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“But he’s threatened to kill you—many times.”
“I don’t think he would.”
“You still left.”
“Because I wanted to give my child a better life. But now, I’m not so sure…”
He picked up the last towel from the basket and hung it up. “It doesn’t matter now. You can’t go back. You have no idea what his reaction would be. He might shoot you in the head on sight.”
My brother was right. I would probably be met with Cato’s fury.
“So you need to forget about him. This is your life now—our life.”
20
Cato
Six weeks came and went.
I sat in my office upstairs and looked at the pictures my guy had snapped for me. They were pictures of her hanging her clothes on the line to dry, pictures of her walking into the shops on the main street. In every image, she wasn’t looking at the camera, completely oblivious to the five men who watched her every move.
Even Landon didn’t notice.
That was concerning. It was a small town. It should be obvious those five men didn’t belong there.
I found myself smoking my cigar as I looked at her picture, seeing the noticeable bump of her stomach. It protruded past her waistline and made her shirts stretch tight against her body. It was another curve to that already curvy body.
I thought she’d never looked more beautiful.
Pregnancy suited her.
I hadn’t decided what to do about her. I’d watched from a distance, but I couldn’t discern her happiness. Was she glad she was gone? Or had she realized that her life with me was perfect and she’d taken it for granted? She hung up her clothes to dry because she didn’t even have a dryer. She lived in a tiny house that she shared with her brother. He was seen picking up women in Nice every weekend, while she stayed home alone.
She’d never been spotted with another man.
As long as she hadn’t slept with anyone, I wouldn’t either.
After six weeks of no sex, I started to feel angry all the time. I jerked off constantly, but it wasn’t the same as the real thing. But the idea of sleeping with a woman other than Siena felt wrong.
I didn’t owe her anything, especially not after she betrayed me, but it still felt wrong.
Because I knew I was going to drive down there and pick her up any day.
It was only a matter of time before I cracked.
I wondered if she missed me. I wondered what her reaction would be if I showed up on her doorstep. Would she scream in horror? Or would she step into my arms and kiss me? Would she cry and say she missed me?
Or was there a gun on the table, and she would pick it up and shoot me?
Just as I’d threatened to do to her.
I really had no idea.
But judging by these photographs, she was living a dull life. She didn’t have a job, and the only thing she did was walk down the market to gather food to cook meals for her and her brother. She busied herself taking care of the house and the laundry. She was basically a housewife in the 1800s.
No way she could be happy.
At least when she lived with me…she had me. I was there for her every night, and I was the father of her child. I provided everything she might need. I may slaughter people on the doorstep from time to time, but that wasn’t an everyday occurrence. It wasn’t the life she’d pictured, but it was the life she’d received nonetheless.
I had everything anyone could ever want—but now I felt like I had nothing at all.
The one thing that mattered to me was gone.
I wasn’t happy. In fact, I’d never been so miserable.
I had all the money in the world, but I was miserable.
Ironic.
21
Siena
Now that I was well past my first trimester, I needed a checkup at the doctor.
I used my brother’s phone to make a few calls to Nice so I could get in to be seen. It would be another two weeks before I could see an obstetrician. That was a while away, but I took the appointment anyway. Nothing abnormal had happened in my pregnancy, but I thought it was smart to make sure everything was okay.
“Landon?” I’d finished making lunch so we sat at the small table together.
“Yeah?” He was scrolling through his phone while he ate, texting one of the women he’d met recently.
“What are we going to do when the baby comes?”
“I thought they would sleep in your room?”
“No. I meant with the delivery. If I check in to a hospital, I’ll have to give my name. If Cato wants to take the baby, he’ll be checking for that everywhere.”
“I hadn’t thought about that…”
Now that I missed him, I didn’t care if he wanted to see the baby. But I was afraid he would take the baby away from me and leave me behind. That would be a worse fate than death.
