Fuck. How long have I been up for?
I flinch away from the brightness and rub the exhaustion from my eyes. I’ve been reading through the files Cyrus sent me all night, and I guess it’s morning now.
A heavy sigh escapes my chest. There’s a lot of info in
these reports that implicates Enzo Barella in other schemes across the globe, but nothing that ties him directly to my troubles—at least, not that I’ve found yet.
... At least my brother doesn’t appear to be attached to him in any serious way. Dante just seems to make a mess wherever he goes, which catches the attention of local criminal organizations. They make note of his disruptions and sometimes he gets mixed in with Enzo’s shit.
Fucking Dante. Where the hell are you, little brother?
“Still up, huh?” Cyrus’s heavy voice comes from the office doorway. I spin around in my chair and let my phone drop to my lap. “Anything interesting?”
“Plenty,” I grumble, pinching my nose. “But how much of it is useful to me? Not much, not yet.”
“We’ll keep looking. In the meantime, you should go check up on your little wild flower. We had a suspected breach last night. Nothing’s missing; hell, nothing’s even broken, but there was an open door and fresh mud in the basement. It was probably just one of our drunken foot soldiers going out for a piss in the yard who forgot to lock up after himself, but I thought I’d let you know, anyways.”
My heart ticks heavily at the memory of Cat asking me to come back to bed last night. I wish I could have, there’s just so much to do...
“Have you checked on her yet?” I ask, standing up from my chair for the first time all night. My bones are stiff and my muscles are sore, but I feel alright. A lightness floats around my mind, and it keeps the full weight of everything from becoming too burdensome.
Cyrus has a glass of fizzling water in his hand, he takes a sip as he nods. “A maid popped in this morning. She said that Catalina was tucked under the covers and fast asleep. You’ve got yourself a keeper there, buddy. Good job.”
Good job. With everything that’s happening, with everything I’ve lost, a good job is the last way I’d describe my past month. I haven’t been doing a good job, I’ve been a terrible boss, a terrible king, a terrible warrior...
But I’ve been a good lover.
Who would have guessed that I would have ever had that to say about myself? It’s like my identity is melting away, all the meat of who I thought I was, and all that’s left are the bones and organs. My heart fills up twice the space in my chest than it used to, and the more time I spend with Cat, the less I care that it may be distracting me from other issues.
She’s quickly becoming just as important to me as my entire empire—but, right now, I only have one of them: her. As complete as being beside her in bed makes me feel, the absence of everything else that makes me, well, me, is keeping my satisfaction at bay.
I need to figure this shit out, and quick. I need to reclaim my throne, vanquish my enemies, and give my queen what she deserves. There may be a new edge to my motivations, but the fire and the determination are still there. Someone has taken a good shot at my throne. Fine. I’ll take it like a man. My mysterious foe better be ready for me, because I’m coming back with a vengeance, and the moment an opportunity arises, I’m going to set the whole world on fire just to get back what’s mine.
“I’m going to go say good morning,” I mumble, patting Cyrus on the back as I pass him in the doorway.
“I’ll pick up the torch,” my old friend assures me. He’s already face deep in his phone when I disappear around the corner.
I’m tired, but a spark of energy flutters inside of me at the prospect of seeing Cat again. It’s barely been twelve hours since we fucked on the pool table of an empty bar, but that seems like an eternity; too long for my liking. I wish I could have held her in my arms while we drifted off to sleep; I wish we could be back home in Colombia, on top of the world, scheming on more mundane aspects of our life together: public relations, board meetings, galas...
... God, what am I becoming?
The idea that I’d rather be in a suit and tie with Cat on my arm than in my denim jacket racing down the highway on my bike to some firefight is almost enough to stop me in my tracks. What is she doing to me? Why do I like it so much?
... Is she the reason everything is falling apart?
No. I won’t entertain that thought. I should be strong enough to keep all aspects of my life under control. For the first time in my life, two people have gotten the better of me. One of them is Cat, and I’m okay with that—the other person, however, still remains a mystery, and I’m going to make them pay for ever thinking they could keep me down for long...
But first, I’m going to have some fun with the girl I’ve dragged halfway across the world.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” I tease, flicking on the bedroom lights and heading over to the window to tear open the drapes.
Cat doesn’t flinch under the covers. I hardly blame her, last night was wild. I open the window and take in a deep breath of fresh air. The clouds have finally parted, and for the first time since our arrival in Ireland, the weather’s nice enough to almost remind me of home.
Almost.
“Come on,” I order when Cat’s bulge doesn’t budge. “Let’s get breakfast.” Still no movement. I roll my eyes and go to kiss my sleeping beauty awake...
But when I pull back the covers, there’s no Catalina.