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“Then you won’t worry about that. Will you?”
She huffed out a sigh. “This doesn’t mean I’m going to just let you pay for things.”
“But it does, Pequeña. It means that you’ll let me do whatever I deem necessary to ensure your health and safety.”
Jeez Louise.
What had she gotten herself in for?
This was what she got for being impulsive.
“Always ask to read the fine print,” she muttered.
“Gather up the things you want,” he ordered, stepping away from her. “You won’t be coming back here.”
The loss of his heat hurt. A shiver ran through her.
“But my lease—”
“I’ll take care of that.” He glanced down at his watch. “We need to go. Oh, and I’ll need to know which neighbor you were talking about.”
Yeah, she didn’t think he needed to know that.
She glanced around the bathroom. The landlord wouldn’t just let her out of her lease. However, if anyone could make that issue disappear, it was Alejandro. And maybe she should feel guilty about letting him do that.
But she didn’t.
Probably because the landlord was a dick who didn’t care about anyone in this building. He’d never fixed a damn thing. Also, she was convinced that this building had a lot of safety violations.
So yeah, she didn’t have it in her to feel bad. Plus, she really, really didn’t want to come back here. She looked in the cabinets, but she didn’t want anything from here.
Cat was turning to walk out of the bathroom where Alejandro was now talking on the phone when she spotted the vibrator again. Shoot.
She couldn’t leave it here for some cleaners to find. She picked it up, towel and all.
“We have to go, Cat.”
Right. Sure.
She stepped into the main room and glanced around
“I’ve got everything.”
He eyed her but didn’t protest. They stepped out of the door, Cairn moving ahead of her.
Alejandro stopped in front of the door next to hers. “This neighbor?”
She wanted to deny it. But the look on his face told her that he wouldn’t accept any lies.
She huffed out a breath. “Yes. But you should just leave it alone.”
“One thing you need to learn about me, Pequeña, I never let any slight go unanswered.”
Gulp.
And if she needed a reminder that he was a scary bastard, there it was.
24
The three of them set off down the stairs. It was kind of hard to juggle her armful of things.
They didn’t offer to carry anything, but she noticed how alert they both were. They had her tucked in between them once again.
Cat guessed they wanted their arms free in case they had to fight. She gulped at the thought.
She’d been used to being on her guard when at the Camp. But she’d always had her friends to watch her back. Being on her own in the city had taken some getting used to.
But perhaps she’d gotten complacent.
Which might be how Vince managed to corner and attack you.
Right.
They reached the ground floor and headed outside.
Cairn came to a sudden stop, causing her to bang into his back. Alejandro quickly wrapped an arm around her and pulled against him.
“Careful,” he warned.
Sheesh. She hadn’t meant to bang into him. Not only that, but now her nose was stinging, and tears had filled her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” She tried to get around Cairn, but Alejandro drew her back behind him.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered in a hard voice.
What the heck?
She peeked around him to where The Scot was currently facing off against three guys. He was leaning back against the car, a grin on his face.
She sucked in a breath. Shit. She didn’t recognize any of the guys. They looked rough and one of them was holding a knife.
Not that The Scot seemed worried. “Look, Boss, I found some friends to play with.”
“Charming,” Alejandro drawled. “But we don’t have time for games. It’s getting late.”
A shiver ran through her. It was growing dark, and all she wanted was to get far away from there.
Maybe Alejandro was right. This wasn’t the best neighborhood to live in.
Not that she’d ever tell him that.
His head was big enough.
“You’re not going anywhere in those wheels. They’re ours now,” one of the guys boasted. He had greasy hair and scabs on his face and arms.
Not pretty.
The Scot’s grin widened. “That so?”
“Scot,” Alejandro sighed. “Finish it.”
The Scot straightened with a sigh. “Sorry, guys, I don’t have time to play. The Boss has spoken.”
Why wasn’t Cairn moving forward to help him? Maybe she should . . . but as she tried to move, Alejandro reached out and stopped her with his arm.
“Do not even think about moving out from behind me.”
Drat.
“I can fight. I’ve been taught.”
Yeah, look at how well you fought off Vince the other night.
A shiver ran through her at the memory.
“Stay,” Alejandro ordered her. “Move one more time, and you’re going to be in trouble.”
Yikes.
“Get away from the fucking car or you’re going to get it!” one of the guys yelled.
