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“How romantic…”
“It’s for their benefit, trust me.”
“Because you’re so unlikeable?” I smeared the cheese onto a slice of bread. Then I added a drop of honey.
Landon grabbed his fork and went straight for the salmon. “You know I’m an ass.”
“How about you just stop being an ass?”
“You make it sound so easy. Like I can just turn it off.”
“Well, you’d better. You aren’t rich anymore, so it’s not like a woman is gonna put up with you.”
“But I’m good-looking.” He waggled his eyebrows. “And that’s more important than money.”
I rolled my eyes.
He wore a black t-shirt that hugged his muscular arms. Black ink was down his left arm, reaching all the way to his wrist. He looked similar to Father, but he’d also inherited Mother’s features as well. “How’s the kid?”
“Doing well, I assume. Other than the morning sickness, I don’t feel pregnant.”
“I can kinda tell. You’re a little thicker around the middle.”
“You never say that to a pregnant woman, Landon.”
“What?” he asked innocently. “It doesn’t look bad.”
“Still not a compliment.”
“Coming from me, that’s the best compliment you’re going to get.” He ate more of his food, stuffing his mouth and chewing quickly. “Damn, this is good. That guy knows how to cook.”
“Yes, he’s the best of the best. Maybe the weight gain you’ve noticed isn’t from the baby at all.”
“Judging by how quickly you’re stuffing your face, you might be right.”
I threw a piece of bread at his face.
He let it bounce off his cheek before he kept eating.
We spent the next few minutes eating in silence as we enjoyed the sunshine. There was a slight breeze in the air that played with my hair. The humidity had died down so it was starting to feel crisp.
Landon ate everything off his plate then wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I haven’t had a meal like that in a long time.”
“Aren’t you crashing with some woman?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t cook. I eat out most of the time.”
“And who is she?”
“No one.” He drank his iced tea. “She’s just giving me a place to crash in exchange for good sex. It’s a win-win for both of us. I’ll probably be leaving soon. Just need to find the next place to go.”
“You have money saved, so what are you waiting for?”
“Trying to lay low. I’m sure Damien is still looking for me.”
“I’ll ask Cato to tell them to grant you immunity.”
He cocked his head. “And why would Cato do that?”
“Because I asked him to.” He usually did anything I asked him to do, if it was that important to me.
“And I don’t see why Damien and Micah would agree.”
“Cato can be very persuasive.” Cato could make anything happen because he had all the power. Since annihilating the Siberians after they tried to steal his money, Cato had probably reminded everyone in the underworld that he was at the top of the food chain.
“So what’s going on with you two?”
I preferred to speak in person because my cell phone was being screened. I couldn’t share any secrets with Landon over the phone—not if I wanted them to stay secrets. Talking in person was the only way to ensure we weren’t overheard. But I wondered if Cato could hear me anyway, if there was a cracked window somewhere. My eyes scanned the side of the house, but I didn’t detect anything abnormal. “We have a relationship, but he still claims that he’ll kill me.”
“Do you believe him?”
I found it hard to believe that Cato could kill me after the deep bond that had formed between us. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt that pull, that magnetic energy. We weren’t just lovers, but something deeper than that. If he ever lost me, he wouldn’t brush it off the way he brushed off his other murders. “No. But…I could be wrong. The other night, this organization tried to steal almost three hundred million dollars from him. His men destroyed the group and then brought the people in charge to the house. He executed each one…including a woman.”
“What does it matter that she was a woman?” he asked. “Women are criminals and murderers too.”
“She cried as she begged for her life.”
“Trust me, men do that too.”
“I just…it made me realize that could be me. He killed her, so why wouldn’t he kill me? He was barbaric and shot five people to their deaths, letting their blood drain into his fountain. Sometimes I forget who Cato really is…what he’s capable of.”
“He’s a stone-cold killer.”
“And he cares about his reputation more than anything else.”
“Reputation is important,” Landon said. “It precedes you in every room you walk into. It dictates the way people treat you. It keeps the monsters in line. Without a powerful reputation, you have nothing.”
“Which is why I think it’s possible he might do it…”
