Bastian backed away, willing in the end to have Katalina as an ally and let her make her own decision rather than turn her into a full-blown enemy.
“Rome should provide some type of security for you.” Bastian sighed. “We need you safe as a partner if nothing else.”
She turned to me to protest but I shook my head before she even opened her mouth. “I go where you go now, baby.”
“Rome, I still have to talk with Ivan—”
“Do whatever you want. I’ll be next to you the whole time.”
She stomped her foot. “This is fucking ridiculous.”
“This is real. There was just a drive-by because someone’s tapping our shit and has figured out our partnership is solidified now.”
Katie threw her hands up. “It was because of the contracts!”
Bastian and I both hmphed, and that lit a fire in her blood that turned her cheeks red.
“Baby, you got a light in you that is going to snuff out all the darkness, huh?” I said.
“What if it’s an explosion rather than a lighthouse that leads to safety?”
“We’ll wear our bomb gear, no? Now, figure out who you’re calling on the way home so we can get it out of the way and start celebrating the baby in you.” I wasn’t backing down.
She damn well knew it too because she stormed past me and swung her car door open to get in. She left it open and screamed, “Let’s go, you fucking animal.”
17
Katie
Icalled Ivan to set up a meeting. Ivan didn’t ask questions, but I was sure he knew already. He would want to hear it from my lips, want me to disrespect him to his face. So I agreed to see him later.
Then I proceeded to tell Rome to leave my penthouse. He’d walked me to the door while I continued my conversation with Ivan. He followed me in, not at all concerned that he was overstaying his welcome.
When I hung up the call, I told him to leave.
He didn’t. He stayed the night.
He wouldn’t go.
He wouldn’t even try to hide himself anymore either. The smell of him teased my brain before I even opened my eyes that morning. I woke up in a haze. I had just gotten used to sleeping in my penthouse alone. But now, I’d never sleep alone again.
At least not for the next 9 months.
The last day’s events came flying back.
Rome’s home would be mine now. There was no way he was letting the baby in me out of his sight.
Or me for that matter.
And maybe I wasn’t letting him out of my sight either. I wanted him close enough to aggravate, close enough to infuriate, and close enough for me to tempt his monster. It was the thing I loved about him, knowing a man would tear apart a city for us instead of inflicting pain for power.
Some instinct in me overruled everything else too. I was pulled to his protection because I wanted it now more than ever. I hadn’t cared before about my wellbeing, probably still didn’t really. I cared about the change in the city. I cared about making a difference. I would have died for that difference without hesitation before.
Now, for the first time in a long time, I was willing to put something else before my reign.
“My stomach’s going to grow.”
“Huh?” Rome looked up from his breakfast with a coffee mug in hand.