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This could be an ideal time to find out some answers.
She won’t like it if you do that.
The question was . . . did he care?
Joder. He couldn’t stand seeing her so exhausted and lost. She would end up harming herself if she didn’t get some sleep soon.
He had to help her.
You’re not her caretaker.
Once, he’d been a Daddy Dom . . .
He’d lost those urges years ago, though. Back in Mexico, when he’d been far younger.
And far dumber.
It was only because she was in his care that he wanted to look after her. Also, he couldn’t take her out of the house like this.
Someone would notice a half-comatose, crazy girl muttering about being blind with her eyes closed.
Yeah, he was only going to help her sleep because it made his life easier.
No other reason. At least that’s what he’d keep telling himself.
“We need to have a chat about your rules while you’re staying here.”
She blew a raspberry at him. “I don’t like rules.”
He stared at her with raised eyebrows. “Tough.”
“Nobody tells Cat what to do. Including you.” She pointed her finger at him.
“I will tell Cat what to do if it’s in her best interests.”
If anyone needed rules it was this girl.
Grasping hold of her chin, he tilted her face back so he could give her a stern look. “You’ll follow the rules I give you, Pequeña. Or you’ll suffer the consequences.”
She gave him a cool, guarded look.
What was she thinking? And why was she shutting him out?
That wasn’t fucking allowed.
She looked terrible. Her cheeks were slightly sunken as if she’d lost weight. Dark marks had taken up residence under her eyes. And there was an air of exhaustion and resignation around her he didn’t like.
Cat was fire and gasoline. Burning brighter and brighter.
But he guessed she’d burned through her energy reserves.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think anything is wrong?” she asked.
She didn’t sound like herself. And he fucking hated it.
“Because you’re looking at me like I’m . . .” Nothing.
Oh yeah. He fucking hated this.
“Like you’re another man who thinks he gets to tell me what to do?”
“Who told you what to do?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice. Was someone abusing her?
He’d kill the bastard.
“You do it all the time! I don’t follow other people’s rules anymore. I’m my own person.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Everyone has rules they follow,” he told her in a low voice. He ran his finger along her cheek. He understood now. She thought he wanted to control her.
Which he did. Because he craved control like a junkie craved their next fix.
But he would use his control to take care of her.
“What do you mean? I bet you don’t follow anyone else’s rules.”
He shrugged. “I have rules for myself that I live by. There are rules and laws that you follow. Walking on the footpath instead of in the middle of the road. Wearing a seatbelt while in a car. You must have someone who expects you to check in with them? Someone who watches out for you.”
He wasn’t sure about that last part. This girl seemed to be running wild with no supervision.
“I wouldn’t call those rules. They’re common sense.”
Alejandro was tired of this. He didn’t like to argue. He didn’t normally have to as he always got his way. “They’re rules to keep you safe, something you need.”
“Pfft,” she replied, but she looked more like herself.
“Let’s go into my office for this talk.”
Was that a flash of interest on her face? It was gone too fast for him to be sure, but he filed that away for thought later.
He stood with her in his arms.
“What are you doing?” She gave him an alarmed look.
“Carrying you.”
“I can walk.”
“I don’t think so. And I’m done arguing.” He was done talking with her.
“You know, I want to tell you how arrogant you sound and that you can’t stop an argument just by saying you won’t argue about something. But I’m just too tired.”
“And somehow, even though you’re not saying it, you’re still saying it,” he said dryly.
“That’s the power of my mind.” She yawned.
Damn. He probably shouldn’t be getting hard watching her yawn. She was clearly worn out.
But she was so fucking cute.
It was killing him.
He pressed his finger to the scanner to unlock his office door. She became tense. What was wrong now?
He had a feeling there were a lot of things he didn’t know or understand about Catherine Smithson.
Shifting her so she was resting against his chest with one arm under her ass, he walked into his office.
He carried her over to his chair behind his desk and sat on it.
“What are you doing?” she asked as he arranged her sideways on his lap.
“You are going to sleep while I work. After we talk about rules.”
“I told you, I can’t sleep without Roger and Snuggly.”
