Page 52

Mom's cats are the last thing on my mind right now, but automatically I nod. It's easier to agree with her and fight it out later. I've known that for a long time.

I do finally manage to get up, though. Last night, Gabe put me into his bed, at least I think it must be his. The room looks like him. There is no way I'm going to spend another night in it. On leaden feet, I follow Mom, the man, and the screaming cat down the hall. A generous hallway holds several doors on each side. I watch the two of them vanish into one, while I open the first door I come across on the other side. It leads into another bedroom. A small sigh escapes me. At least I won't have to sleep in Gabe's room or share one with my mother. That's the last thing my frayed nerves need right now.

Nobodybut one of my guards notices me when I enter the penthouse. For a moment, I just stand there and watch Audra and her mom sitting on the couch. Stacy is clutching one of the cats like it's the only thing keeping her together. The animal looks just as overwhelmed as she does, wide-eyed, frozen in place. Stacy is crying. Soft at first. Then louder.

"Oh my poor, poor Pete," she sobs, rocking slightly. "What is happening? What is happening to us?"

Audra sits beside her, one hand on her back, the other gripping her own knee like she's holding herself together by force. "I don't know."

Her voice is filled with unspoken emotion. With grief she's still trying to process and is unable to let out. Comforting her mother, who should be her anchor right now. She looksdifferent, not just from the bruises. Something under the surface looks harder. Stacy pulls back, still clutching the cat.

"What is going to happen?" she demands through tears. "Audra, when can we go home?"

Audra exhales slowly, like even that costs her. "I don't know." Frustration laces into her voice. "We'll have to wait… the cartel… these men are ruthless."

I shouldn't be standing here. Listening. But I can't help it. Audra fascinates me on levels I don't fully understand. It was easier when she was at a distance. A camera feed. A passing glance. Something I could observe without consequence. Now that she's here—in my space, on my couch—she fits. Too well.

Like she was always meant to be here. That thought should bother me. It doesn't. Did I want her to get hurt? No. The answer comes fast. Immediate. Unquestionable.

But Pete? I wouldn't have touched him. Not unless he stepped out of line. Not unless he gave me a reason. But I won't pretend I didn't want him gone. That I didn't think about it. More than once.

Now that he's gone?

She's here. With me.

A dangerous kind of inevitability settles in my chest. Fate. I don't believe in it. Never have. Men like me don't leave things up to chance. We take. We decide. We make things happen. Still, this feels like something that was always going to end here. With her in my world. Under my roof. Within reach. I'm not letting her go. Not now. Not after this. Not ever.

Not after seeing what happens when she's out there without me.

My gaze shifts to her mother. Fragile. Unraveling. Clutching that animal like it's the only thing keeping her tethered to reality. A liability. And a chain. A responsibility Audra will never walk away from.

My mother wasn't like that. She was soft, but never weak. Always there. Always steady. A quiet kind of strength that held our house together while my father ruled everything outside it. She knew what he was. What I was becoming. She didn't try to stop it. Didn't try to make me something I wasn't. She just made sure I knew the difference between control and chaos. Between cruelty and purpose. Between taking… and destroying.

My father taught me how to survive in this world. My mother made sure I didn't turn into something mindless inside it.

Standing here, watching a woman who gives everything she has to someone who will only ever take more, I see something I don't understand. Something that ties Audra down. Something I will have to work around. Because one way or another, she's not leaving my world again.

"There has to be a reason why he wasthere," her mother snaps. Then a little quieter. "Maybehehad something to do with it."

A chuckle escapes me. I'm sure theheshe's referring to is me.

Audra looks at her, and something on her face tells me they already had that conversation.

"I don't know," she admits, quieter now. "I don't know anything right now."

Her voice cracks just slightly on the last word. She presses her lips together. Swallows it down. Always holding it together. Even now. That's when I move. Step fully into the room.

"There you are," she says immediately, like she felt me before she saw me.

Her eyes lock onto mine. And just like that, the grief shifts into anger. I step fully into the living area. Taking her in. She's on her feet now, pacing like a caged animal. Her hair a mess, her eyes red, her face bruised. Despite all that, she's still beautiful. Fucking devastating.

"Why did you take me away from there?"

I don't answer immediately. I just look at her, unable to take my eyes off her. Still stuck on the thought that she'shere. Inmypenthouse.Myspace. Like she always belonged here.

"You had no right," she continues. Her voice wavers, but it's not breaking. "The police—what are they going to think? That I ran? That I'm guilty?"

"They're going to think whatever they're told to think," I reply calmly.