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“I’m not.” He lightly grasped her chin, tilting her face up. “But I am missing Cat. And I’m worried that she’s living with a whole lot of fears in her head, and instead of talking about them, she’s bottling them all up.”
“I’m sure she’s not doing any of that, Papi. You’re just a worrier. You should stop stressing so much. That’s part of the reason you’ve got sooo many wrinkles.” She went back to her sketching. Silly Papi. She could go outside if she wanted to. She was fine.
“Cat, look at me, please.”
Crap. That was his stern voice. And there was no ignoring him.
She glanced up at him. She didn’t like the worry on his face. It made her feel all yucky inside.
“I’m really okay.”
“Of course you are.” He sat on his bottom beside her. “But perhaps I’m not.”
“What do you mean?” Concern filled her.
“I need to do something fun. And I need some fresh air. Will you go with me to take care of me?”
“I’d do anything for you, Papi.” She glanced outside. “But, can’t we have fun here?”
“I think we should go outside. I think you need to go outside. I also think I’m having some personal growth.”
“Is it painful?” she asked with sympathy.
“Extremely. I don’t want you staying inside because you’re scared, Cat. I don’t want you to fear anything. Well . . . other than a spanking.”
“I’m not scared of your spankings, Papi.”
He sighed. “A Papi can dream.”
She shook her head at his silliness. “I’m fine, Papi. I don’t need to go outside.”
“I don’t want you to be fine. I want you to soar. To have everything you want. You need to feel safe enough to fly, knowing that I’ll catch you.”
“I do feel that way.”
“We can’t let them beat us, mi Preciosa. I don’t want you to live in fear. ¿Comprendes?”
She sucked in a breath, letting it out slowly. “It’s just hard.”
“I know it is.”
“I’m scared.”
“If you can’t do this . . . then I think we need to find someone for you to talk to.”
“Other than Roger?”
“Roger doesn’t always have the best advice.” He glanced over at her stuffed pirate toy.
“Yeah, you’re right. He doesn’t. He constantly gets me into trouble, if I’m honest. Most of my outlandish ideas come from him.”
He nodded solemnly. “I had my suspicions. What do you think? Shall we try going out?”
“All right, Papi.”
He stood and held out his hands to her, lifting her onto her feet. Then he put her jacket on. Taking hold of her hand, he led her out to the foyer, where Doomy Gloomy was waiting with some more items in his hands.
“Bernie! Have you been standing there long?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Wow. You’re so still like a statue. Could we play musical statues, Papi?”
“Not right now. Maybe later, when we get home.”
“Cool. I’m going to whip your ass, Doomy.”
“Doubtful,” Doomy Gloomy replied dryly.
Alejandro picked up a scarf and wrapped it around her. Then he put a cute hat on her head. It was white with a big green pom pom. Really, was a hat worth wearing unless it had a pom pom on it?
She thought not.
The last thing to go on were some soft green gloves.
And she was sooo hot.
Alejandro put his jacket on as The Scot and Cairn joined them, along with Rafael.
“Rafael? Are you sure you’re okay to come out? Shouldn’t you be sitting down and resting?”
“Stop fussing,” he grumbled at her. “I’m fine. Doctor cleared me.”
“Really?”
“He’s good,” Alejandro reassured her. “Let’s go.”
He took her hand and led her into the elevator.
Nerves had her heart racing.
“You know, maybe we should just go for a drive first? A drive would be good, right? It’s like going out without going out. And we can be warm. Warm is good.”
“You’re all right, Preciosa. I’m right here with you. I heard Bonnie is all settled in and that her shop is nearly ready to open.”
“Yes, she sent me photos. It looks so good. I wish I could have gone and helped her.”
They reached the bottom level and stepped out into the foyer of the building. Usually, they went straight down to the basement where the cars were.
“Are you going to put in an order for some stuff?” she asked Alejandro.
“Of course. I thought you could help me.”
“Uh-huh.” They reached the front door and she paused, looking at it. She really didn’t want to go out there. Nerves danced. Her stomach rolled. “I still don’t know why I can’t tell my friends about her.”
“You can tell them about the shop. But it’s best that no one knows who she is. It’s safer for Bonnie.”
“But Tabby and Maeve would never endanger her.”
“No, but it’s a slippery slope. It wouldn’t take much for that information to get out.”
“You don’t think that will get out anyway?” Rafael asked skeptically.
“Dante is hoping it won’t. But yeah, I think it will. I think he’s nuts for letting her go there herself. Even if he’s sent Titus with her. He also has Cash and Ralen watching over her from afar for a while.”
