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Smiling in satisfaction, I hurried to the master bathroom to take care of my own evening routine. This feeling was much preferable to the toxic heat that had overwhelmed me when Carmen told me that other men had pleasured her.
You are not special. The echo of her cruel words made my gut twist.
I’d wanted Carmen for years, obsessed over having her again. That obsession had never felt shameful before, but now…
It had never occurred to me that the attraction might be unbalanced. That I might have experienced the pinnacle of sexual pleasure with Carmen, but for her it was just a good fuck, as she had so inanely worded it.
I shook off the disconcerting sinking sensation at the center of my chest. I couldn’t take anything Carmen said at face value. Just as she shouldn’t take anything I said at face value.
My wits were dulled from lack of sleep. That was the most logical explanation for the sudden onset of these strange feelings. I needed a good night’s sleep, and that meant Carmen did too.
I found the meds Dr. Holloway had prescribed for her and tipped two pills into my hand before returning to the bedroom. I was about to set the glass of water down on the nightstand when Carmen returned to me.
She held out her hands in an ostentatious show of innocence. “See? No sharp objects.”
I offered her a bland smile. “Well done. Not trying to kill me is huge progress. You should be proud.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And I immediately regret my decision.”
“Don’t be so grouchy, kitten. Come to bed. You’ll be in a much better mood once you’ve slept. Then, you can argue with me again in the morning. I’m sure you must be very tired if your best comeback is a rude hand gesture.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, but she limped toward me. “You are such an asshole. How has no one murdered you by now?”
“Plenty have tried, but no one has managed it yet. I guess I’m just smarter than everyone else. Here,” I said before she could come up with another insult. “Dr. Holloway left you antibiotics to prevent an infection.”
I dropped the two pills into her hand and offered her the glass of water. She eyed them suspiciously, but she took them without protest.
“That was a very trusting thing to do,” I remarked. “No questions about the pills you just swallowed?”
She brushed past me and climbed into bed, shrugging off my inquiry. “You’ve already established that you don’t want me dead, so the pills aren’t poison. And I assume you would prefer that I don’t die from an infection. So, I took the antibiotics.”
“Very reasonable,” I approved.
I climbed into bed beside her, arranging her where I wanted. I liked how she felt tucked against me. She fit there perfectly.
As soon as I turned off the lights and flipped the switch to black out the huge windows, a soft meow and shift on the bedding signaled Bandit’s presence.
Carmen stiffened beside me.
“What, you don’t like cats?” I asked.
“You do?” she shot back.
“Not really, but I like this one.”
I briefly scratched behind Bandit’s ears, and he settled down in his usual place at my feet. Then, I turned my attention back to petting Carmen. I’d never appreciated how silky her hair was, how her skin was so soft beneath my rough hands.
“Why?” she asked after a beat of silence. “Why him? What’s special about Bandit?”
“I don’t know,” I mused. I’d never really thought about it before, but I did tolerate an unreasonable level of irritation because of his furry presence in my home. Managing the cat hair on my tailored suits alone should had been enough to kick his ass into the alley out back.
“I found him when he was a kitten.” I recounted aloud, sharing with Carmen and analyzing the events myself. “He was a runty little thing. I’d just finished making a rather messy example out of a man who tried to betray me. And then, I heard this furry fucker making the most pitiful noises. So, I picked him up. Everyone around me seemed really freaked out by my behavior, so I cooed at the little guy, just to fuck with them. He started purring, and they started pissing themselves.” I smiled at the memory. “I brought him home after that, and he just…stayed.”
“A heartwarming story.” Carmen’s dry remark was ruined by a yawn. “I knew that was how you ended up with a pet cat. Sociopath,” she mumbled.
How did she know? Had someone recounted the story, and it had somehow gotten back to her? I thought I’d killed all of those men.
“Who told you?” I shook her gently when she didn’t reply. “Who told you about the night I found Bandit?”
“No one,” she replied thickly. “I just figured it out.”
“What? How?”
