Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #3)(95)

“That night on the balcony.”

When he’d kissed her—or tried to. He lifted a brow. “So you’ll kiss Batwing but not Luke?”

He could have sworn color bloomed on her cheeks. “That’s what you ask about? Not how death was, what I saw, but why I kissed one of your identities over the other?”

“How was death, Selina?”

“None of your business, that’s how it was.”

Luke grinned, rubbing his jaw. “I mean it—what happens to Holly?”

“Well, I’m sure she’ll mope over not getting easy access to the shellfish platters at all the galas….”

Luke laughed as Selina strode for the passenger-side door and pulled the handle. She angled her head, hair spilling over her shoulder. “What do you think should happen to Holly?”

“Well, her apartment is now a crime scene….”

“Too bad.” She opened the door and sliding in. “There was so much money stowed in there.”

Luke laughed again, coming around to the other side of the car and getting in. “Oh, I know.” He slid the keys into the ignition, but glanced over at her. She leaned against the side door, watching him. “So Holly Vanderhees vanishes…but what about Catwoman?” He lifted a brow. “Or does the cat become a Leopard again?”

She let out an impressed laugh. “You really did your research.”

“Like you, my computer skills are…above average.” She’d explained everything to him, to Maggie, on the drive here. What she’d done at the League, what she’d stolen. How she’d stolen it. He had a feeling she’d left out some gory, brutal details for her sister’s sake, but he’d filled in the gaps himself.

“You’ve got the tats, don’t you,” Luke said, jerking his chin toward her arms.

She only zipped down the front of her suit a bit, just far enough to peel it off her shoulder to reveal two splotches of black-lined purple. Black-and-purple leopard spots.

“How many?” he asked as she settled her suit back into place.

Selina buckled her seat belt. “Twenty-seven.”

He blew out a breath. “Undefeated champ, huh?”

“I hear you are, too.”

Luke gave her a lazy grin. “Maybe.”

Silence fell, thrumming and light. And his smile…Luke let it stay there. Felt it in his bones.

“So, are you taking me to the nearest precinct, or…?”

“Considering how poorly the last time you were arrested went for everyone involved, we can take a rain check.”

Wariness flashed in her green eyes. “I’m waiting for you to yell about Arkham.”

Luke snorted, pulling the car out into the quiet street and slowly driving down it. “You died. I figure that’s payment enough to settle the debt.” He glanced sidelong at her. “But are there any more upcoming escapades I should know about?”

She considered. “Perhaps.”

“What’s a girl to do, now that she’s rich and saved the day?”

Her brows rose. “I’m not rich.” She watched the street passing. “The money went to Maggie—most of it. And the rest…”

“The rest?”

Selina sucked on a tooth and said, as if she didn’t want to admit to it, “I gave it to the children’s hospital. To pay off the bills for the families who can’t afford treatment.”

Luke slowed the car to a stop at the red light at the corner. Put the car in park. “Robbing the rich, Robin Hood?”

She cut him a glare. “If that is a new nickname—”

Luke grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her.

The light changed, and the car behind them began honking, but Luke didn’t move, didn’t really care about anything as her mouth opened to him and her hands slid around his neck.

When he pulled back, her breathing was just as uneven as his. Luke brushed his mouth over hers. Once, twice. Unable to stop himself.

“Let me take you out—a real date.”

The words slipped from him before he could think.

Selina pulled back, studying him. Luke finally moved the car back into drive and continued on. “No pizza and Jeopardy!, huh?”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I am.”

Luke chuckled. “If you can sneak into the apartment building, then go ahead. Come over every night, if you want.”

“You want a known criminal hanging at your place?”

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Oh?”

Luke turned onto a broad avenue, the SUV blending with the cars around them. “Perhaps the future of Gotham City doesn’t lie in crushing the underworld in some endless Whac-A-Mole game.”

When she didn’t answer, he looked over at her—found her face serious. Contemplative. But her eyes…full of light. The face beneath Holly, beneath that mask.

Selina.

Luke went on, “I’ll take a gamble and assume that this crime spree…now that Maggie is safe, disrupting the stability of Gotham City isn’t your endgame. Not while she lives here.”

Selina said simply, “Yes.”

“But the problem remains that you’ve made a hell of a lot of criminals think you are in charge. You tricked the Joker. They won’t forget that. Neither will he.”