“No. He’s my pet, and he’s an indoor cat. He stays with me.” This isn’t up for debate. He’s not going anywhere.
“He’s a pest, and he sure as shit isn’t staying in our bedroom.” Dominic’s fingers pull at the strands of his hair. That must be his tell when he’s pissed. He does it quite often around me.
“Perfect. I’ll stay in this bedroom with him.” I grin at how well this is working out for me. I prance around the room looking at the boxes of my things.
“My wife isn’t sleeping with her cat over me!” Dominic’s raised voice betrays him. He’s fucking pissed with me.
“Your wife didn’t have a choice in marrying you. But she did have a choice in her cat. So, I’m choosing Vova.” It makes perfect sense. Why can’t he just let things go how they were supposed to?
“Vulva isn’t an option! You don’t get a choice!” Dominic marches towards me, then changes direction and starts pacing.
“His name is Vova. Short for Vladmir,” I correct him.
“Vulva,” Dominic repeats.
“No. Vova,” I say it slowly so he can hear it.
“I’m saying the same thing as you. Vulva!” He stops his pacing to glare at me.
“I didn’t name my cat after female genitalia. It’s Vo-Va.” I harden the pronunciation of each syllable.
“Whatever. Just figure out the damn cat and keep it away from me.” Dominic looks at the furball in my arms one more time and sneers before storming out of the room.
I look down at Vova and tell him, “This is going to be interesting.”
Chapter 20
Dominic
I didn’t think anything could infuriate me more than my wife, but of course her fucking cat does.
I just finished showering his piss off my feet.
That bastard ruined my favorite pair of shoes. I don’t have time to go to Florence anytime soon to get a new pair made. It’s incredibly inconvenient.
I look in the mirror and curse at my scowling reflection. I’ve spent decades perfecting my stoic mask, only for it to be demolished in a few hours by my maddening wife and her horrid pet.
That stunt she pulled with Stefan had me close to shooting my friend. If he had let on for a single second that he was interested in her, I’d have killed him that instant.
The woman knows exactly how to get under my skin. And when it doesn’t involve flirting with other men or cat piss, I might enjoy it a little. But today has given me premature greys.And it’s only day one.
I roll my eyes at what I’m about to do but do it anyways because it seems to help my hotheaded brother.
I do the fucking breathing exercise his wife taught him.
After a few minutes, I actually feel better. Maybe he’s onto something with box breathing. I slip back into my emotionless mask and make my way to my office.
I nod at the men I pass on the way there but can’t stop my suspicions. Which one of them saw my wife so indecent? Did they stare? Did they want her? I know they were tempted. Despite being too thin and almost doll-like, she’s beautiful.
I consider banning all Syndicate men from my house, then realize the absurdity of it. A lot of our work goes on here. I can’t kick them out. I’ll just have to ensure my wife is always decent.
I text Stefan to come back to my office, because we need to finish our earlier meeting. I try the breathing exercise again because I’m still unjustifiably furious at him. He touched my wife. I know he didn’t choose to, but it doesn’t change the fact that he did.
Stefan knocks, and I tell him to come in.
He walks in slowly, keeping his gaze locked on me.
“Boss, I didn’t encourage it. I swear!” He’s scared I brought him in here to punish him.
