“Kitty?”
Arguments with Stan weren’t like arguments with anyone else.
He didn’t cajole, manipulate, or placate me. It was remarkably liberating. He accepted my fury. Embraced it, even. He didn’t make me feel like I’d lost my mind and never tried to gaslight me.
Instead, he allowed me to rage, and because of that freedom, it made it easier to overcome.
To adjust.
To pardon.
Not that I’d tell him that.
“Do you have any other secrets?” I paused and clarified: “From me. Aboutus.”
When he pressed his forehead into the steering wheel, dread filled me.
“What is it? What the hell else have you done?!”
“Star had Dead To Me trailing you in Mexico because…”
“Because?!”
“Well, I told you about the flights… But you’d already checked in and were registered on a flight to Cancún.” My eyes widened as he reeled off his confession. “So, she got me on the same plane and made sure we were sitting together.
“Dead To— Fuck. Taube was tailing you because Star wanted to make sure you were okay. The Five Points have no affiliations with Mexican cartels, plus before you, I was a loose cannon?—”
I gaped at him. “From where I’m sitting, you still are!”
He bowed his head. “Before that, I had Conor hack into Bellevue’s security system because that morning when I’d been discharged, I was pretty sure I’d dreamed you?—”
“That’s why you call me your dream girl, isn’t it?” I blurted.
“No!” He whipped around to stare at me. “No. Okay, partly. But mostly because I never even dreamed I’d meet someone as perfect for me as you.”
“Right now, that isn’t a compliment, Custanzu,” I snarled, slapping his hand away when he tried to catch mine. I ignored his flinch. “I don’t believe you!”
He slung his arm over the steering wheel. “There’s probably a saying about guys like me.”
“If he looks too good to be true, then grab a knife because he’s committed felonies to sit next to you on a plane?! Oh my god, you were behind the upgrades! Holy shit, I should have… I want to…”
My hands curled into fists, but instead of hitting him, I let loose a frustrated scream.
“If you left me, I’d deserve it.”
“No shit,” I hissed.
Somehow, his morose tone aggravated me more than his past actions.
I hated the defeat in his voice.
But I also hated how he’d steered our relationship from the jump!
“I know you’re thinking ‘How many times does he have to show you his true colors for you to realize that you should get out?’ You’d be right to.But… I’ll never let you down, Kitty. Never?—”
“You keep on telling me that then some BS like this will come out! Goddammit, Stan. You stalked me! Do you know if someone stalked Raisin or Neev, I’d have gone after their knees with a baseball bat?”
“Rightfully so. Do you want me to get you a bat?”
