hooded black leather jacket. “Speaking of that sort of thing, my known assets won’t be accessible to you when we marry. I’ve made sure of it.”
“You met with that sleazeball, Peter Hall, a few days ago. I assumed you were doing something along those lines.”
So that was why he hadn’t displayed any surprise.
“He might be a sleazeball, but he’s very good at that sort of thing.”
“Hiding assets from husbands?”
“Not hiding them. Protecting them.”
“Was he a sleazeball with you ?”
“You don’t seem bothered by me telling you any of this.”
“Why would I be? They’re your businesses, not mine. You built your empire from scratch in spite of setbacks and no support. They’re all you, all yours. Very well earned.”
Before I could process that odd… sweetness, he stepped closer. “I asked you a question about Hall.”
“What question?” I’d been focused on the actual important part of our conversation.
“Was he a sleazeball with you?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. We won’t be meeting in person again. A brief exchange of contracts and forms and our business will be concluded.”
His eyes narrowed, and he stepped even closer until he was right in my personal space, just shy of our clothes brushing together. “So he touched you?”
“No one touched me. There were a couple of slimy looks at my thighs and cleavage, but that was the extent of it.”
Truthfully, it had only been the extent of it because I’d managed to get a careful introduction to him in the form of his son, Mason Hall. Unfortunately, I’d had to do something for Mason in return that hadn’t sat well with me, because it had involved crossing Levi, one of his best friends. It hadn’t been that severe, but it had still felt like shit doing it. I just hadn’t had the time to go about things another way, not with everything moving so fast here. I couldn’t lose everything I’d built to this fucking marriage.
Nico growled low in his throat.
“Stop getting possessive. You don’t have the right.”
“I don’t have the right, hmm?”
“Exactly. You don’t.”
“You’re to be my wife.”
“A business arrangement. It’s not real.”
His eye twitched.
And then he surprised me as he actually stepped back and gave me some breathing room. The surprises kept on coming when he announced, “We should go on a date.”
I choked. “Excuse me?”
“A date. You know when two people—”
“I know what a date is.”
“You’ll come to my place. I’ll make you dinner. Complete with your favorite dessert. Gelato. Pistachio, yes? Sometimes lemon, if you’re in the mood for it?”
“Uh… yes, you got the dessert right, but—”
“I know a lot about you from my observations over the years.”
“You mean, your stalking?”
“Semantics. But either way, I was going to say that it’s different in person. I’m sure there are things that have been missed because of that.”
“I can’t just go to your place. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. An invisible profile. Staying away from each other. You even had to use evasive maneuvers to meet me here tonight.”
“I’ll sneak you in.”
“How? In the trunk of your Ferrari?”
“That would be an issue, seeing as though you’re claustrophobic.”
I started. Every time he brought up something he’d learned about me, it sent me off-kilter. It straddled the line between touching and disturbing. And I just couldn’t seem to settle on which one out of the two.
“I’ll make it happen.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to have this date?”
“Why else? To spend some time with you. To get to know you. Properly this time.”
That was worrying. What was his game here?
Trying to get inside my head so he could control me to his liking? Had what I’d revealed about my skills in order to get them to partner with me on this operation freaked him out? Was he concerned that I was a threat to him and his boys? Was this his attempt to leash me through some heavy-duty psychological manipulation?
The problem was, he was already partially inside my head. He’d definitely made a dent. How could he have not with our three-year-long war?
What had happened the other night had only exacerbated it.
The fact that we were here for business and I’d already imagined hauling him up against the wall, ripping off our clothes and slamming down onto his cock was proof enough of that.
I couldn’t afford that. I needed my head clear.
There seemed to be only one way to do that, seeing as though the most obvious way of steering clear of him wasn’t possible.
“I’ll come to your place. But forget the dinner.”
“Forget it? Then what—”
“We’ll fuck.”
His eye twitched again, this time wildly. “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“But it is on your mind outside of this date idea, anyway.”
“Of course. After the other night—”
“Exactly, after the other night when we were interrupted. You can invite Julian to supervise like you apparently need.”
He cocked an eyebrow, a whole lot of suspicion sparking. “You haven’t been with anyone in years and you’re just fine with having an audience?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
Realization sparked in his eyes.
It had me tensing.
What did he think he’d figured out?
He shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest, regarding me astutely. “I’m not trying to manipulate you, Caterina.”
“What?”
“You’re suggesting this to ensure there’s no intimacy, to erect a wall between us, using Julian as a buffer. And using my obvious desire for you in order to get me to agree to it.”
I blew out a breath. “Becoming emotionally involved will just complicate things. Beyond what they already are.”
“You mean, it will complicate things for you and make it so much harder for you to remain as a stone cold sociopath who doesn’t care about anyone or anything, who’s terrified to let anybody in?”
“Sociopath?” I spat.
He continued on regardless, “Too fucking bad, because once we’re married, you won’t be able to hide away like a scared little girl from all of that. You’ll be with me at the Manor living in close quarters. As my fucking wife. Time to start getting used to that.”
“Go fuck yourself. Literally. Because doing that with me is now off the table.”
He scoffed. “Bullshit.” He ran his eyes over me in my leather jacket, my bustier beneath, down to my leather pants, and flicking to my chunky heeled boots. “I’m certain you’re all warm and wet for me beneath those tight leather pants.”
“You’re disgusting. And wrong.”
He moved into me and because I refused to give up ground and step back, his hard body pressed tightly against mine. “Wrong isn’t something I’m familiar with. As for being disgusting, we both know that gets you off when it comes to me.” He grasped my waist, making me gasp as he jerked me against him, and rolled his hips, forcing me to feel his hard cock. Shit. “You were panting in my ear, moaning, and grinding into me desperately when I spread my blood all over your lovely breasts and—”
I used his hold on my hips to spin him around and slam him up against the wall. He grunted as he jarred painfully hard against the concrete, any more of his provocative words thankfully getting caught in his throat. “Shut the hell up,” I ground out.
He went to speak again, but I slapped my hand over his mouth.
He shocked me by licking my palm.
“Stop it.”
He did it again and wiggled his eyebrows.
The look on his face, the whole ridiculous situation… it had me bursting out laughing.
I dropped my hand in the process and a rumbling chuckle came from him, too.
“Wow, and what the hell is happening here?” a voice came from over by the building entrance.
We both looked out to see Julian walking in with Emilio trailing just behind him, the latter taking everything in studiously, scanning his surroundings in detail like a paranoid stoner.
Nico held up his hand to them, which had Emilio narrowing his eyes.
And then Nico rubbed my arm, telling me quietly, “I know you don’t trust easily and I also know this whole marriage complication is making all of that worse because it speaks to one of your worst fears of being a powerless traded bride in our fucked-up world. But you’re not powerless, you’re far from it. I told you before that I’d never want you tamed, that you being a force of nature is a lot of what drew me to you in the first place, so if you can’t trust in anything else at the moment, trust in that. We’re working together on this mission to prove to you that we’re on the same side. Let’s do that and once it’s done, we’ll see where you’re at. Until then, keep this date notion on the table. All right?”
I took his words in and it concerned me just how deep they were actually hitting. And how much I appreciated them. I was actually touched by it, by him going to the effort.
It had me nodding and telling him, “Okay. It’s on the table.”
He smiled, then pulled away and gestured for Julian and Emilio to come on over now.
Julian focused on Nico fixing the hard-on in his jeans. “Well, it’s still in your pants. That’s something.”
“What was going on in here before we arrived?” Emilio demanded.
“Just talking,” Nico responded.
“You were laughing,” Emilio retorted in an accusing tone.
“It’s a long story.”
“We have all night.”
I frowned as the two of them glared at one another heatedly, while Julian was oblivious because he was too busy eye-fucking me.
I cut through all of it, telling them, “Let’s just get started.”
Julian blinked out of his lust-induced stupor and the other two stopped facing off and eyed me.
With their attention now focused on me, I gestured at the storage units. “This way,” I said, before turning on my heel and heading down the gangway of units either side, lining it all the way down.
I heard their footsteps following after me, along with some unintelligible mutterings from Emilio and Nico to each other.
I stopped at the unit on my right, the second last from the end of this row.
I’d already prepped it earlier before they’d arrived, so I didn’t need to unlock it. I merely leaned down and pulled up the rolling door.
“Jesus,” Julian uttered as the three of them assembled around me and took in the contents of the unit, all my devices, arms, gear, and equipment.
“This is impressive,” Nico said. “How could I not know about this?”
He also didn’t know that this wasn’t my only one.
“You knew what I allowed you to know.”
“Putting on a show for me, were you, Caterina?”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s stay on track.” I walked past him and saw him smirking, something that I didn’t actually find completely repulsive. It might have had me smiling in response. At least they didn’t see, because I had my back to them currently.
I reached my monitors and gestured to the left one that detailed the site plan of the target location. “We’ll have the advantage of the heavy foliage surrounding all four sides of the property. My father’s soldiers don’t patrol that far out. They stay close to the building, so we’ll be able to approach covertly right up to twenty feet from the house.”
I gestured at the middle monitor, which displayed the floor plan of the building, along with the marked positions of the guards, and the location of the hostages.
“They’re all in the basement,” Emilio commented.
“Yeah.”
“For all the security they have in place, that was a stupid decision.”
“One we’ll be able to use to our advantage.”
“We also need to use the transport trucks to our advantage,” Nico spoke, already focusing on the third monitor where I’d mapped out the route the trucks would take in and out, something I’d been able to garner from infiltrating Angelo’s phone.
“And use them to shift the narrative,” Julian piped up.
The two of them exchanged some sort of knowing look, then Nico nodded and said, “Yes, thanks to your in-depth research and planning, Caterina, we know where they’re planning to transport the hostages and who the buyers are.”
“We make the buyers our fall guys for this mission,” Julian explained. “So it doesn’t come back on us. Even with wiping everything down, there’s still a chance. But not if no investigation is launched by Santino, if one isn’t needed with the faux culprit already made known. I can take care of creating that falsity.”
It made sense that he’d have the know-how and skills to do that, given what I’d seen of his incredibly well-crafted social media image.
“The hostages will need medical attention and a whole lot of counselling in all likelihood, and they’ll need to be hidden so Santino doesn’t hunt them down,” Emilio pointed out.
“There’s somebody I can call in,” I told him.
“No.”
“What?”
“We’re already taking a risk by doing this for you.”
“With her,” Nico corrected him.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “The point is, we don’t have time to vet somebody of hers to ensure we can trust them and that we won’t be exposed as being a part of this.”
“I’ll call in my contact,” Julian said. “This guy has a facility that deals with things like this and helps those who’ve gone through abuse of this nature.”
“How do you know somebody like that?” I asked.
“Part of my philanthropic efforts as former Young Entrepreneur of the Year, darlin’.”
Before I could ask more about it, he grinned and said, “A title you’re gonna be taking from me in a little while.”
“Done,” Nico said. He gestured at the operational plans laid out on the tablet on the desktop beneath the center monitor. “The way you want to take the guards and approach this op doesn’t exactly scream teamwork, Caterina. I can see your lone wolf attitude bleeding into the plan you’ve laid out here.”
“Regardless, it’s an effective approach. It’ll get the job done swiftly and efficiently.”
“Yes, but with the possibility of you sustaining damage in the process.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you will. I’ll see to it.” He looked over his shoulder at Emilio and gestured for him to come closer. The moment he did, he told him, “She’s not entering through the southeast access point. We’re gonna use a wrecking ball instead.”
Emilio nodded. “Got it. It’ll enable us to take out the largest contingent ASAP.”
“It will also send the entire house into chaos,” I warned. “Making yourself known like that.”
“Exactly. Chaos invites mistakes.”
“Good point. Although it could backfire.”
“It won’t.” He looked at Julian. “You get the roof. You’ll take the top floor like Caterina’s laid out, but then once you’ve cleared it, I want you down in the basement. Approach from inside the house because at this point the guards will be trying to secure their assets, likely trying to move them out of the house. You’ll prevent that, while Caterina will take the exterior access point to the basement via this rear door noted on the plans. The two of you will get the hostages clear together while Milo and I take out the rest of the guards.”
“I’ve got climbing gear here,” I told Julian.
“Thanks, darlin’, but I’ve got it covered.” He asked Nico, “What are the specs for me?”
“Profiled log walls. Asphalt shingle roof.”
“Low-pitchedgable roof. Thirteen degrees,” I filled in.
Julian pulled out his phone and started typing rapidly. “All right, got it.”
“Why don’t you and Caterina take out the rest of the guards?” Emilio suggested to Nico. “Julian and I will get the hostages out.”
Nico frowned. “What? Why?”
I saw Emilio and Julian exchange some sort of knowing look while Nico was busy studying the plans. What was going on?
“Just that some of the hostages may not be mobile. We need to take that into account. Meaning I’ll be needed to haul them out several at a time. It could severely delay us clearing the area otherwise.”
“Good point,” Julian said.
“According to Caterina’s surveillance, they’ve sustained damage, but they’re mobile.”
“Well, that could change by the night of the op.” Emilio looked out at me. “Isn’t Angelo, that slimy Capo of Santino’s, slated to head up there tonight?”
“He is.”
“Exactly, Nico. See? He’s a known predator type.”
“He’s been up there before and hasn’t touched anyone. Well, except for a couple of the guards,” I reported.
“Really? Angelo Simone?” Julian asked me.
“Yep.”
“Wow, I didn’t peg him for—”
“Can we stay on track?” Emilio chastised him.
“Told you earlier that you needed a piece, big boy.”
“Shut the fuck up with that.”
Julian saluted sarcastically.
“Fine,” Nico said. “We’ll switch.” He eyed me. “Does that work for you?”
“It does.”
“All right then,” Julian cried, rubbing his hands together. “Plan of attack sorted. I’m looking forward to it.” He looked out at the three of us. “Anyone?” When none of us returned his enthusiasm, he pushed, “Come on, it’ll be a blast.”
Jeez. “You’re a real adrenaline junkie, aren’t you, playboy?”
“That I am, darlin’. Looking around at this place, you can’t tell me you aren’t in a similar boat where that’s concerned.”
“I like some action every now and then,” I admitted.
It was much more than that, but I didn’t need to be advertising that to them.
“Which this is gonna be chocked full of.”
“It’s also dangerous,” Emilio told him.
“Calm down. It’s all under control,” Nico spoke, leaving the monitors and starting to peruse the rest of my unit, taking in the vests I’d procured for us, and checking the handguns and blades too, basically examining every little thing, clearly very taken with it.
“Under control?” Emilio scoffed. Then he pointed at me, that finger incredibly loaded with a whole lot of disdain and suspicion, along with a healthy dose of skepticism too. “She told us she took out those gangbangers, that she’s got what it takes to carry out this mission, but how do we know that wasn’t just a load of bullshit?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “You don’t think I have what it takes?”
“Unlike Nico—and now Julian too—I’m not blinded by your golden pussy.”
“Excuse me?” I ground out, starting toward him.
Julian stepped into my path and Nico did the same with Emilio, even slapping his hand to his chest and holding him back. I saw his muscles bunching to pull it off, giving the hulk he was up against. I’d known he was strong, but this was something else.
“This place provides a whole lot of proof,” I bit back.
“Not enough. It might not even be yours. It could belong to a contact of yours.”
Seriously?
“Milo—” Nico started.
But me breaking Julian’s hold on me rapid-fire had him pulling up short. I spun him around, ripped his legs out from under him and had him pinned beneath me on the ground within seconds, my knee driving into his back and my hands grasping one of his arms in a painful hold that would break it with one more move.
He grunted beneath me, panting.
I looked out at Nico, who was beaming at me proudly.
And Emilio slowly gave a nod. “Not bad,” was all he offered in his usual stingy way when it came to me.
I pushed off Julian and as he rolled over onto his back, I told him, “I was forced to make a point.”
“And you sure did,” he returned, not looking pissed at me like I’d expected, but seeming a whole lot aroused instead. His hazel eyes were hooded as he eye-fucked me again, and as he sprung back to his feet with an impressive somersault, his hard cock told the rest of the story.
I shook my head to myself, then strode across to my weapon’s supplies. I snatched up a tactical blade, spun it in my hand, then lobbed it toward Emilio. He flinched, but didn’t move, as it sailed past his head by a mere couple of inches only, then embedded in the bullseye of a target high up on the wall a few feet from the monitors.
He turned at the thud and took in my work.
When he looked back at me, his lips lifted slightly.
“We good now?” I demanded.
“With this, yes.”
“Fuck,” Nico grunted at Emilio. “If you’d given me a second, or asked me directly instead of harboring this concern, I would have told you that I’ve witnessed her taking down enemy targets before.”
“You what?” Emilio asked.
“I’m not blinded by her golden pussy or anything. The fact that you’d even think that is beyond insulting.” He stepped up to him, grinding out. “And unacceptable.”
Emilio’s throat worked. “I meant no disrespect. I’m just doing my job, watching your back.”
As they glared at one another, the tension ramping up fiercely, I cut through it, telling them, “I have business to attend to and we’re done here, so it’s time for you to head out. I don’t have all night.”
“Yeah,” Julian piped up. “Good to go, Nico? I’ve got us passage through one of the secret entrances at Nocturne, and the zone you like is closed off for us.”
They were headed to the sex club tonight?
“Don’t wear that on mission,” Julian said to me suddenly, as he went to pass on by.
“Why not?” I was planning to wear my tactical gear anyway, but still.
He looked me up and down, eye-fucking me like he had earlier. “Because it’s hot as fuck to me, a major turn on.”
“And he loses concentration easily,” Emilio said.
“Not that easily, but point taken.” He eyed me. “The leather-on-leather look gets me off, darlin’.”
“Lock it up,” Nico growled, grasping his arm and yanking him away from me and out into the corridor. Then he was there, standing in front of me. “We’ll gear up here at nightfall in seventy-two hours, then head out.”
“Sounds good.”
“Think about what I said earlier,” he spoke, leaning in, then whispering, “ Principessa .”
A tremble rolled through me.
He smiled as he eased back. “I knew you enjoyed me calling you that.”
Shit.
He grinned, then thankfully left it at that and followed the guys out.
I stayed where I was as I heard them filtering out, and then I brought out my phone and stared at my text message exchange with Levi from a few days ago after I’d had to do something in order to get that meeting with Peter Hall, something that had made me sick.
I hated that I’d needed to do it, that I’d had to do his friend, Mason Hall, a favor and help him in a way that had meant infiltrating Levi’s network, if just briefly. I was being pushed into making a lot of difficult choices and decisions that I wasn’t comfortable with lately.
And I fucking hated it.
Caterina: Apologies, bello.
Levi: Why did you help him? Especially over me?
Caterina: Not by preference, believe me. Necessary, unfortunately. Required an introduction to Peter Hall.
Levi: Are you in trouble?
Caterina: Aww, even though I hurt you, you’re still so caring.
Levi: Our bond can weather this easily. Just give me a heads-up next time.
Caterina: Again, sorry. I was distracted when he contacted me.
Levi: By this trouble you’re in?
Caterina: Not trouble, merely being prepared.
Levi: You need me, I’m here.
Caterina: I never doubted it. You too, bello.
Levi: Later, Rina.
Caterina: A presto!
I blew out a breath. He’d been so understanding. He really was the best.
It still didn’t make me feel better about what I’d done, though.
I shoved my hand through my hair.
I was feeling the weight of it all, of every fucking twisted thing, and being embroiled in this despicable situation.
I closed down the storage unit and secured it.
Then I sank against it, tapping my phone anxiously as I stood there gazing aimlessly out at the space.
Something needed to give.