Drago (Made Men Book 6)

by Sarah Brianne

  She knew body builders needed to eat a lot of food, but DAMN.

  “I mostly just have protein shakes, so Amo can take you to the grocery store today if you would like, to get you whatever you want.”

  Kat nodded as she watched the two put away the meat-filled plates like they were in sync and almost starved to death.

  Downing a glass of water, Drago checked his watch before getting up to put his plate in the sink. Then he came to Katarina and stood beside her.

  When she looked up at him from the stool she sat on, her heart might’ve skipped a beat. Or two.

  He reached down into his pocket, retrieving his leather billfold and opening it. “You can keep this till I can get you your own, after I add you to my bank account.”

  Amo dropped his silver fork out of his hand so suddenly it almost broke the plate underneath, judging from the loud clack.

  Staring down at the black card that had the name Drago De Santis on it, she almost choked.

  “From now on, when you want something, you don’t have to ask anyone for it. Not even me.”

  Did he just— Did he— Kat had to actually grab her chest at the complete loss of words, wondering if she had heard him correctly. The fucking rabbit hole she’d fallen into was starting to get confus—

  The lips that took hers weren’t hard this time. They were soft. Sweet. Kind. And most of all, tender.

  “Don’t wait up for me, sweetheart,” he told her just like yesterday, before he left her in mostly the same way. Speechless. Except this time, she didn’t feel the rage. It was worse and the beginning of…

  Oh God.

  What is that?

  Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.

  Love.

  Thirty

  It’s Getting Really Weird Down Here

  Kat tapped her fingers in a rolling motion, staring down at the black credit card while she replayed the last few minutes over and over again in her head. It’s getting really weird down here.

  The way he was acting toward her was… kinda sweet. Even though she was being the biggest witch there was since they had gotten married. Which was now really, really making her feel guilty. I mean, he just trusted a Luciano with his bank card, for Christ’s sake.

  It certainly was becoming a new world, and Amo, who had stopped eating seeming to lose his appetite, was seeing it too.

  Getting up, he took the rest of his uneaten food to the trash. The shock on his face and his reaction at what unfolded pretty much said it all about how he still felt for the Lucianos, but she tried to not let it bug her.

  She didn’t know if it hit all married couples, but suddenly, she felt this urge… to make him happy? Oh God, what is wrong with me?

  She took a breath still staring at the card, wondering if the thought of making him happy was a good idea. She supposed the guilt of being such a witch yesterday caught up to her, when she took out her new cell phone with her new contacts and made a call, but the person she needed help from now was different.

  After she hung up the phone, it was not even five seconds before someone barged right through the door.

  The beautiful blond Maria came in with an evil yet ecstatic look in her eyes. “So, how can I help piss off Drago today?”

  Amo looked like he was about to scream and put his foot down, but Kat had other plans for once.

  “Actually, I want to do something nice for him.”

  “Ugh.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Maria didn’t seem as thrilled anymore. She mumbled under her breath something only she could hear. “You girls are so weak when it comes to men.”

  “What?” she asked, not having heard a word she’d said.

  “I said, it’s going to be a lot less fun for me now, but… how can I help?”

  Kat smiled at her. Maria was like a fairy fucking goddess mother who always rode in to save the day.

  “I thought maybe you could help me decorate just a little? And we could move the bed upstairs and his weight stuff down here. He said that he would do it, but he seems to have enough on his plate already.” She shrugged. Hearing it out loud, it didn’t sound so great. “I don’t know. I thought it might be a nice surprise for him.”

  “It is nice.” Maria tapped her heel, clearly thinking as her eyes moved around the bare space. “I’m just actually not the right one for the job.”

  “Really?” With the level of taste Maria had, Kat was shocked to hear her say those words.

  “Fashion and home décor are two separate things, Katarina.”

  At the blonde’s scoff, Kat realized that might’ve been a stupid question. “Okay. Then… who is?”

  Thirty-One

  The OG

  Seeing sweet Elle followed by Nero come through the door, she should have guessed it. Of course the strawberry blonde could decorate and make this place a home.

  However, when Elle stood back and Nero came in and took a longing look at the walls with his gorgeous emerald eyes, it hadn’t dawned on her just yet. “I’m thinking everything needs to go.”

  “I agree,” Maria concurred.

  “Excuse me, what? You?”—she stared at the tall, dark, and handsome man, “she called, you?”

  Elle couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Yeah.” His green eyes glowed at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing. I just… wasn’t expecting that, is all.” Kat smiled at him still not exactly understanding how the fuck Nero was whom Maria called.

  “Like I said,” he began again, “everything goes, except for the TV.” He walked through the space, laying out everything that he seemed to envision in his head. “I’m thinking a huge oversized sectional to hold ten or so people in front of the TV. We need a six-chair dining table that can go there, and upstairs you definitely need a king size bed and updated bedroom furniture. That should get us started.”

  “Okay, that sounds great and all, but uh…” Kat suddenly felt a bit light-headed. “I was thinking simpler, like move his weights downstairs and move the bed upstairs.”

  “Absolutely not. His gym upstairs has to go. He can go back to using the hotel gym like the rest of us.”

  She stopped him right fucking there. “Oh no-no-no-no-no. I think you’ve really misunderstood. I’m trying to do something nice for Drag—”

  Nero shut her up with just a look. “I understand. That’s why we’re doing what I said.”

  To say she was nervous at the can of worms she just might’ve opened was an understatement. That handsome yet somewhat scary man was going to get her killed when her husband came back to find his gym missing.

  “Kat, really.” He looked at her confused as to why she was freaking out about it. “The bed used to be upstairs until we moved it, and he likes the hotel gym. As far as the furniture, he won’t miss it. It’s all old and cheap.”

  “Wait, what? You moved it?” she asked, confused herself now.

  “Yeah. When Drago woke up from the coma, we moved his bed and dresser down here because we weren’t sure if he was going to be able to walk upstairs again. Then, when he did, he moved some old gym equipment we had upstairs because I don’t think he wanted to go to the hotel gym till he got his strength back. But he’s okay now. This will all make him happy, trust me.” Nero gave her an assuring look.

  That information she was just given hurt like fucking hell. He hadn’t told her that when he could have last night, so she felt like she knew a secret about him that she shouldn’t have. It was also hard to take considering it was her father who’d turned his life upside down. The words, we weren’t sure if he was going to be able to walk upstairs again, couldn’t help but make her feel somewhat responsible, considering her father was no longer alive to take the blame.

  “Nero’s right. He’ll love it,” his sister agreed.

  It was everything she could do to hold herself together at the moment. She steadied her voice, the guilt inside of her only ratchetting up higher, but by the eager look in his emerald eyes, she could on
ly hope this whole thing didn’t backfire. “All right.”

  Nero rubbed his hands together with a gorgeous sly smile on his face, making himself look like the OG that he was. “Let’s do this.”

  The strawberry blonde was practically ready to swoon.

  Damn. Your first true love really was the finest.

  When Angel opened the door to his apartment, one of his brows drew up.

  “This should be enough for what you got Katarina yesterday.” Drago handed him a stack full of cash.

  Shaking his head, Angel didn’t want to take the money. “I don’t—”

  “Take it,” he demanded harshly. “I want you to know that Katarina will be taken care of. She is my responsibility now, and...” His harsh tone seemed to dissipate into a sincere one. “I want not only you but all her brothers to know that.”

  Angel stared at him for a moment, seeing that he meant every word before he finally took the money. Showing that he respected what he had to say, it was a truce.

  Turning away, Drago couldn’t believe that he had actually just done that.

  Okay, fuck. He liked the little witch when she was nice and… a smartass. You know why? ’Cause she was his little witch now. Even if he didn’t want a wife. But like Lucca had said, he’d chosen her, and boy was it turning out that he had chosen her for a reason.

  “You’re about fifty short,” Angel yelled at him as he walked down the hallway.

  He didn’t even turn around when he yelled back at him, “Well, then you shouldn’t have let her get that fucking mountain of a cat tree.”

  Thirty-Two

  The Monster That Lay Just Beneath the Surface

  To say her surprise got blown out of proportion would be an understatement. Nero had gone to an upscale furniture store, practically buying everything on the floor, and somehow came out with a ten-percent discount. Then he brought in every Caruso he could get his hands on to help unload it and get it in the apartment. While the furniture moved in, Elle, Adalyn, and Lake helped her put all their clothes in the walk-in closet, with Maria giving them directions of how to properly do so.

  By the time Nero got everything staged, it looked magazine ready.

  “Whoa.” She felt butterflies rise her stomach, nervous for when Drago would get home. It looked amazing but also so amazing that she was wondering if she should have had him involved. “Thank you all so much.”

  “I think it’s so sweet you did this,” Elle told her. “Usually, the men surprise us, but it’s so awesome a girl could finally do it.”

  “About time,” Maria mumbled under her breath.

  “Yes, it’s so much sweeter.” Adalyn was smiling ear to ear.

  Vincent seemed to get offended. “Why is it sweeter when she does it than when I did it?”

  “Thank God, you’re pretty.” The words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them.

  Lake laughed while she took her boyfriend’s hand. “Let’s go before you embarrass yourself more.”

  The pretty boy smiled at Kat while his girlfriend and sister had to drag him to the door to leave, seeming to completely miss the insult part of her statement. “She said I was pretty.”

  Maria rolled her eyes, following them out. “Yeah, but she also thinks you’re a dumbass.”

  “Good luck.” Elle gave her a wink.

  “Nero—” She looked at the green eyes not knowing where to start or what to even think of him anymore. When they had gone furniture shopping, there was no way in hell she was going to spend Drago’s money like that on the day he gave her the card, but Nero had assured her not to worry and that it was a wedding gift from the Carusos. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know how to repay you.”

  “We’re family,” Nero said in an instant, putting it so simply. “You don’t have to.”

  It was the fucking nicest thing anyone had ever said to her, and if Elle weren’t so Goddamn sweet and perfect, she’d almost think Elle was the lucky one.

  With everyone besides Amo gone now, it somehow all worked out perfectly as Drago hadn’t returned home yet even though it was well into the night. There was only one last thing she needed to go and get.

  “I’m going to go to Chloe’s. Do you need to come with me?” she asked, opening the door, unsure if Amo needed to watch her with her just going down the hall.

  He seemed to get nervous for a second before he answered, “No. I can watch you from here.”

  “Okay.” She found it a bit odd when he just stood outside the apartment door and watched her walk to Chloe’s apartment. Knocking on the door, she shouldn’t have been surprised when Lucca answered, but it was always a shock when her eyes landed on that frightening man.

  Unlike when she came to their apartment earlier, Lucca let her come in this time.

  Walking into the gorgeous space was almost unreal. Getting the corner apartment meant two full walls of windows to look down on the city, and with how natural everything was in there, it felt as if you were outside.

  “H-Hi.” Chloe smiled at her from the couch while Shadow laid on her lap.

  “Hey.” Kat couldn’t help but smile back, going to the couch to sit carefully next to them with some distance in between.

  “I’m going to go take a shower.” The dangerous man looked at the broken girl, making sure she was okay before he left the room.

  “Thanks for watching him for me. I was afraid he would get out with everyone going in and out.”

  Chloe just kept petting his silky black fur. “You’re welcome. I loved having Shadow around.”

  “He likes you.” She watched the two for a moment, listening to Shadow’s purr and the way he was with her. “You know, Shadow’s very special.”

  “How?” she asked, raising a scarred brow.

  Some animals were blessed with a gift, and Shadow was one of them. She’d often found Shadow cuddled up next to Matthias, as a way to “heal” her brother. The closer he became to a human, she recognized the higher level of pain that person had. Unsure of how to word it, she tried the best she could. “He likes to take a person’s pain away.”

  “Oh.”

  Kat didn’t want to upset her, but she also felt an undying need for the girl not to feel alone. Swallowing hard, she whispered what she’d never talked about, “He hurt me too.”

  Chloe’s gray eyes looked into the black ones that were reminiscent of her demon’s, but she could see the pain that she, too, held. Biting her lip, the girl slowly extended a pale, shaky hand.

  When she took her hand and gave it a squeeze, Katarina’s heart almost broke in two. She knew what it meant that Chloe allowed her to touch her even for a moment. It was somewhat painful to sit so close to the girl after knowing what her father had done to her. Lucifer was a monster, but what she couldn’t understand was why she was living with another.

  Kat nervously looked back to where Lucca had gone and heard the shower running. What she was about to say could very well get her killed, but she couldn’t be who she was if she didn’t say anything. “I’m not sure why you’re with Lucca, but he is a powerful man….” Taking a breath, she continued giving a hint as to what she was talking about without saying it outright. “Like my father was.”

  The pale, beautiful, scarred face stared at her for a second before she nodded, understanding what she meant.

  Kat could see the girl had an idea about Lucca, but she wasn’t sure if she had truly seen the monster that lay just beneath the surface. However, it wasn’t her life, and the girl wasn’t blind. Kat had seen it instantly in Lucca, and she hoped Chloe would see it too one day. She needed to say one last thing. “You just deserve better.”

  When she heard the shower turn off, she almost didn’t want to take Shadow from the scarred beauty when she picked him up off her lap. “You know, you can come over anytime to see him.”

  “Thank you.” Chloe smiled, happy to hear her offer.

  Going for the door, she wanted to get out before the monster returned, but before she could, she hear
d Chloe’s voice, stopping her in her tracks. What she heard the girl say, she wouldn’t have expected in a million years.

  “Lucca tells me I don’t deserve him either.”

  Thirty-Three

  The Fucking Point of Having a Husband

  “What are you doing?” Drago asked when the elevator doors opened as she passed with Shadow in her hands.

  Her stomach sank, becoming nervous. “Uhh.”

  Seeing Amo coming down the hallway, she saw his body tense further. What’s going on?”

  Usually words came easily to Katarina, but nothing seemed to fall out of her mouth.

  Amo was no help when he left the two alone.

  “Kat… what did you do?” he asked sternly, obviously sensing she had done something yet again.

  Oh God. Please don’t let this go bad.

  “Don’t hate me,” she said before she opened the door to the apartment, letting Shadow down when she did.

  Drago slowly walked into the apartment. Very quietly, he looked around, seeing all the new furniture that filled up his space. His once bachelor pad had finally turned into… a home.

  The longer he went without saying anything, the sicker she felt. Horrible words never hurt when you were a witch and the one to say hateful things to a person in the first place. But when you did something nice to make someone happy, and they didn’t appreciate it, it hurt. Like hell.

  Preparing herself for the worst, she braced herself.

  “I don’t know what to say…” Drago seemed to be speechless, his voice going slightly hoarse. “This is amazing, Kat.”

  “You like it?!”

  “Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Clearly he didn’t understand why she was so surprised that he did. Looking around, he kept finding new things. “How did you get all this done?”