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twenty-seven
Damian
You’ve got to be kidding me. This kitten has never, ever left her nest without Lindy lifting her from the blanket. I run a hand over the back of my neck. “Now you decide to get brave?”
Panic rolls through me, my heart now racing. I can’t believe I care this much. I get on my hands and knees, crawling around the massive space, suddenly angry at the architect of the house. “Who needs a closet this fucking big?” I move an empty suitcase to the side, looking behind it.
Luckily Lindy’s still in the bedroom, waiting for the guys to bring up the rest of the luggage. God, just don’t tell them to bring stuff in here before I find this cat. I stand, looking around. She’d be devastated to find the kitten’s gone missing.
I have to find the darn thing before it comes to that.
“Everything alright?” Her voice is muffled, far away.
“Yeah, yes. Everything is good. Just looking for a—” I glance up at the shelves where my sweaters lay. “A sweater.”
“I can help,” she offers.
“No!” I quickly correct. “I mean, stay put. The guys are coming up with the rest of the luggage and you’ll need to tell them where to put it.”
What if Angel got really brave and left the closet?
Before I search the house, I have to exhaust every corner of this ridiculously massive space, hoping she’s in here. I sort through the crate of Denver Broncos paraphernalia, a box of my old karate belts. I collapse on my ass, leaning my head against the wall, staring up at the old rugby jerseys that hang above me, wondering where the hell the cat could be.
I’m just about to give up, to go confess to Lindy that I’ve lost her precious cat when I hear the tiniest scuffling sound coming from behind the set of golf clubs. It’s got to be her. I crawl over to where the clubs lean against the wall. They need to be put in storage.
I make a mental note to ask Lindy to add that to her to-do list.
“Where are you, little one?” I creep around, looking for Angel. There’s a flash of a black tail, a tan patch at its tip. I breathe again, able to relax. “There you are. Come here, little Angel.”
Am I baby talking? To a cat?
If Savage could see me now…
“Let’s get you back to Mama.” I scoop up the little cat, holding her tight and make my way through the closet.
The kitten peers up at me with her green eyes. “Meow.”
“Exactly.” I step out from the bathroom. “Lindy, there’s someone here to see you.”
Lindy looks up from her trunk.
Her big brown eyes go wide the moment she sees Angel. “There you are! I wasn’t sure when you were coming!” She crosses the floor to me with three strides of her short legs, eager to hold Angel.
“She’s back. Safe and sound.” I cradle the kitten in my arms, looking over her tan spots, making sure she escaped her closet adventure without injury.
Lindy’s standing there, staring at me holding the cat. She’s got her hands covering her mouth as she lets out a longer, higher pitched, “Oooh!”
“What?” I ask, holding the little devil out to her.
She pauses a moment before taking the kitten from me. “You just looked so sweet holding her. It’s almost like…” I wait for her to gather her thoughts. She takes the cat from me with a little shrug. “I may have failed my mission for CityScoop—”
“To be fair, they never should have sent you.” I want to say more about fucking Mike and his poor management in throwing this poor girl to the wolves, but I hold my tongue. “It was an impossible task.”
“Even so,” she says with a laugh, “I think I succeeded in completing an even more difficult mission.”
“What’s that?” I ask. I spot a bit more fluff, reaching over and plucking it off Angel’s black hindquarters.
Her pretty eyes sparkle as she stares at me. “I made a cat person out of you after all.”
