My SIG 9mm is back in the middle drawer. I returned the gun after Connor scolded me at The Marq for carrying the weapon next to my cell phone and lip gloss. I’m not sure if I can grab it quickly enough.
A sick sensation spins my stomach as Nino looms over me.
He’s my brother. He’s grieving. He’d never…
Kill or be killed.
I wince. This can’t be my life.
The gun is too far away, but I don’t want to die. “Nino, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken up in the?—”
He disappears before I finish speaking, the door slamming behind him.
Just as well. I didn’t mean the apology anyway.
I sag against my desk for a few moments before scurrying over to lock the door. That won’t stop him if he returns, but it should at least buy me a little time.
With shaking hands, I open the drawer and put the SIG back in my purse. I need to change. To get out of this house.
But where do I go?
Besides my driver, the only man who’s never betrayed me is dead.
Chapter 32
Connor
Nino Ricci is a dead motherfucker.
I glance at the video feed on my phone as I speed toward the city.
Cat’s sitting up on her bed with her purse in her lap, her shoulders drooping.
Nino didn’t just slap her. His vicious backhand caused her to spiral and collapse on the floor. He could’ve fractured her cheekbone, given her a concussion, or worse.
As the minutes drag, the streets between her safe house and the Ricci estate seem to lengthen.
I punch the wheel, furious that I didn’t try harder to convince her to stay with me.
Nino’s gone, and Cat’s locked herself in her room. Safe for the moment, but I know she needs me. Yet my phone never rings.
Stubborn woman.
Forty-seven long minutes later, I balance on the little ledge outside her window, picking the lock with my knife before letting myself in.
Cat spins toward the window with a gasp. “Connor, what the hell are you doing here?” Her question holds a surprising amount of bite. All things considered, I can’t exactly blame her.
Once I’m inside, I turn and shut the window, then hover at the foot of her bed with my hand on the post.
Cat shoves herself away, as far from me as she can get without leaving the mattress.
She’s scared of every man right now, a natural reaction to her assault.
“I’m not here to fight with you.” I keep my tone soft and sit on the edge of the bed. Towering over her, even from a short distance, won’t get me anywhere. I’d love to gather her up in my arms, but I can’t force that. She’s got to come to me. “I’m here for you. Because you need me. I need you to know that.”
She shakes her head but doesn’t rebuke my intentions. She has no idea how hard I’m working to be here when every cell is itching to hunt her brother. Every violent instinct in my body screams at me to go after Nino.
To end the threat and leave a trail of that inked-up bastard’s blood in my wake.
