Chapter Seven
Cat
He’s built a life without me. What would it take to convince him to build one with me? -Cat
I wake slowly, my heavy eyes adjusting to the rays of sunlight coming through the blinds.
There’s a moment of panic as I try to figure out where I am.
The room is simple. The bed I’m currently in, a large television mounted to the wall across from the bed, a wooden dresser, and there’s a nightstand with a small lamp when I turn my head.
I rub my eyes. There’s one picture there. Tornado and me.
I pick up the picture and trace my finger over our young faces.
It must have been taken not long before Tornado left.
In it, Tor’s arm is thrown over my shoulders and he’s holding me tight.
My hair is windblown and I’m laughing, but my face is tilted towards him.
There’s a bright look in my eyes, a look that probably hasn’t been there since he left.
The sound of someone clearing their throat makes me jump. Tornado stands in the doorway, his hands in his jeans’ pockets and an embarrassed look on his face. “We were pretty young, back then, huh?” he asks sheepishly.
I sit up in his bed, the covers falling to my waist. I belatedly become aware that I’m only wearing my camisole with no bra underneath. There’s a flare of heat as Tornado seems to notice at the same time I do. I feel my nipples harden under the thin top.
I clear my own throat, embarrassed by my body’s response. “We were. I’m surprised you kept this picture, much less by your bedside. I thought you wouldn’t want any reminders of what you left behind.”
He crosses to me quickly, his booted feet making a clomping sound against the hardwood floors.
“I never forgot you, Cat. Never. And I wasn’t leaving you.
I was running from things that were too hard for me to confront.
” He sits down on the bed and takes the picture from me.
“This young kid couldn’t stand up for himself back then, or you.
But now I can. Now I have people to fight with me. ”
“They’re my family, Cat. Besides my dad, they’re all I’ve had for the last five years.”
My heart squeezes tight, so tight it hurts to breathe. “I would have been there for you if you would have let me. I would have been next to you every day.” I clear my throat. “I finally got it out of your dad where you were. He’s been close-mouthed about it all these years.”
“Cause I told him not to tell anyone. We meet up sometimes. I miss the old man.” His grey eyes soften, and he reaches over to put a finger under my chin. “I know you would have been here. There are reasons I had to leave. Reasons I’ll explain to you one day.”
I nod, even though I’m frustrated as hell by his answer.
No matter what he says, something happened that night.
Something big enough that made him run from me.
I let out a long breath. “I don’t know what to do, Tor.
I know I probably shouldn’t have come here.
I’m only bringing danger to your door. You don’t deserve that. ”
I try to turn my face away from him, but he holds steadfastly to my chin. “You came to the right place, Kitty Cat. I’ll protect you. Me and my guys, we protect what’s ours.”
“Yours?” I murmur. “But I’m not yours.”
His lips lift into a smirk. “Ah, Kitty Cat, that’s where you’re wrong. You’ve always been mine. Always.”