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He placed the mug in front of me then sat across from me. His light beard was gone, and his tanned complexion practically glowed in the afternoon sun. He hunched forward and cupped the mug with both hands as he stared at me.
I took a drink as I kept my eyes focused on him. A more beautiful man I’d never seen. He wasn’t just pretty to the eyes, but rugged and masculine like a cowboy. His criminal roots showed in his cold exterior, but no matter how many crimes he committed or lives he took, nothing could stomp out the light in his eyes. There was still a soul in there, a loneliness that was so deep it was impossible to miss. “Who were you talking to?”
He drank his coffee, his expression betraying annoyance at my question.
“Not asking to be nosy. Just trying to make conversation.”
“Then ask how I’m doing.”
I let the hostile rebuff slide. “I already know how you’re doing. When are we returning to Florence?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I just need an hour to shower and get ready.”
“Then that’s when we’ll leave.”
I cupped the mug with both hands to feel the warmth against my fingertips. A part of me wanted to go back to bed and spend the rest of the afternoon screwing. Cato had invigorated me with a new sexuality. I never knew sex could be that good, could be so simple and wonderful. I’d been more intimate with him than I had with anyone else, and while that should have made me feel guilty, it didn’t because I enjoyed it so much.
He didn’t take his blue eyes off me once. “I was talking to Bates.”
“I thought it was none of my business.”
“It’s not. Now I’m telling you because I want to tell you.”
“Or because you knew you were being a dick.”
Instead of flashing me a hateful look, a hint of playfulness entered his gaze. “You got me.”
“Every time I see you interact with your brother, it seems tense.”
“We’re focused men.”
And Cato was the most intense man on the planet. “Are you two close?”
“He’s the only person in the world I trust implicitly.”
“What about your mother?”
“She doesn’t count. Different kind of relationship.” He took a drink of his coffee. “My mother will be gone in a few years. Bates and I will be side by side for decades to come. He’s my blood and my business partner. I will never have a wife or children, so he’s the only family I’ll ever have.”
That was the most depressing thing I’d ever heard. “Let me ask you something. Do you not want a family because you just don’t want one? Or because you think it’s not an option?”
He drank his coffee again and didn’t answer the question.
I didn’t press him on it. It was stupid to antagonize a bear that was already irritated. “If Bates is just like you, I don’t see how you get anything done. That’s a lot of stubborn testosterone for one room.”
“We’re both assholes. That’s why we get along so well.”
My brother and I weren’t that close, probably because we were so different. But right now, he was all I had in life.
“He doesn’t like you.” Cato took another long drink of his coffee and finished the cup.
I stilled at the comment and the abrupt way he said it. “He doesn’t know me.”
“He doesn’t trust you. Doesn’t want me spending any more time with you than necessary.”
I kept the same calm façade, but my heart was beating a million miles a minute. Thankfully, he couldn’t feel my heartbeat. Otherwise, my pulse would be a dead giveaway. I defused the statement. “Neither of you trusts anyone, so that doesn’t say much.” I drank my coffee even though the last thing I needed was caffeine. It was idiotic of me to think I could manipulate someone like Cato. I made more progress than I expected because we were monogamous for the time being, but the second I stepped out of line, the Marino Brothers would be on me in a heartbeat.
“We don’t trust anyone for a reason. It keeps us alive.”
“I really seem dangerous to you?” I asked, forcing a chuckle I didn’t feel.
“Just your pussy.” He rose to his feet and grabbed both mugs to carry them into the kitchen.
Once he wasn’t staring at me, I let out the breath that was packed deep in my lungs. My fingertips felt numb from the adrenaline. I was dancing on a fine line, risking my neck every single day I spent with Cato. If I didn’t finish my task soon, he might dig a little deeper and realize exactly who I was. Or maybe the reason Bates didn’t trust me was because he already knew exactly who I was.
Landon was waiting for me in the back of the bar.
Lights were low, and few people were drinking this late on a Tuesday. Landon was in all black, holding his glass of scotch like it was a crutch he needed to walk. He hardly lifted his gaze when I took the seat across from him.
