leave Catalina alone in the apartment. She had an alarm system, but that wasn’t enough when I wasn’t around. Instead of waking her up just to scare her, I slept on the couch, close to the front door, my gun on the coffee table.
The most logical guess about Vox’s plans was that he intended to leave the country. He could never make money doing anything else under my rule, because once he was found, we would kill them. He was smart enough to figure that out. To stay in the city just to kill me seemed pointless, especially when he would never rise to the throne through assassination, which wasn’t the proper channel to take the reins. The rest of the Skull Kings would kill him because the action was a betrayal. If he really wanted to take me on, he had to do it in the ring with a fight to the death. But he could never ask for the opportunity since he was a blood traitor. And if he wanted to take Catalina, that wouldn’t accomplish anything either—because he had nothing to gain from it.
Unless torturing me was all he wanted.
I hardly slept that night because I couldn’t stop thinking about Vox. If he was still in the city, it wouldn’t take long to find him, unless he was locked up somewhere, biding his time. And if he left the country, I definitely wouldn’t find him then.
Catalina woke up and used her crutches to get to the bathroom. When she spotted me in the living room, she stopped. “Why are you sleeping on the couch?”
I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Didn’t want to wake you.”
“I’d rather be woken by you than wake up alone.” She used her crutches to move toward me, the rubber bottoms tapping against the hardwood floor with every move she made. When she reached the couch, she balanced on one foot then sat beside me.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her everywhere, kissed her on the neck, the collarbone, and then the lips, pushing her hair from her face so I could enjoy her, appreciate the fact that she was really mine, that I would never have to lose her again.
Her arms circled my neck, and she pulled me close, hugging me tight like she’d missed me all night. “Heath?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Why do I feel like there’s something wrong?”
I held her against my chest, my face hidden from her because her chin was on my shoulder. My arms squeezed her tight, and I sighed. “I think we should stay at my place for a while.” It was much safer there. She would be protected when I wasn’t there. The new door I’d gotten her was nothing compared to the security equipment I had there.
She slowly pulled away, reading my eyes like the answer to her question would be in my gaze.
I told her the truth. “Vox took off with his men. I don’t know where he is.”
“Okay…”
“He probably took off when he figured out I knew what he’d planned. He’s probably already out of the country and I’ll never see him again.”
She waited because she knew there was more.
“But I might be wrong. He might still be here.” I didn’t tell her the exact details, that he might kill me…or hurt her. It was implied in my silence, in the way I gave her so little information. “My place is better equipped. It’s safer—for the both of us.”
Instead of getting scared or asking a million questions, she nodded. “Alright. I’ll get my things.”
“You don’t have to stay with me. If you’d rather be with Damien—”
“I go where you go, Heath.” The resolution in her eyes told me she was certain, that she understood what she’d signed up for when she agreed to spend her life with me. There would be dangers. There would be uncertainty. But she could handle it.
My hands cupped her face, and I brought our foreheads together, closing my eyes as I held her. She was loyal to me like my men, loyal to me like a soldier on the same battlefield. That was what I needed in a woman—bravery. “You’ll be safe. I promise.”
I moved her clothes and essentials to my place and stocked my kitchen with everything she might need when I wasn’t home. I hadn’t been there much, so I had nothing but unperishable products.
I suspected she wouldn’t return to that apartment, not unless it was to remove her things for good. Why