Connor
Cat’s hand goes limp around the gun. I extract her fingers, one by one, and pull the SIG inside my cell, where I set the safety and pocket the weapon. Then I guide her as close to me as possible while still separated by bars.
“Cat.” I kiss her forehead and wipe the newest wave of tears from her face. “I’m so sorry, babe.”
To prove my empathy, I plan to kill the motherfucker who did this. I’ve never seen anyone so distraught.
Caterina Ricci, I vow to avenge your father’s death.
She could’ve ended me a minute ago, and I would’ve let her.
Instead, she believed me.
She believes in us.
Cat’s mine, and I will kill for her.
I’ll avenge her father’s murder by any means necessary. The rush to help her is all-consuming, buzzing through me with enough power to fuel a small city.
I brush my lips against her wild curls. “Cat?”
“Yeah?” Her voice is so small against my neck, her fragile breath akin to the flutter of a bird’s wing.
I hate it. She’s so, so strong, and I never want to see her like this again.
“Get me out of here.”
She blinks as if she’d forgotten that I’m jailed in her family’s basement. “Yeah, okay.”
As Cat sprints off to get the key, I reflect back on my mistakes regarding that shiny rock.
I hadn’t set off any alarms. Hadn’t made a peep.
When I opened the vault to claim the diamond, I spotted a thick envelope.
I pocketed that for later—you never know what information might come in handy—and as I went for the diamond, I heard boots rushing toward me.
Had to be Nino’s and his men’s. Who else?
Those are the guys I woke up to. They stared at me through the bars and shared all the ways they planned on torturing me.
They didn’t do any of that, though. Hell, they didn’t even search me. They just knocked me out and dragged me here. In the interim, apparently someone slit Eduardo’s throat.
My knife’s still strapped to my ankle, and I have my gun and the documents from the Ricci vault.
Proof that I was meant to be their fall guy, and nothing else.
If they really thought I’d killed Eduardo, I’d already be dead, my severed head on the way back to Finn’s estate as a warning.
If Nino knows I didn’t murder Eduardo, then maybe that means he knows who did.
Maybe he did it himself, to ensure he got his way. A truce with the Russians and a secure handle on the family.
The idea is almost too horrific to consider. I don’t even like my dad all that much, but I’d never murder him.
Still, you can’t always predict what people driven to their limit will do.
I’m itching to learn what these documents say. The crisp paper lacks the earthy scent of something stored for years, and aside from the diamond, this was the only thing in the vault.
Must be important. Maybe even important enough to trigger Eduardo’s death.
Cat hurries back to my cell, turning the key in the lock with a soft click.
Pushing away my thoughts, I scoop her into my arms and claim her with a kiss. “I’m so sorry.” I breathe the words into her mouth as I embrace her. “I’m so sorry for what’s happening to you. You don’t deserve this.”
If I had the time, I’d claim her right here.
“I’m sorry I doubted you.” She whispers her truth back to me, into my mouth, my throat, and down into my soul.
I grasp fistfuls of her hair as I kiss her more passionately, and she cups my face in her hands.
Desire cascades through my blood like lava, but it’s more than that. More than lust or the need to fuck her.
It’s deeper. Stronger.
I kiss her cheeks, the salt of her tears burning my tongue. “I need you, Cat. I’d take you here if I could.”
“I know.” She stops kissing me to embrace me, squeezing the air from my lungs. “But we have to go.”
Wait.
I pull back to squint down at her. “We?”
Her voice cracks. “Who can I trust here? Someone killed my father, and I…” She’s going to start crying all over again unless I seize the reins.
Control. Authority. That’s what I do anyway.
“Okay. I get it.” I brush my lips over her forehead. “I’ve got you, Cat.”
She nods, the smallest, saddest of smiles breaking over her lips. “And I’ve got you. I’m with you. Just us.”
My chest floods with warmth. What the hell do I say to that?
She clasps my hand, I pull out her gun, and we leave the cells.
I memorized the layout, but Cat knows the estate like the back of her hand.
When a guard strolls by, she shoves me into shadowed niches. And I tuck her to my chest when Nino marches past our hiding spot.
Between my instinct and her brain, we’re a good team.
After a few minutes, I’m behind the wheel of her black Cayenne—her private car when she doesn’t want Danny to drive—as she directs me to a safe house Eduardo gave just to her. Not even Nino has the location.
She promises I’ll come to no harm, and I could get used to someone looking out for me for once.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman.
Cat tells me again that, with her father gone, she feels abandoned. Except for maybe Danny, she doesn’t think she can trust anyone in the organization. Someone on the inside killed her father.
I agree with her, and my money’s still on Nino.
“We’ll figure it out.” I lace our fingers together on the center console. “I’m with you. We’ll find them and make them pay.”
The smile she gives me is worth the risk this entails.
If we’re caught, we’re both dead. Finn will slaughter me if I blow up the alliance over Declan’s misguided mission, and Nino won’t forgive Cat for working with me, period.
But we’re together, and that’s enough.
The safe house, a small one-bedroom cottage in a quiet suburb, is an hour outside the city. Faded blue shutters and a tiny porch with a light beckon me in.
Cat gives me the security code.
“I have to get back. No one can know I released you. No one can know you’re here. They’ll kill you.” She caresses my face. “And I’m not going to let that happen.”
Where this woman got her strength, I’ll never know.
Oh, right. Her father.
I press my lips to hers, tasting her salty tears. “Call me when you can.” I hate the thought of her going back to the snake pit, but we both know we don’t have a choice.
As soon as I’ve got the door open, she reverses out.
Inside, I find cozy but simple furnishings.
Hardwood floors, beige walls, and an electric fireplace.
A kitchen with maple cabinets and quartz countertops.
A small island with three barstools. The living room is almost cramped from just a puffy, pale blue couch, coffee table, and one leather club chair, all on top a raglan rug.
Two doors off the kitchen lead to a modest bathroom and bedroom.
It’s no fifth-story penthouse with a view of Manhattan, but when you’re hiding from people who want you dead, it might as well be. I’m grateful for the accommodation.
Closing my eyes, I rest my aching head against the steel-reinforced door.
I failed Cat, and she saved me anyway.
As soon as she realized I didn’t kill her father, she didn’t hesitate to aid me in my escape.
Even though I still betrayed her by attempting that jewelry heist. Even though I screwed up.
I was caught in the cross fire of Eduardo Ricci’s murder because I tried to steal a precious family heirloom. I’m a thief and a liar. She wasn’t wrong about that.
Someone set up the perfect snare, left it for me with a pretty bow, and I stepped right into the trap.
Except no one could’ve known I was at the estate or why.
I hadn’t planned my night with Cat, but someone planned Eduardo’s demise.
So, I was what? A convenient scapegoat that served myself up on a silver platter? The final piece in the getting-away-with-murder puzzle?
I really messed up this time.
Even if I’m innocent, the alliance is ruined, and now I’m the fall guy for Eduardo’s death. Finn’s going to be pissed, and once Nino discovers I escaped, he’ll put a bounty on my head.
At this point, Declan’s the least of my worries. I don’t care what he has to say about any of this, either, because nothing could be worse than what I’m saying to myself. I also no longer give a fuck about any diamonds.
I care about the fact that Cat saved my life after I let her down.
No games. No quid pro quo. No judgment.
I’ve never had that before. Especially not with Declan.
She saved my life, and I’ve only complicated and torn hers apart.
I don’t know what to do with that sort of knowledge or trust. That…commitment.
I knock my head against the door with a groan.
My world’s turned upside down, and I don’t know that I care.