my view just a moment ago when I drove in the opposite direction. “Oh my god.” I slammed on the brakes, and my eyes went to the rearview mirror. A brigade exited the cemetery and came this way, a string of equally armored cars.
We were in the middle of a war.
Cato turned to me, giving me a look so cold there were shards of ice in his gaze. His jaw was clenched with the same tightness as his fists, and he looked so livid, like he didn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t decide how he wanted to kill me—if he wanted to strangle me or shoot me. “You aren’t as clever as you think you are.” He stepped out of the car.
The pulse in my neck exploded into a raging panic. My chest couldn’t keep up with my need for air, and the adrenaline was so strong, I thought I might pass out then and there. Cato knew about this the entire time. I thought I’d played him—but he played me.
He opened my door and unclicked my safety belt. “Out.”
“Cato—”
He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the car.
I screamed as the hair was yanked from my scalp and I was pulled from the car like an animal. My body hit the hot asphalt, and my knees scraped against the rough surface.
He grabbed me by the neck and pulled me to my feet before he guided me past the militia and to his private car. The back door was already open, and he pushed me inside, making me fall across the leather seats as he slammed the door behind me.
“Shit.”
When he opened the door on the other side, that’s when the gunshots went off.
The war had begun.
The second he got in, the car took off in the opposite direction, taking us away from the battle that raged where we’d sat just moments ago.
As if nothing had happened at all, Cato looked out the window. He didn’t scream or yell. He didn’t pound his fist into my face. He was unnaturally still and quiet, and that made him far more terrifying.
“Cato, it’s not how it looks—”
With lightning speed, he struck me across the face and made my head smack into the window. “Be silent, bitch.” His arctic gaze burned into mine, and now he was the asshole I’d met a month ago—only worse. Now he was a monster, a demon. He was the Cato Marino everyone warned me about.
“Please listen to me.”
He moved to hit me again.
I blocked his hit and pushed back. “I changed my mind. I turned around. I couldn’t go through with it.”
He got his fingers around my neck and squeezed me so hard I couldn’t breathe. “I don’t give a shit if you changed your mind. When we arrive at my estate, I will put you on your knees and execute you like the traitors before you. Your blood will seep into the soil and bring new life to my garden. Your body will be dumped in the landfill where I put my enemies—and you will rot like the trash that you are.”
I tried to push his hand away, but the lack of oxygen made me weak. I couldn’t put up a fight to match him—even if I were fully prepared for it.
Just when I was about to pass out, he released me.
“I did it to save my father. And if I refused, they were going to rape and kill me.”
He faced forward, indifferent to my statements. “Your father is already dead. Perhaps if you were smarter, you would have figured that out.”
“What…?”
He didn’t look at the emotion on my face. He didn’t care about me at all anymore. “They killed him the second they had him. You did all of this for nothing. You could have asked for my help at any time. Instead, you conspired against me and actually believed you had a chance to accomplish the impossible.”
“I wanted to ask for help, but I was afraid you would kill me.”
He looked out the window, his hands resting on his thighs.
“You would have killed me, Cato. I had no other option. I had to save my father…but in the end, I changed my mind. I couldn’t do that to you. You didn’t deserve it…and I couldn’t go through with it.”
“Maybe you turned around because you knew I was on to you.”
“I didn’t.”
“We’ll never know,” he said coldly. “And I don’t care either way. You made your choice, and I’ve