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"How old is he?"
"Nine weeks," I reply.
"He’s beautiful," she says, her tone sincere.
I can’t stop the smile that curves my lips, "He’s a Savannah."
"Have you had him long?"
"No," I rub my finger over Andy’s tiny forehead and he yawns, "Michael gave him to me yesterday."
She blinks rapidly, "The Capo gave you a kitten?"
"Umm, yeah." I scowl at her, and she stares at me with a strange look on her face.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Out with it." I point a finger in her direction, "It’s not nothing when you have that weird look on your face."
She tilts her head, "It’s just... The Capo, getting you a kitten…is—"
"What?"
"It’s out of character."
"Hmm," I bite the inside of my cheek. "Well, I am his wife, after all." Not that you’ll catch me saying that to him, but he’s not here in the room, so it’s fine to say it aloud in front of a stranger, isn’t it? Speaking of… "Why are you here, Doc?"
"Call me Aurora." She half smiles. "I came to check on you, Karma."
It’s my turn to blink, then I square my shoulders. "You’re the one who did it." I touch the slight bump behind my ear which, while I had managed to push it to the back of my mind, in all honesty, I haven’t forgotten about. "I heard your voice last night. I thought maybe I had dreamed it, but guess I didn’t."
"I was there," She folds her hands in her lap. "It’s why I had to come and check on you today."
"You were there and you didn’t stop him from tagging me?" I say in a low voice. "What kind of a doctor are you that you were actually part of this process? Isn’t this going against the Hippocratic oath or something?"
She glances away, then back at me, "You have to understand that this is the Capo you are talking about. I am but a lowly doctor. I have to do as he says, else—"
"Else?"
"He’ll kill not just me, but every member of my family. He’ll wipe out all trace of us if we defy him."
I take in her wide gaze, the white skin around her lips. "Wow, you really do believe that, don’t you? You are afraid of him."
"He’s the Capo," she says simply. "His word is law."
"And I am his wife. Supposedly." I scowl, "And this is what he does to me." I rise to my feet with the sleeping Andy in my arms, then walk over to the basket. I place him in it, soothe him when he wakes up so he falls asleep again. If only it were that easy for me to forget everything he’s done to me. I turn to face her. "You know this is wrong… So wrong," I ball my fists at my side. "He tagged me like I am some…some…animal with no rights."
"He," she clears her throat, "he only wants to keep you safe."
I stare at her, "I can’t believe you are taking his side."
"I am not really." She swallows. "If I were, I wouldn’t have risked his anger and insisted he allow me to come check on you this morning."
"Fat lot of good that will do." I begin to pace. "You were there and you didn’t stop him."
"I tried, believe me. His brother and I begged him not to do it, but he was most insistent. I got the impression that he—"
