by James Tate
"I fucking love you, Hellcat," he muttered when he let me go.
I swiped my tongue over my swollen lips, giving him a knowing grin as Kody collapsed on the bench beside me.
"That... is exactly how all training sessions should end," he commented, and I snickered. My legs were like jelly, so I needed to move slowly to sit down. Then I winced. Yeah, I'd be feeling that one for the rest of the day.
"Did you fucks high five while I was coming?" I asked, giving Kody a suspicious glare.
He just grinned. Fucker. "Hey, babe, you know if Arch had been here, I wouldn't have needed to use my fingers." His brows waggled suggestively, and my goddamn pussy fluttered in agreement.
I just rolled my eyes, though. "Aren't you late for your client, Kodiak Jones?"
His smile slipped. "Fuck. Uh, whatever, this was totally worth it." He grabbed my face with one hand, bringing my lips to his for a possessive, dominating kiss that left me panting all over again. "Think about it, though. I bet it'd be fun."
With that, he took off out of the steam room and left Steele and I alone.
Tipping my head back to rest on the higher bench, I looked up at him with total adoration. "I love you too, Max."
His grin spread wide. "I know."
10
"Miss?" Steinwick called out as I was finishing off my coffee at the kitchen island. I'd been on my phone, chatting with Bree and randomly browsing wedding pinterest boards. Don't ask me why; I had no idea.
"Yes?" I looked up from my phone to see him coming closer with the house phone in his hand.
Steinwick gave me a brittle smile. "A call for you, miss." He held the phone out for me to take, but didn't release it immediately. "It's your father."
Oh.
My stomach churned, and Steinwick gave me a sympathetic look as he let me take the phone from his hand. "Perhaps you're indisposed, miss?" His voice was pitched low enough that it was unlikely my father had heard, but still... I shook my head.
"No, it's fine. After all, there's not much he can do to hurt me now." I said that, but I didn't wholly believe it. Was there something he could still do? Why was he still hanging around playing the role of father when he'd already sold me? He already had his money.
I waited until Steinwick left the kitchen, then drew a deep breath and brought the phone to my ear.
"Hello, Father."
"Madison Kate," he replied, his voice clipped with anger. "Where's D'Ath? I asked to speak with him."
I rolled my eyes. Of course he had. Steinwick was clearly not a fan of my father and had decided to bring the phone to me instead.
"He's busy," I told him, keeping my tone just as curt as his was. "What do you need? I'm sure I can help."
My father scoffed a laugh. "I seriously doubt it, Madison Kate." His tone practically dripped with scorn, and I was utterly dumbfounded that I hadn't noticed it sooner. Why had I needed the guys to shove my face in it for me to realize that my father didn't love me? He'd never loved me.
Why had I been so totally blind to that fact until now?
"Just tell your fiancé that I'll call back some other time." My father must have seen our engagement announcement. He clearly had no idea I was already aware of the marriage contract.
I stifled an irritated sigh. "Sure thing, Dad." But also, I hope you choke on a chicken bone and fucking die, you pathetic excuse for a human.
"Great," Samuel Danvers snapped back. "I'll see you at the wedding then."
I spluttered. "Wh-what?"
"You don't think I'd miss my only child's wedding, do you?" The sneer in his tone spoke volumes. Yeah, fuck-face, I know perfectly well that you were in full attendance at your child's wedding. What a shame she wasn't there. "Cherry and I will be back at the end of the month."
On that ominous threat, the call ended, and I had to resist the urge to throw the fucking phone through the window. It wasn't the phone's fault that my father was a slug on the cabbage of life.
"Hey," Archer said, coming into the kitchen all sweaty and delicious, straight from the gym. Kody was still out on client sessions, so Archer was working out alone. He had another big-ticket fight booked for the week after our wedding, and he was taking training pretty seriously.
I didn't reply, just stripped him naked with my eyes. Shit’s sake, I was turning into a sex addict.
"You okay?" he asked, putting his iPod and earbuds down on the counter and circling around the island to me. "You seem... I dunno. Tense and angry."
It was on the tip of my tongue to snap back at him with an insult. That had been our pattern for so long that it came naturally to us. But Archer wasn't being a prick with that statement. In fact, he looked genuinely concerned.
Dammit. All these mushy feelings were really messing with that angsty hate sex thing we did so well.
I let out a long sigh, scrubbing my hands over my face. "I'm fine," I finally admitted. "My father just called, wanting to speak to you."
Archer's brows rose. "He did?"
"Steinwick brought the phone to me instead. Sly old fox. Anyway, my dad said he would call back another time and wanted to wish us congratulations on our engagement and gushed about how happy he was that his little girl had found love." I kept my tone flat as fuck; there was no way Archer could hear anything but sarcasm there. Yet for some reason, he was grinning. "What?"
"You said love."
I scowled. "I was joking."
He just smiled wider. "Sure you were."
I rolled my eyes and considered stabbing him with a fork. "Whatever. He said he'll be back for the wedding—with Cherry. Actually, explain that to me."
"Explain what?" he asked, pulling out the stool beside me and sitting down close enough that our thighs touched.
I waved a hand in the air, gesturing to my prior statement. "Cherry, your mom. How are you okay with her dating my dad when you know what a piece of shit he is? He's keeping her all drugged up and shit, too."
Archer just shrugged, his expression never shifting. "So?"
I frowned. "So? She's your mother."
"And Samuel is your father. Is that going to stop you from putting a bullet between his eyes the second he steps foot into our wedding in five and a half weeks?" Archer gave me a knowing look, before he snagged my last piece of toast.
I frowned, considering that perspective. "Well, no. But he tried to fucking sell me on a human black market. He deserves to die."
"Didn't try, baby girl. He did sell you. It's just fate that your Prince Charming swooped in and saved the day." He shot me a teasing wink.
I glared. "Prince Charming? More like Harvey Dent. But you want to tell me your mom did something equally bad? What was it?"
He finished his mouthful, then sighed heavily. "Cherry isn't as bad as your father, Kate. But she's no fucking mother. She never did anything inherently evil; she just didn't care. She doesn't hold the capacity for love. Having a baby with Damien was just an attempt to climb the ladder of the gang’s hierarchy. When she realized Damien didn't give a fuck about her or his kid, she lost interest in me. I wasn't raised by her, and thank god for that."
My heart ached for baby Archer, and I placed my hand on his leg, squeezing to show I was listening.
"She's a gold-digging whore, Princess. She's exactly what someone like Samuel Danvers deserves, and in the meantime, it suits my interests to have eyes on him at all times." He gave me a small shrug, crunching down the last of my toast, then dusted his fingers off over my plate.
"She's spying on him for you?" I never even considered that possibility.
He jerked a nod. "In exchange for a monthly stipend, yep. When they return to Shadow Grove, which was bound to happen at some point, your father will die and Cherry will move on to the next rich, horny idiot who takes her fancy."
What a sad pair we were. Then again, I'd never met Steele's parents, but they didn't exactly sound like exemplary examples of loving parents. And Kody had never even mentioned his outside of his deceased grandma.
&n
bsp; "Why keep my dad alive this long?" I propped my elbow on the counter and leaned my head on my hand. "Why not just kill him and reclaim your money?"
"Because, it's just money, Kate. I can make more money, but I can only give you one chance at vengeance. Don't you want to cut your pound of flesh from his body with your own blade?" He was so casual, like we were discussing whether to serve chicken or beef at the reception dinner, not considering murder. It was hot as hell.
I bit my lip and groaned. "That's actually one of the most romantic things you've ever said to me," I muttered, heat rising into my cheeks. It was one thing to tell a person you loved them, it was another to play a long game and keep an adversary alive at significant financial loss just to let the woman you love seek closure in the form of patricide.
Be still my heart.
Archer shot me a grin. "Anyway, I should get back into the gym. Kody left me strict instructions this morning about what to work on." He leaned forward and kissed me, then hopped off his stool.
I frowned. "So why'd you come in here if you're supposed to be training still?"
He quirked a lopsided smile as he walked backward out of the kitchen. "'Cause I missed you."
My jaw hit the floor, but he was already gone. Hot and cold motherfucker was constantly throwing me for a loop.
I picked up my phone, unlocked it, and found some new messages from Bree. Instead of answering them, I hit the video chat button. It only rang a couple of times before she answered, because she was stuck in a hospital bed and constantly had her phone in hand.
"Hey girl," she greeted me when the call connected. "Oh, you have your freshly-fucked face on. Did you just have a quickie?"
I gaped. "What? No! Jesus Bree, I just messaged you like ten minutes ago."
She shrugged. "I did say quickie. What's up?"
"I was thinking about stopping by the hospital today. Are you up for a visitor?" I was hopeful but wouldn't be surprised if she said no. She'd been going through a lot with the aftermath of the crash and coming to terms with her totally unexpected pregnancy.
Her smile beamed, though. "Yes, hell yes! Come and save me from my downward slide into insanity at the hands of Gilmore Girls."
I laughed. "What season are you up to now?"
"Five," she replied with a pained groan. "Girl, you don't understand. Logan is so... ugh, so freaking hot. Rory needs to ride that pony."
Thank fuck she was team Logan. "I'll check which of my shadows is free and head over soon."
"Awesome, I'll kick Dallas out when you get here." She blew me kisses, then ended the call. It made me smile to think of Dallas sitting there in the hospital with her while she binged chick-flick TV.
My phone went back into my jeans pocket beside my butterfly knife as I wandered upstairs to find Steele. I already knew Kody wasn't home, and Archer was in the gym. If Steele was out or sleeping, I could ask one of the security guards to go with me, but I'd rather hang with one of my guys.
As I reached the second floor, the soft sound of piano music drifted out of Steele's bedroom, and I paused a moment to listen. He played with so much soul I could hardly understand how he’d gone so long without it.
"Hey," I said softly, pushing his door open when the tune ended. "That was beautiful. What's it called?"
Steele looked over at me from his seat in front of his instrument and quirked a grin. "It doesn't have a name. What's up?" He was shirtless, his jeans not even buttoned up and no underwear in sight. Fuck, he was gorgeous.
"I want to go see Bree at the hospital. Would you come with me?" I leaned on the door frame, keeping a safe distance between us. That early morning ménage à trois had only set my mood for the day, and I was panting for more. But I guess I couldn't deal with stalkers and assassins with my legs in the air twenty-four-seven, so I was practicing some self-control. It sucked.
Steele nodded. "You bet. Let me just find a shirt." He stood up, showing off that drool-worthy V at his waist and confirming the fact that he was commando under his jeans. My pussy clenched, and I bit the inside of my cheek.
Down, girl. You've had plenty of vitamin D to last the day.
"I'll... wait downstairs," I said reluctantly, letting my eyes run all over his toned, tattoo-covered body as he bent to grab a T-shirt from his floor.
He smirked when he stood up and caught me looking. "You sure? I doubt Bree would mind if you were a bit late."
I let out a pained groan and retreated into the hallway. "Meet you downstairs!" I called back before I could change my mind, then raced back down to the foyer to pull my boots on.
Steele followed me just moments later, thankfully wearing more clothing, and led the way to a ruby-red Mustang that I'd never seen him drive before.
"Is this new?" I asked, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling my seat belt.
Steele buckled himself in, then turned over the engine with a rumble. "Not new, but I haven't driven her in a while. We decided to start changing it up with cars, though. Create less predictable targets."
I nodded my understanding. "Keep them away until we're ready to go on the offensive. Good thinking."
He shot me a smile, and we glided down the driveway to our front gate, waving at the guard as he let us out.
"I'm actually glad to get a few minutes alone with you," Steele told me as we drove out of the mansion district. "Not that this morning with Kody didn't blow my fucking mind"—he shot me a wicked grin, and my pulse raced in response—"but I need to explain that shit about the dead cat."
Oh yeah. That.
"If it's dragging up painful memories—"
"It is," he agreed, "but I still need to tell you. You don't remember anything about that time, so it's unfair of me to withhold information."
I disagreed; I didn't need to know everything. But he seemed determined to tell me. "Okay. So, why the dead cat? Why Lucky Cat on the bullet? I assumed he was just implying you had nine lives, but you guys seemed to read more into it."
Steele jerked a sharp nod, his hands flexing on the steering wheel. "Arch mentioned I used to call you Cat back then, and he said that he told you about your last night with us."
I cringed, ashamed of eleven-year-old me for running to the cops and getting Archer halfway killed. "Yeah, he explained."
Steele pulled in a deep breath and released it in a long sigh. "So, Rachel always had a crush on Arch. He never paid her any attention; she wasn't one of us, you know? She went to Rainy Prep and only hung out with us when she was feeling guilty."
Surprise rippled through me. "Rachel was at Rainy Prep? I never knew that." They were the sister school to Shadow Prep, where I'd gone to high school. Surely our paths would have crossed somewhere.
"She was four years above you," Steele reminded me. "Anyway, she developed this huge crush on Arch around the time we were thirteen, and it just got worse the more he ignored her. When she came around that night, she saw how he was with you, or how we both were, really." He shrugged.
I wrinkled my nose. "Was that a bit weird? I was just a kid."
Steele barked a laugh. "Okay, hindsight and extensive self-reflection has afforded me this level of insight. What we were feeling back then was love like a... I dunno, kindred spirit connection thing. It wasn't a sexual, creepy, predator thing." He shot me a grin. "That came later."
"Okay, so Rachel was jealous?"
Steele grimaced. "Understatement. When she worked out that it was you who'd called the cops on Damien, she blew up, wanted to run straight into the Reapers HQ and tell them it was you, not Arch."
"So why didn't she?" Because shit, I would have deserved it.
He sighed heavily. "I threatened her—made her scared enough that she'd keep her mouth shut. We had a huge blowup on the lawn outside Damien's house, where we'd been staying with you. When it clicked with Rachel that Arch had deliberately taken than beating to save you, she was..." He trailed off, lost in the memory for a moment.
I didn't want to intrude on his thoughts, but I also didn't w
ant to leave him alone with them. So I just reached out and placed my hand over his where it rested on the gear shift.
He glanced down, then turned his hand over to link our fingers and rested our combined hands in his lap.
"Anyway, she knew I called you Cat. I'd basically stopped calling you anything else by that stage. I finally laid it out to her that we would protect you no matter what the price, and she shut down. I could tell she was hurt that I'd basically chosen some random kid over my own twin, but I couldn't take the words back. The last thing she said before leaving that night was that you must be one lucky Cat."
Lucky Cat.
Fucking hell. It'd all been in capital letters on the bullet, so I'd thought my stalker meant Steele was lucky to be alive... but he didn't. He was reminding Steele that he'd been lurking in the shadows much, much longer than we were fully appreciating.
I couldn't believe we'd really thought we'd beaten him in Scott's death.
With every delivery, every message, my stalker was proving his point. He was smarter than us. Far too smart to be caught so easily.
But sooner or later, he'd slip up. We just needed to push him a bit harder.
11
Steele and I stopped by a fancy baby store on our way to the hospital, and I let him choose a gift for Bree's baby. She would be twelve weeks in just one more day, so I was taking a gamble that it was all going to work out okay.
When we got to her room—a private one with a gorgeous view over the park below—Dallas was just leaving.
"Hey Katie," he greeted me with a tired smile. "You're looking good, girl." He wrapped me in one of his signature bear hugs, lifting my feet off the ground. Thankfully, he set me back down again before Steele threatened to shoot him, but damn, Steele was probably close.
"Steele." Dallas nodded to my... Fuck. My boyfriend? That seemed weird, even inside my own head. Maybe I needed to edit that to one of my boyfriends. Like that made it any less strange.