“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!”
She practically danced to the couch, then plopped down to turn on her brand-new seventy-inch flat screen TV.
“Katarina…,” Drago spoke her name very calmly yet irate at the same time. “Why did you feel the need to cover OUR”—he said that word rather sarcastically before he continued—“bathroom in tampons and pads?”
She shrugged looking through what she should watch. “I’ve learned you can never be overprepared when it comes to the time of the month.”
“If you’re not careful, this marriage isn’t going to end in divorce….” Drago went to stand in front of the huge TV, so she could hear his next few words very carefully. “It’s going to end in murder.”
Satisfied she paid him back, she smiled brightly before she kept flicking the channels pretending that he wasn’t standing in front of it. When it landed on the perfect TV show, she kept it there as the title screen of Deadly Women started to play.
“Witch,” he mumbled harshly under his breath, taking the warning before he turned around to grab some clothes out of the drawer.
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Let’s see… the only color I’ve seen you in is black. You have a creepy-ass cat. You probably sacrificed someone to be that good at math, and you are currently watching a show where women try to get away with murder.”
Well, that was descriptive and mostly true. “So, when you say ‘witch,’ you don’t mean it like ‘bitch’?”
“Yeah, sure,” he grumbled, clearly on the verge of killing her.
In that context, she could take being called that as a compliment.
By the time the woman on the show killed her husband, Drago had to walk away. When he started to walk upstairs, a giggling Kat couldn’t help but curiously watch him walk up, still wondering what exactly was up there.
Instead of going to see what it was, she used the alone time to change into comfier clothes, and by the time she was finished, she heard a knock on the door, her last surprise for Drago coming right on time.
Kat went to the door to open it before he made it to the top of the steps to see who it was. When Maria, followed by Adalyn, Lake, Elle, and Chloe, came in, Drago went right back to whatever the fuck he was doing.
“Brought some pizza,” Adalyn happily said, going to the couch looking like she was ready to eat and get the party started.
Lake practically ran with her. “And I got the soda!”
“We brought the movies,” Elle said as she and Chloe laid down the options on the coffee table in front of them.
“And I brought my company.” Maria plopped down in her pink velvet outfit that shockingly wasn’t a dress. “You’re welcome.”
Joining the girls, Kat thought she could get used to this aspect of being married if it meant she had a group of girls to be around for the first time in her life, as she took herself a slice of pizza. “Thank you all so much. This is awesome.”
“You’re welcome.” Sweet Elle spoke on behalf of all of them while looking through all the chick flicks they had brought. “What should we watch—”
Chloe interrupted her, staring at the TV. “W-What is this?”
“Oh. It’s called Deadly Women.” Kat looked for the remote to change the channel, not sure if the girl could handle it.
Everyone looking at the TV went silent to listen, but it was the tall brunette who cocked her head to the side to ask the question that was going to become obvious in about five seconds. “What’s it about?”
Since Drago had put it so eloquently, she used his wording. “It’s about women who try getting away with murder.”
Finally finding the remote, she was about to change it.
“Wait.” Maria stopped her. “This looks interesting.”
Twenty-Eight
Kat in Wonderland
“Holy shit!” Adalyn shoved another handful of popcorn down her throat when a woman poisoned her husband who was already dying of cancer.
Elle couldn’t look away from the TV. “I don’t understand. He was weeks away from dying.”
Kat had already seen this episode before, and no one could figure out the reason why she did it, but it was Maria who finally solved the case.
The blonde popped a single kernel in her mouth. “He just wasn’t dying fast enough.”
Chloe’s eyes went wide. Surprising them all, she was entertained by the show as well as they continued their marathon. “Oh my—”
“Jesus,” Lake finished for her, but then picked up her phone when it dinged. “Vincent said I have five seconds to get home, or he is gonna come in here to get me.”
Collectively, they all looked at their phones to see how late it was.
“Crap.” The sweet blonde saw the messages from Nero.
“Yeah, I need to go too,” Chloe agreed, seeing hers from Lucca.
“Ha-ha, Angel’s the one who said I could stay as long as I want.”
Yeah, well, that’s ’cause he’s probably glad I’m not alone with Drago.
Hurriedly, they cleaned up, then filed out of the apartment. With Maria going last out the door, Kat stopped her before she could leave.
“Can I ask you something?” She kept her voice low for only her to hear.
The tall blonde nodded her head seeing it was serious. “Of course.”
It was a risk for her to ask this of his sister, but she had to know the truth. The killer did try to kill her, after all, and she needed to know who she had to stay the fuck away from. “Did Lucca find out about Todd taking you to go wedding dress shopping?”
“Yes.” Maria gave her the harsh truth. “But if you are thinking what I think you are thinking, it’s not Lucca.”
Getting what she needed to know, she gave her a nod pretending to agree with her.
Only time will tell.
Being sure to smile as she left, not wanting to alarm her while she closed the door, she went back to the couch, her mind turning to Drago, who hadn’t come back down the steps.
What is he doing up there? Kat picked up the remote and turned down the TV to better hear what he might be doing. When she heard metal clacking every now and then, she wondered if she should go up there but decided against it, not wanting to invade his privacy. He hadn’t told her what was up there, and it was probably for a reason.
Getting herself comfortable on the sofa, she had to admit that it was a great day, and it wasn’t long before she fell fast asleep…
…It took Kat longer to heal than her brothers, but at least it would be a long time before he came for her again. With her three older brothers taking the hits before her, she received his brutality the least, only getting a hold of her if Dominic wasn’t around or wasn’t physically able. This last time though, it was the first time he had to watch.
She noticed his presence changed the second she woke up. A silent power radiated through him, which intensified the more she healed. By the time the bruises left her body, Dominic spoke to her differently.
“I didn’t come down for that,” he told her when she reached for her homework to show him.
She scrunched up her nose. They always worked on school stuff, especially math. “You didn’t?”
He shook his head.
Kat put her stuff away, going to sit closer to him on the bed. “What’s wrong?” she asked
, confused.
“We have to do something,” he told her, looking down at her with a serious expression. “You know our little secret?”
She nodded.
“We have to tell him now.”
“W-We do?” Now she really didn’t understand. Her brother had told her to keep the secret ever since he’d figured it out.
“Yes.” Dom held out his hand for her to take it. When she placed hers in his, he looked at her sternly. “You ready?”
This time when she nodded, she had to put on a brave face. Even at ten years old she knew once the secret came out, her life was going to change forever.
Following him up the stairs, she squeezed his hand for dear life when they stood in front of the devil as he sat at the table counting money.
“I thought you knew better than to show me her face,” Lucifer spewed to his son with a hateful tongue.
Dominic ignored him, whispering in her ear before he smiled at her. “Go show him what you can do, Kat.”
“What the fuck do you thin—”
“Just give her a minute,” his son told him.
Trying to be brave like her brother had taught her, she walked closer to the devil.
“Do. Not. Touch. Her.” The twenty-year-old warned in a tone that his father would sometimes respect.
Knowing that her brother was here to protect her, she sat down at the table next to Lucifer, then started picking up the scattered money he had yet to count, placing matching bills on top of one another. She was at it for a bit, carefully sorting out all the money till all the stacks were laid out in a row going from ones to hundreds.
“Five thousand three hundred and ninety-seven.”
Lucifer, who had just sat there the whole time, watching her work, now looked at his son. “Is she right?”
“Yes,” he assured him without a doubt in his mind. “But you can count it, if you want.”
“She’s special...” The devil leaned forward in his chair, staring at the little girl he’d never wanted to call his daughter right in her eyes. “Like him.”
“She is,” he confirmed. “Do not make the same mistake again by leading her right to our enemies.”
Lucifer’s dead black eyes snapped back to his son’s at the insult. “Is there anything else you want to fucking say?”
“She is too valuable to us.” Dominic placed his hands on the table before he stood. Staring the devil down, he showed him the monster he had created. “And you will not touch her again.”…
… Kat woke up about an hour later unsure if it was from the memory or from still hearing the clatter of metal that was now accompanied by grunting. Beginning to worry, she got up from the couch having to move a sleeping Shadow to do so before she started walking up the steps. She figured if he really didn’t want her up there, he would have told her so. Unsure of what she expected when she reached the top of the steps, she probably should have guessed.
Standing there for several minutes, she had another moment of seeing him for what he was. That was what happened when a person didn’t know you were watching, and with Drago it was almost mesmerizing to watch.
He was wearing only gym shorts, his body drenched in sweat from the vigorous workout—she couldn’t dream of ever doing—with his legs and his good arm. It was obvious he was trying to get back to the form he once had before, practically killing himself up here for hours to do so, but it was that look in his eyes of pure determination that truly enthralled her.
Like Dominic, Lucifer hadn’t marked him like the others. He made him stronger. It was so rare she thought she would only see it in Dominic, but now she could see the same mark in Drago. Both men had an unmatched strength, refusing to let the devil win, even when they might have failed.
Turning around, she headed back down the steps undetected and walked to the fridge to get something before heading back up. This time when she reached the top, she made sure her presence was known.
Drago curiously looked at her while wiping the sweat off his face with the T-shirt he had hanging over his shoulder.
She handed him a protein shake. It was her way of calling a truce.
“Thank you.”
Kat took a seat on the bench beside him, feeling a bit guilty. “I’m sorry if I pushed you too far. In hindsight, since we’re married now and all, I should have told you about the stuff I wanted, and I probably shouldn’t have gotten the most obnoxious, biggest size there was.”
It was the first genuine laugh she heard from him. “Probably.”
“I can return them and get a normal size TV and cat tree.” She laughed with him.
“Keep ’em. Like you said, Shadow needs his exercise, and by the sounds of it, I think the girls would be pretty upset if I let you return the TV. I wouldn’t put it past Maria to kill me for that.”
Kat laughed louder, not at the joke, but at how accurate his statement probably was.
“You know, the only reason I didn’t have a TV was because I didn’t have anyone to watch it with.”
Ow. Was her heart starting to hurt?
“I probably should have gotten one before you got here, but if I had known you wanted one so bad, I would have bought you one, Kat.”
Yep. It was everything she could do not to grab her chest at this point. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”
“Good.” Drago opened the bottle and started to suck down the much-needed liquid. “Who bought all that stuff for you?”
“Angel.” She laughed once more, feeling bad for her poor brother she’d used to get back at Drago.
“All right.” He nodded, drinking the last drop.
“I don’t think you should be working out like this considering you have stitches from a bullet you took just a day ago.”
“I’ve worked myself harder with less,” he assured her, showing his determination yet again even if it did make him look crazy.
“Well, you’re not going to keep working out, are you?”
Seeing that she was worried, he assured her once more, “No, I’m done.”
“Good.” She breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious he was exhausted, whether he admitted it or not. She took another look at the room past all the weights, taking notice of something. “Is this supposed to be a gym?”
“No. It’s technically supposed to be the bedroom. Those doors lead to a bathroom and closet.”
“Really?” Curiously, she stood and went to a door that opened up into a huge walk-in closet that held some suits before she opened the other door that went into the most amazing bathroom that had two sinks, a walk-in shower with two rainfall spouts, and a beautiful soaking tub. The one downstairs was a miniature version if this one, with only a sink and a shower. “This was up here the whole time, and you didn’t tell me?! Why haven’t you been using this?”
When she came back out, it looked like Drago was about to say something, but then he closed his mouth before finally answering, “I suppose we should move up here now, huh?”
“I mean, only if you want….” Her voice trailed off. For some reason, she felt guilty changing a man she’d only been married to for a day.
“Yeah, it’ll be cool to properly use this space.” Getting up, he actually gave her a smile. “I’ll try and find time to work on doing that for you.”
“Thank you.” She found herself smiling back wondering what kind of rabbit hole she’d fallen in when she’d walked up those steps. With both of them going back downstairs, she only hoped… she didn’t find her way back out.
Kat in Wonderland had a nice ring to it. Don’t you think?
It just might.
Twenty-Nine
The Fucking Rabbit Hole
Drago came down the steps starving, then ate all the leftover pizza before he took a quick shower.
She, however, went back to her couch still exhausted from her long day, but by the time he finally went to bed, she couldn’t get herself as comfortable on this godforsaken couch as she had earlier.
“Christ.
” When she did her tenth roll to try to get comfy, Drago couldn’t stand to hear her toss and turn any longer. “I’m not sleeping naked, Katarina, and I’ll even put a pillow between us if it makes you happy, if you would just sleep on the damn bed.”
Kat thought about it for a moment, unsure if she should.
“I only touch women who want to be touched, Katarina, even if that woman is my wife.” He gave her a promise before he leaned up and slammed a pillow down beside him to get her to feel comfortable enough to join him. “Now, get the hell over here.”
“Fine!” she finally agreed, getting up and climbing into the empty side of the bed.
The little bell around Shadow’s neck got louder as he jumped up in bed, then sat on the pillow wedged between them, using it as his own personal bed.
“Hell no, I said you could sleep up here,” Drago hissed before he looked at the cat, realizing exactly why Kat might have called her cat Shadow. “Not you.”
Kat gave Shadow a nice pet. “Try and move him, then.”
He stared into the eyes that glowed yellow in the night which were now sinisterly staring him down like he understood every word they’d spoken. Drago’s mind seemed to quickly change when he rolled over and pulled the blankets up around him like they were a barrier.
She was grateful he couldn’t see the smile that now tilted her lips in the dark.
With the purring in her ear, it wasn’t going to take long for her to drift to sleep in a sea filled with dreams. Just as she was nodding off, she heard his voice, which seemed to hold a bit of guilt of his own.
“I didn’t want to ever get married either… I just wanted you to know that.”
Kat could have taken it as an insult, like she had meant it when she’d thrown those hateful words at him earlier, but she didn’t. Instead, she knew all too well what he meant.
This time when she would drift off to sea, it wouldn’t be just her; it would be both of them, as they sat in the same boat. Together.
* * *
Drago: Made Men, #6 Page 11