Chapter 17
Catalina
I told them I'd tell them everything. Well, almost everything. Two sets of angry eyes stared at me from across the kitchen table, and my stomach flipped. I'd just finished telling Nic, Enzo, and Sal everything that happened over the last few months. Excluding the part where Salvatore maintained contact with me the entire time after he sent me into an ambush.
My heart was pounding out of my chest, while the kitchen was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"So yeah, that's why I ended up back here."
Nic was the only one looking down when I spoke. I wondered if he'd heard anything I said, but the way his body went rigid when I told them how Reaper attacked me answered my question.
Both elbows were positioned on the table, his massive tattooed hand wrapped around his wrist while his chin rested on top of his fist. I could see his nostrils flared and jaw strung tight from where I was sitting.
His steel-blue eyes rolled up to meet mine, and I shook, witnessing a level of anger I didn't recognize from him. The heat radiating off of him kind of frightened me.
I wasn't sure if I should've stayed put or if I should've gotten the fuck outta dodge.
For a second, I almost regretted not confirming I had been raped too. But I wasn't ready to go into that with the guys. There wasn't enough trust between us for me to just lay my shit bare with them.
At this point, whatever they assumed happened. That would be what I'd leave them with until they earned otherwise. Plus, if and when we'd have that conversation, Matteo would be part of it too. If he even wanted to be.
"And what is it that you need from us, Catalina?" Nic asked.
The way he said my name had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Gooseflesh covered my skin thinking about him using that same tone as his huge body hovered over mine, and he pinned me to his bed. Shaking my head, I told myself now wasn't time. Luckily Lorenzo seemed to somehow shove his foot far enough into his mouth to save the day.
"Correction from you," Enzo said, looking back at his older brother. Nic's jaw ticked, and he gave his younger brother a death glare. "I told you when she left I was done. So I'm done. This shit has nothing to do with me. She can get her new boyfriend to help," he pointed to Salvatore. "I've got shit to do."
Lorenzo stood from his seat without sparing a glance in my direction, snatched his plate, placed it into the sink, and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Nic and Sal. Fine. I didn't need his shit anyway.
"I need you to teach me how to kill a man."
To my left, Salvatore snorted something that I couldn't quite make out under his breath. Turning my glare towards him, I dared him to say it loud enough for me to hear, but he just rolled his eyes, pressing the bag of vegetables that I was sure had thawed harder into his face. I looked back at Nic. "I'm not some damsel in distress. I get it now. Why you do what you do, I won't be able to sleep until my hands are covered in his blood." Still don't understand why they didn't just tell me, but that's a discussion for another time.
"Fine, if we agree to train you, then what?"
"Then I do what I came here to do."
I also wasn't ready to trust them with the details of my plan. Things between us were still in murky waters, and I didn't want to rock the boat by telling them I wasn't staying. I mean, how could I? After everything that went down between us, we all deserved to be happy, and we only brought each other grief. We were poison to one another.
"So, are you going to help me or not?"
"I'll help you," Nic leaned back into his seat and crossed his large tattooed arms over his chest, causing his muscles to bulge from beneath his black form-fitting shirt. Fuck. I fought the urge to lick my lips as my mouth watered. "You aren't doing this alone. I understand you need to be the one to end his life, but we work together. Which means there will be no secrets...."
"Nic," I warned.
He held a hand up, shaking his head, and I clenched my jaw to let him continue. " I don't give a shit what your agreement is with the other guys, but between you and me, there are no secrets. Understood?"
"I don't know if I can do that."
"Those are my terms. Take it or leave it," he stood from the table and shrugged before looking down at me. "Since I'm the one who taught all of these guys how to shoot, I'd take it."
"Fine," I told him through clenched teeth, holding my hand out for him to shake it. I cursed myself for not being fully prepared for the surge of heat that passed through me as Nic's large hand covered mine. Though I kept a cool demeanor, I was practically melting inside.
"Good," the corner of Nic's lip perked up as his hand tightened around mine, and my stomach did a freaking cartwheel.
Snatching my hand away from him, I nodded in agreement. "Good."
With that, Nic left for his meeting, leaving me alone with Salvatore. Neither of us spoke as I finished off my breakfast. There wasn't really anything that I had to say to him, and frankly, I was thankful that I didn't have to listen to his smart ass mouth.
Or maybe that thought was premature.
"You're kidding yourself if you think you're gonna leave them again when this shit is all over," Salvatore snorted, placing the bag of peas on the table before smashing his fist into the mushy veggies.
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." I rolled my eyes. I wasn't doing this shit with him right now.
"Oh, I'm not in love with you, love. So I can see straight through your bullshit."
"Tell me, Sal, how do you think the guys would react if they knew that you knew where I was the whole time?"
"Whatever. Lie to them—yourself. I don't give a fuck. Not my problem," Salvatore got up, tossing the thawed veggies and grabbing a new frozen bag before leaving the kitchen.
I huffed under my breath before looking over at Matteo's plate that was still sitting on the island. I knew he might not want to see me, but I also knew how much that dude could eat. He had to be starving up there.
"Fuck it," tapping my finger on the table, I brought my bottom lip between my teeth. Maybe he'd hear me out? I got up and plucked his food from the countertop, deciding I'd use his love for bacon and eggs to my advantage.ツ hope you enjoyed it.
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