The Tyrant (Banker #3)(62)

“I’ll get a nanny.”

I didn’t want a stranger watching my child. “I’m home during the day. How about I watch her during the day, and then you pick her up on your way home. Then we can trade weekends.” Was I stupid for thinking Cato would come to his senses and change his mind? Maybe I underestimated how much he loved his company. Maybe I never had a chance of being more important. I’d handed myself over to a psychopath, but that didn’t seem to count for anything.

“You’ll need to go back to work eventually.”

“I’ll work nights until she starts school.”

Cato’s eyes flashed with hostility, as if he didn’t like that.

“You know what’s ironic?” I crossed my arms over my chest, knowing my words would piss him off. “You care so much about loyalty…wanted to kill me because I wasn’t loyal to you. But when it mattered most, you weren’t loyal to me.”

He stopped bouncing her from left to right.

“Damien came to my house and threatened to rape me and torture me if I didn’t cooperate. That happened because my father didn’t get out of the business when he should have, even when my mother was kidnapped, raped, and tortured. They came after his daughter next…me. I did my best to save him, but he was dead long before I proved myself. Even when I distanced myself from my family, I was still a target by association. Then I handed myself over to Damien to save your life…the last thing I wanted to do. But despite all that history, you still don’t see what I’m saying. I was attacked for being my father’s daughter. You really think Martina won’t be attacked for being your daughter someday?”

Cato held my stare, his look neither angry or apologetic. It was impossible to tell if my words resonated with him because he showed no reaction. After minutes of silence, he grabbed her favorite blanket and wrapped it around her before he took her upstairs.

I didn’t know what was about to happen.

Cato suddenly walked past me, down the stairs, and out of the house.

The second he shut the door behind him, Martina started to cry.





21





Cato





My life turned into a dull routine.

I worked out, went to work, and then came home. I moped around the house, drowning my sorrow in booze, and then I passed out and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I did it all over again.

I missed seeing Martina every day when I came home from work. Even though I got work out in the morning again, I missed waking up early to take care of her before heading off for the day. It was the only part of the day when it was just the two of us.

I missed Siena too.

But I was too pissed at her to admit that to myself.

Her ring sat in my nightstand drawer even though I was seriously tempted to throw it away. When I’d originally bought her ring, I almost got one with an enormous rock in the center, along with more diamonds in the band. But then I realized that didn’t match Siena’s personality at all. She didn’t want to be covered in jewels.

So I went with something simpler.

Like her.

I knew she loved it, even if she never told me.

But then she dropped that ridiculous request on me, like it was something I could honor. She said she loved me for me, and that was supposed to include all the elements of my life, including my job.

I understood her request. I would be stupid to say it wasn’t a legitimate concern. But I was pissed she had that kind of power over me, that she could say no to me and make her own demands. I told her that was my biggest fear, having someone rule me so easily.

It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe I was just being stubborn or arrogant, but I refused to change my mind.

No matter how much I loved her.





Bates sat across from me as he flipped through the pages. “Then we include a bunch of bullshit about the terms and blah, blah…” He flipped more pages. “They sign here and here, and then we’re millions of dollars richer. Piece of cake.” He clapped his hands together. “Ooh…cake sounds pretty good.”

I stared at him but didn’t listen to a word he said. My job had given me no pleasure that week. After executing Micah, everything seemed boring. It was just more money and more bullshit. With Siena gone, I was starting to feel the way I did before we met—unfulfilled.

Bates kept rambling on about cake. “I can’t even remember the last time I had cake. I only eat carbs on holidays, and there’s usually no cake at those sorts of things. Maybe I’ll have a cheat day. Maybe I’ll bring over one of my ladies and rub cake all over her.”

I couldn’t care less about his sex life.

When Bates noticed I was barely listening, he tossed the papers on the desk. “Where are you?”

“Sitting across from you.”

He tapped his fingers against his skull. “No. Where are you?”

“Just got a lot on my mind.”

“You’ve been weird all week. What’s the deal?”

“I’m not weird,” I countered. “You talk a million miles an hour. I have less to say.”

“No. I know there’s something bothering you.” He pointed at me, scolding me. “I didn’t say anything for the first few days because I thought it would pass, but clearly, it’s not going to. It’s because you miss me at the house, huh?”