“No,” he answered, gravely seeing that he’d learned nothing of the last few minutes they’d shared. Amo was still afraid of removing that mask and revealing his crimes he had committed to his uncle. Still weak.
Amo went to leave, but it wasn’t before Lucca bestowed his wisdom on him once more.
“If anything happens to her in your care, it won’t be the Luciano brothers you will be answering to; it will be your uncle. You will come to find out he has grown quite fond of Katarina. Even if it was her father, Lucifer, who tried to kill him. Drago is coming to find forgiveness but… will you?”
Watching Amo walk out the door, he didn’t think that day would ever come by seeing the hatred he had built up in his eyes of everyone and everything. Amo De Santis had the right to hate only one person in the world, and that was Lucca himself. It wasn’t until he’d seen the hate he’d built for Chloe that he wanted the young man dead.
But everyone, even the ones he despised, has a part to play in the war.
Twenty-Five
Kitty Kat
“A part of me always hoped One-Shot was you,” Lucca spoke through the phone, “Dominic.”
The Luciano boss was very silent on the other end of the phone.
“But it looks like you’re not the only one who possess the skills that you have with a gun and a bullet in the chamber.”
He had to of been glad to hear his name was in the clear but it was obvious Dominic got the feeling that something bad might have happened for that. “What makes you finally say that?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?” his voice demanded to know.
Figuring he had been busy the last couple of hours with his men, Lucca told the enemy what cleared his name for good. “He went for Katarina.”
Dominic went silent again on the other end for several moments before he threatened the scariest man in all of Kansas City. “I don’t give a fuck who you are, Lucca Caruso. If something happens to my sister in your possession, I promise you, you’ll be the first one I’ll kill. Never forget it was you who promised me her protection, and you will have to answer for your sins.”
If he hadn’t promised exactly that to him, he would make the Luciano pay for that threat, but since he did, and it was his sister, he would let it slide. For now. “Katarina is safer here than with you.”
“And how is that?” he asked in frustration.
“Because she has one thing here that you don’t…” Lucca paused only for a second. “Drago.”
Quietly, he entered the apartment after getting his bullet wound stitched up to see the pink-haired girl sleeping peacefully on his bed. By the time he took a shower and dressed, and the early morning light was shining through, she was still fast asleep.
Wishing they had discussed their sleeping arrangements earlier, he found his eyes wandering between the empty space beside her and the cold leather couch. Taking a seat on the empty side of the edge of the bed, he decided there was no way in hell he was sleeping on his couch in his apartment.
It must have been guilt to make Drago glance back at her one last time before he got up, taking a pillow with him to the couch.
There were many things he didn’t know about Katarina yet, and many things she didn’t know about him. With her father being the devil and seeing perhaps a glimpse of the abuse she might have suffered at his hand, he didn’t feel comfortable with her waking up next to man she didn’t even know. Regardless if she was his wife, there needed to at least be a discussion before he would lie in the same bed with her, even to just sleep.
He adjusted the pillow under his head and tried to get his well over six-foot body frame comfortable on the couch. It made you think maybe chivalry wasn’t dead after all.
That little witch will be sleeping on the couch from now on.
Never mind.
Waking up the next day groggy in a different bed than she was used to was definitely strange, to say the least. Letting her eyes adjust to the light from the huge window, she had to rub them to see if she really was seeing the giant man sleeping on the couch in what looked like a horrible position. His head was craned onto one of the arms, and his feet were dangling off the other end. She felt bad for the poor soul when he would wake up, and she wondered if she should try and wake him up to move him to the bed… Nah, he’ll be fine.
To her surprise, he hadn’t woken up once, probably due to exhaustion from the night. However, that was about to quickly end as she opened the door to Angel.
Coming into the apartment, Angel set down the most important last things she owned. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” she assured him knowing he and her brothers were probably worried, but she did so in a whisper, not wanting to wake the big sleeping baby.
His eyes searched the room then to see why she whispered. When he found Drago had slept on the couch, her brother’s happiness was evident by the smug smile he held before he left the apartment as quietly as he’d entered.
Excited, Katarina went for what she’d been waiting for…
“What the fuck is that?”
Running her fingers along the black fur, she didn’t pay attention to Drago’s half-asleep voice.
Jumping up from the couch, he looked like he saw a demon in the house. “I said, what the fuck is that?!”
“Shadow,” she answered, still petting the slick black fur as it rubbed up against her. “My cat.”
Almost exactly on cue, Shadow meowed.
“You have got to be shitting me.” He stared at them both now like they were possessed creatures of the night. “I knew you were a fucking witch.”
“Excuse me?” Kat looked at him now like he was crazy.
“You heard me, witch. Your name is Kat, who has a cat that’s fucking black, for Christ’s sake, and you gave it a fucking creepy-ass name like Shadow. Why didn’t you just call it Satan?” he said not so sarcastically and almost irate as he went to the fridge to grab a protein shake and downed the contents. “That thing ain’t staying here.”
“It’s not a thing; it’s a he, and his name is Shadow, and he’s not going anywhere.”
“Well, I was not told about a fucking cat. That is not what I signed up for.”
“Well—” Kat’s voice rose to match his as she stalked toward the big dumbass. “I didn’t sign up for any of this. You picked me, asshole. It wasn’t the other way around. I never wanted to get married not only to you, but ever, yet here we are making sacrifices for the greater good.” She stalked even closer, pointing her pale finger till it reached his chest, and she poked it with every word that came out of her mouth next. “Now, if you would like to stay married to me, then Shadow stays. If not, give me the divorce papers and sign ’em, so I can give them to Lucca to tell him it was you who wanted out of this scam of a marriage over a little cat.”
Pushing his chest deeper into her finger, he pushed her back till she was up against the kitchen island and planted against him. “You’re going to really wish you didn’t poke the bear, Kitty Kat, you really will.”
Her breath hung in her throat for that five-point-four seconds, his fiery eyes delved deep into hers as his strong warm body covered hers, but then it disappeared right before a silent promise was made that she might have just fucked up.
Heading to the coat closet, he pulled out a suit before going to his dresser in the open space, then ripped out the rest of what he was going to wear. “This marriage isn’t no scam, sweetheart. It’s fucking real,” he told her before tearing off his shirt, then his sleeping pants he had worn only for her.
Kat turned around quickly but not quickly enough not to see his ass cheeks before she did. “What are you doing? There’s a fucking window right there, and all of Kansas City see your jun—”
“I don’t give a fuck. This is how I get dressed every morning, and at night I sleep naked, and from now on, I will be sleeping in my bed with or without you.” Quickly getting dressed, he continued to speak carefully. “We’re married n
ow, so get used to it. Only way you’re getting rid of me is through death, and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”
Knock.
“Just in time,” he gruffed after lacing his shoe.
Every bone in her body went limp wanting to scream bloody murder at the man, but instead, she just watched the now cleanly dressed man get up and open the door to someone she didn’t recognize but was also a giant like Drago. However, this one was younger.
“This is my nephew.” He brought him inside, closing the door. “Amo.”
Amo just stared at her blankly, almost emotionless.
“Amo, this is Katarina.” He nodded toward the stunned pink-haired woman whom he’d called witch only moments ago. “Not sure if you two met at the wedding, but this is my new, loving wife.”
She stalked toward the bastard after hearing that sarcastic tone again at his last words. That’s it!
Drago, however, caught her before she could do anything and leaned down to place a deep, long, and unforgiving kiss on her lips that sent her body back to the limp mode she was in before. “Don’t wait up for me, sweetheart.”
Staring at the door that he had just walked through with a smile and what seemed like a pep in his step, she had never felt more calm rage in her life. Then suddenly, her new goal in life hit her like a thousand pounds of bricks, and she knew what she would become….
A black widow.
Twenty-Six
What’s Mine Is Yours
“It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled at him. “But why exactly are you here?”
It didn’t seem like Amo really wanted to talk, but eventually he answered her, “I’ll be watching over you.”
“O-Okay.” This was going to be weird, but she figured it was because of her almost getting shot through the heart that they were taking this precaution. He was Drago’s nephew, after all, so he couldn’t be that bad.
“Do you have a cell phone?”
“Yes.” Of course, she had one. It was as cheap and slow as they came this day and age, but she did.
Snapping his finger, he held out his hand.
Quickly, she went to retrieve it from the pile of her things, pulling it out of the bag that she had placed her clothes in that she was wearing before the wedding. It was dead as a doornail when she handed it to him.
That, however, didn’t much matter when he pulled the back cover off, taking out the sim card and breaking it right in two.
“What the hell was that for?!”
He ignored her and went to the trashcan, throwing the whole thing away.
“EXCUSE ME?!” Kat walked after him, frustrated and shocked at what he had the audacity to do.
“That thing was a piece of shit anyways,” he told her before pulling out a brand-new shiny phone that was as good as it got and handing it to her. “It has any contacts you need in it.”
Taking the phone, she had half a mind to shove it up his ass, but unlocking it and seeing how much better it was than what she had, she didn’t want to part with it. “You could have handed me the new phone first, you know.”
Amo shrugged before going to the fridge to see what they had. When he pulled out a protein shake, Kat could only roll her eyes, reminding her of her irritating new husband.
We’re married now, so get used to it. She remembered him saying the harsh words and the display he gave her that only made her want to get back at him. Thinking about how to do that, she moved her eyes around the room till an idea finally hit her. Then I guess what’s mine is yours now.
Going through her phone, she saw the name she was looking for right on top. She dialed it, and it wasn’t long before it was answered and she heard the word, “Hello.”
Kat smiled. “I need some help.”
When they quickly hung up, Amo looked at her right after he finished the shake. Wanting to know, he asked, “Who was that?”
However, the one she’d called turned out to probably be just steps away. A knock sounded on the door.
Opening the door, she smiled when her brother Angel entered.
After having been there not long ago, he drew his brows together when he saw Amo standing in the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
Kat didn’t know what it was, but the air in the room suddenly changed as the two seemed to stare each other down.
“I was given orders to protect her,” he said, clearly enunciating a particular word that meant something to Angel.
Not only Kat, but it looked like Amo was also concerned about what Angel was about to say next from the stern expression on his face, but then it passed. “All right.” Looking back to his sister, he seemed to cool down to his usual chill self. “What do you need help with?”
Still very unsure of what the fuck that exactly was, she thought it best to get down to what she needed him for... “A TV.”
“A TV?”
She nodded. “Yes, as big as you can get me.”
It didn’t take long for Angel to realize it was to piss Drago off. Smiling, he seemed to like where this was going.
Amo, however, wasn’t going to catch on till much later.
“Why don’t you come with me?” Angel told her. “I can take care of her for the day, Amo. You can go on home.”
The big one stared her brother down. “I can’t do that. You know I can’t.”
“We can all go,” she assured them, not wanting to start a fight between the two.
The two men didn’t disagree as they continued to stare at the other.
Quickly, Kat put down a bowl of water and a can of cat food her brother had dropped off earlier with Shadow before setting down the disposable litter tray he had also brought. Patting Shadow’s head, she was ready to leave. “I need to go get a few other things as well.”
Angel could only smile bigger.
Twenty-Seven
I’ve Learned You Can Never Be Overprepared When It Comes to the Time of the Month
The day was spent productively, getting the few but necessary things she needed in order to make herself comfortable in her new home. Since legally, everything was half hers now—if Drago wanted to play that game.
Angel had gotten her a huge flat screen and set it up. It was now proudly placed on the dresser that they had moved over a bit to sit in front of the couch. It didn’t look so great, but she wasn’t going for esthetically pleasing at this point. She just wanted a fucking TV. ’Cause what freaking house didn’t have a TV, for Christ’s sake?
While Angel did that, she had taken the time to settle in, putting away her things and making sure she was obnoxious in the placement of them. I just can’t wait for hubby to get home.
The dynamic between her brother and Amo hadn’t really changed; they just seemed to ignore each other better as the day went on. There was a reason why Angel was wary of him, and she figured she should be too, as her brother was a good judge of character. That was what he was known for.
It wasn’t hard to realize Amo clearly hated them. She’d known within the first five minutes that he hated her for her last name, but that wasn’t anything new to her or Angel. However, there was something else there that made Amo especially bad to her brother, and she wondered if she was going to have to find out on her own, or if he was going to finally break down and tell her.
Kat found herself keeping her distance from him, wondering exactly how safe she might just be around him when her brother wasn’t there, but it wasn’t until she turned around from finally putting all her clothes away that she saw Amo had actually set up the things she had gotten for Shadow and was now petting her pretty black cat as he rubbed up against the giant.
Unlike Drago, Amo appeared to like Shadow and have a soft spot for animals, and just like that, the fear she was beginning to build up for Amo quickly disappeared. As tough and as harsh he might be on the outside, she could see what his heart really held, just with a single pet to her cat.
Kat could only smile as she went to go throw in a bag of popcorn, wanting to join her brother on
the couch with the movie he just turned on, but she didn’t get so lucky when the front door opened and her so-called “hubby” came in.
“What the fuck??”
As quick as he turned on the TV, Angel turned it back off, getting up from the couch. “Look at the time. Adalyn’s probably waiting for me.”
Drago continued to stand there angrily stunned.
“Remember, I’m just a couple doors down,” her brother warned him as he passed to leave, then shut the door.
“Why is there a huge-ass TV in my living room?”
“We’re married now, remember? So, it’s our living room,” she corrected him.
Ready to blow, he asked a question he might not want to know the answer to. “How big is it?”
She played dumb, watching the microwave with a smile. “I don’t know, like fifty?”
“Seventy,” Amo corrected, realizing exactly what Kat had reeled him into.
“Why the hell did you let her get one that big?” Drago barked at him coming closer, but then he finally saw it. “What in the hell is this!?”
“A cat tree.”
“A tree? You got one the size of a mountain!”
“Shadow needs his exerci—”
“Is that a damn litterbox in my living room!!!!!!”
Kat took the bag out of the microwave. “He can always shit on the floor, if you’d rather that.”
“There’s a bathroom. Put it in there!” Drago reached down, seeing it was clean before he picked it up, and headed for the bathroom.
Looking over at Amo, she decided to give him a warning. “You might want to leave.”
“Why?” Amo asked, but right when he finished the word, he heard Drago’s boom again.
“WHAT IN GOD’S—”
Quickly, Amo went to the front door and walked the hell out.
“—NAME IS THIS SHIT!”
Drago (Made Men Book 6) Page 10
