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When I saw her walk through that door, I was sure my eyes had fucking betrayed me. She should be in class where I left her, gossiping with that little cousin of hers, not elbows deep in my business. This was the kind of thing Catherinelle should have never seen; she should have never even heard about it.
I opened the door to the passenger side with one hand and threw her ass in the chair, holding her feet up and taking her fancy boots off. They ended up in a plastic bag, buried in my trunk.
“What are you doing with my shoes?” she asked when I jumped behind the wheel and drove the hell away from there.
“Burning them, Catherinelle, because you left your footprints at the scene of a crime.” I inhaled and exhaled because if she had been anyone else, any other man I knew, this would have ended up in a fist fight.
“I know you’re mad at me…”
Ah, that’s cute, Miss Nucci.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m close to locking you in the fucking basement. Why the hell do you have to do this, Cat? All the fucking time, all you do is look for trouble with a magnifying glass. Why?”
“Because you always leave me out. You, Gino, my dad, everyone has always treated me like I’m some kind of invalid. I can’t walk alone anywhere like I’m stupid or something; no one talks to me about what the famiglia is doing, like I won’t be able to handle it.”
She wouldn’t be able to handle it. People like Catherinelle, angels walking the earth, they always thought the ugliness and the dark had limits, but that was wrong.
“You can’t walk alone because if you’re vulnerable, you’ll end up just like that guy we left behind. People will harm you to get to Gino, and the fact that I have to tell you this shows that you are just a naïve little girl who’s too spoiled to understand that not everything can be the way you want it.”
Her small fist slammed on the dashboard, and she growled in frustration.
“I am not a naïve little girl. I can take care of myself, jackass. I know how to shoot a gun and handle a knife; grandpa thought me.”
“Shut up, Catherinelle. For one fucking moment, just keep your mouth shut.”
This girl – this beautiful, wild, out of her fucking mind girl – was actively trying to kill me. It had all become clear now: even if it was by the hand of her family or the consequences of a heart attack, Catherinelle Nucci would put me six feet under.
“Hugo, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were out on business.”
“Who even told you where to find me?” Whoever it was would bite the dust really soon.
“I followed you.”
“You WHAT?”
“Yes, I followed you! I didn’t intend to walk in on something. I just…I thought you were with another woman.”
Fucking shit.
“Catherinelle, I don’t care what you thought. Why would you even think about following me? You should be in school.”
“Because I wanted to know where you disappear to every week. When I got here, and I heard all the moaning, I was sure you were with a woman.”
And what the fuck was I supposed to do now? How did I deal with her? Tell her that what I did, where I went didn’t concern her or spit out that I didn’t do the clingy, jealous girlfriend gig? Flings should die between the walls of a bedroom.
“If you weren’t a woman and my boss’ sister, I would dump you in the Hudson for what you saw today. You know that, right? If you let a word out about it…”
“Hugo, I would never. I can keep a secret.”
For some reason that was what sent me over the edge. I pushed on the breaks so suddenly, the car behind us almost hit my Rover, and I pulled over to the side of the road. I didn’t care how busy the street was or how many eyes were on us.
“Can you, Catherinelle? Because this fucked up mistake between us was supposed to stay secret, and you talked to your damn cousin.”
“Mistake?”
“Yes, woman, call it as it is. A mistake. Look at the things you’re doing, following me around, acting like you’re my jealous wife, gossiping about what I did to you. I’m not a high school boy, Catherinelle,” I shouted at her, and she inhaled sharply. My outrage took her by surprise, but the anger overwhelmed that side of me that always wanted to look after her. “I’m a man with a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, and I don’t care how much you’re trying to play this role of the brave woman; you’re still gullible as shit. We’re not Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Cat. We are two people who should have never started something together.”
“Hugo…” she whispered.
