Page 107 of Dark Alliance
Never allowed myself that weakness.
She’s the only person that’s ever inspired me to defy my own rules.
“Cat.” I speak to the top of her head, to the ceiling. I can’t quite look at her because I don’t know what I’d do if her face didn’t match my expectations. “I love you.” She stiffens, but Ionly hug her tighter. “I want you to come back to LA with me, where I can keep you safe.”
“LA?” She squeaks out the question, clearly shocked.
What the fuck, Cat? Didn’t you hear me? I said I love you.
Whatever. She’s it for me, and I’m not about to screw this up with macho, ego-riddled bullshit.
I know she loves me. She has to. She can say it in due course.
Within reason.
“Come with me. Get away from Nino and New York and just be with me.”
“LA.” Not a question anymore, but definitely not an excited “let’s go!” either. She sits up, not meeting my eyes as she grabs her t-shirt and underwear. “Can we talk about it for a minute?”
I sit up, too, unease curling in my stomach. “Sure.”
Sure? The voice in my head sneering,“you’re such a pussy,”is mine this time.
Apparently this is a clothes-on conversation, so I pull on my boxers, shirt, and sweatpants. Then I recline in the bed wearing the calmest expression I can muster and wait for the other shoe to drop.
“You really surprised me.” Cat caresses my cheek. “And I do want to be with you, Connor.”
I lean into her warm, soft touch. “But?”
She chews her bottom lip. “But…LA? I don’t know?—”
I’m left in suspense about what she doesn’t know because her bedroom door flies open and a flash-bang rolls into the room, blinding us both.
Chapter 33
Caterina
Two of Nino’s new guys—Russian—stream into the room, and Connor’s off the bed before the sparks from the flash-bang dissipate. That man has the reflexes of a cheetah.
I’m still blinking to clear my vision when Connor uses my bed frame to turbocharge a roundhouse kick, taking down the first man through the door.
He knocks the guy out cold.
The other man lunges for me.
I scramble away, my mind reeling as I attempt to recover from post-orgasmic bliss and focus. “Connor!”
Connor yanks the guy’s shoulder, spinning him around.
He punches with a right hook and follows with an uppercut and a knee to the groin. The man collapses just as the first Russian comes to and rises for another round.
Connor kicks straight up under our newly conscious assailant’s chin.
The man’s dead to the world again. Maybe totally dead. His neck cracked unpleasantly.
Oh, god, this can’t be happening…
I’m on the other side of the bed, my hands trembling as I open my purse for the SIG.
