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I frowned; I hadn’t realized that we barely discussed my father’s heart attack. As Catalina spoke, it made me angry all over again.
“And then, there’s this whole staying away from Andrew thing,” Cat continued. “It was bad enough that he policed your language, but now he’s trying to police your friends? What if I tell you what an ass I think he is? Is he going to cut me off, too?” She growled. “What the fuck is this, a monarchy?”
“I told him the same thing,” I consoled. “We’re taking a break from each other for a few days, to cool off.”
“Try taking a break from him permanently.” There was some shuffling. “I’m coming over.”
“Cat, that’s not necessary—”
“I’m coming over, Alicia Jones.” She blew more air out of her nose. “You’re lucky I’m not going over to his place to let him know just what I think of him right now.”
“Okay, okay, come over here. Please don’t go over there.”
“I thought so. I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Looking forward to it.”
As I waited for Cat, I paced my apartment. The truth of it was that Michael’s demands were wholly reasonable, if Andrew was in love with me. If Andrew had been a threat, if he had been interested in me, Michael had every right to feel the way he did. But I knew Andrew didn’t feel for me what I had once felt for him. Sure, he was attracted to me. I was a challenge, and if anything, he liked a good conquest. He might have even thought I was pretty. But he wasn’t in love with me.
My unrequited feelings didn’t change that.
As I paced the floor and battled with my despair, I heard a knock on my door. The moment I opened the door, Cat burst through. I shook my head, trying to hold back a smile. Though Cat was terrifying when she really got on a roll, she was so small that it was hard not to think of her as a cat. Like a kitten with very sharp claws, Jeremiah said once. It made her nickname more than a little fitting.
When her eyes met mine, though, I quickly divested myself of that notion. She looked ready to rip someone apart.
She looked through the living room window, then at all the corners of the room. I frowned as I watched her. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure he didn’t bug the place,” Cat muttered. “I have things to say and I don’t want him overhearing.” Satisfied that we couldn’t be overheard, she turned to me, smoke coming out of her ears. “What the actual fuck, Alicia.”
“I know,” I sighed. “It’s a little crazy.”
“A little crazy?” She barked a laugh. “He’s fucking insane. Doesn’t he care at all about your father? Weren’t they super close?”
A pang of sadness hit me as I remembered my father in his hospital bed. He looked like a shell of himself, but I didn’t want to think about the implications. “Cat, don’t talk about my father in the past tense. He’s not dead.”
“But he came really close. Like, really close.” I flinched but she continued, “And all Michael could think about was the fact that you were with Andrew.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s not like Andrew even likes me like that. Michael has nothing to worry about.”
Cat paused, looking uneasy. “I don’t know about all that.”
I staggered as I looked at Cat. “What?”
“On my way here, I started to think more about it,” Cat said. “I think Andrew is a threat. Have you seen the man? Like I said before, he is a snack. And he absolutely does like you like that. At the very least, he’s attracted to you, and that can be dangerous. To be honest, I’m shocked it took Michael this long to see it.”
I groaned. “Not you, too,” I said. “Listen, Andrew could have made his feelings clear—”
“—all those years ago, but he didn’t,” Cat finished. “Yeah, I know. But it’s been two years, and Andrew has had a lot of time to think about what he lost. He probably realized what a good thing he had.”
“Yeah, he had ready-and-willing tail he could’ve been chasing,” I muttered. Cat shot me a curious look, as if she was trying to suppress her amusement. “Listen, Andrew does not want me. And even if he does, it’s purely for sport. He doesn’t love me.”
“Do you know that for sure?” Cat asked, skeptical.
“I didn’t ask him, but I don’t need to,” I said. “And anyway, the bigger issue is Michael’s attitude about everything. He’s becoming more and more possessive, more self-absorbed. I’m starting to feel more like a trophy than his wife.”
“This doesn’t just happen overnight, though, Alicia,” Cat said. “Please tell me that Michael wasn’t always this ridiculous and you haven’t been hiding this all along?”
I grimaced. “I might have not told you all the ridiculous things he’s said.” Cat groaned. “But it was never this bad, I swear.”
