*Elio*
I didn’t need to look at Caterina to know that she was thoroughly pissed off at . The boiling tension that kept rolling off her body was proof enough.
‘If anyone has the right to be mad as hell right now, it’s ,’ I thought bitterly.
For a good while I tried to convince myself not to go after Caterina. She deserved her own space and so ti alone with her friend.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that sothing just wasn’t right. I didn’t like the way she flat-out lied to at dinner. My instincts were screaming at that she knew exactly where she was going. But I ant every word of what I’d said before.
It really wasn’t a challenge to find her.
But I wasn’t about to openly admit that I always have a pair of eyes on her when I can’t be around. It was just another habit I’d picked up from my father growing up in a rather ‘unique’ family. When I sent word out that Caterina went out with her friend, I was almost instantly inford that she was heading right for my friend Leo’s club.
Truthfully, I had no intention of spoiling her night. I’d slipped through the doors unnoticed and hung back in the outer rings of the place. I spotted Caterina and her friend almost imdiately. They seed like they were having a fun ti... that was, until a pair of cocky bastards decided they needed to invade the girls’ space, especially that one asshole with the dark hair and black clothing.
At first, I tried to think nothing of it. Hell, clubs were full of people grinding and rubbing against one another. Between the alcohol and the strobe lights, it was easy to lose sight of reality. As much as it irritated to see so random guy crowd Caterina, I remained hidden and kept to myself.
But the second I noticed the guy was beginning to get too handsy with Cat and wouldn’t leave her alone, I erged from the shadows with one clear motive in mind.
I didn’t care about Caterina’s glaring or even the mild tantrum she tried having in the car on the way to the house. My nerves would be able to rest easy for the remainder of the night now that I knew she’d be safe at ho.
As Caterina turned away to go inside, her words echoed through my head like a scratched record.
“You are not my father... at least try to rember that I am an adult now....”
Jesus Christ, never in my life had I ever been more thankful for sothing so apparent. There was no blood connection between the two of us, whatsoever.
I knew that at tis I ca off domineering, but all of it was in the pursuit of making sure that Caterina was looked after. I’d gone two years without seeing her and I wasn’t going to lie—it fucking sucked. I missed her horribly—her snarky attitude, her fiery fits of anger that she continuously threw at .
Did that make a masochist of so kind? Shit, I didn’t care. When I got my first real look at her when she ca ho, I was stunned. I didn’t think it was possible for Caterina to beco any more beautiful than she already was. But there she was.
The words fell out of my mouth before I could even attempt to stop them.
“Oh, believe . I am fully aware of just how grown up you’ve beco,” I told her pointedly.
Her eyes widened, whereas my own heart slamd in my ribcage. My unexpected remark left both of us speechless. Caterina rely rolled her eyes and went inside, while I let out a long breath and returned to pull my car into the driveway next door.
I had little to no interest in returning to the club. After the screwed up display I’d seen with Cat, I was still far too ticked off. But I sure as hell possessed enough energy to reach out to my friend Leo.
I sat down on the corner of my bed, facing the window, and pulled out my phone. Scrolling to my friend’s number, I pressed the ‘call’ button.
It rang twice before I heard his voice co through.
“Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Hey, Leo.” I scratched the back of my neck. “The guy I had one of your security guards toss out tonight at your place... I want you to find out who he is and then blacklist him for life.”
I picked up the note of amusent in Leo’s voice.
“Consider it done,” he said. “But may I ask, out of curiosity, what exactly happened? Of course, you know I get stuck in my office when sothing interesting actually happens.”
I rolled my eyes and suppressed a growl of annoyance. “Believe , Leo, you didn’t really miss anything.”
“Mm, since you’re soone who rarely loses their shit, I’m going to have to ask that you give a bit more than just that,” he mused.
I blew out a breath and threw myself back into my mattress. “Alright, well, before you go ahead and call a stalker, I found out that Caterina and her friend were going to be at your club tonight. I nonchalantly followed her out there and hung out at one of the back tables.”
“Yep. Sure. Not stalkerish at all,” he muttered sarcastically.
I snorted in my throat and went. “Yeah, well, go ahead and call what you want. I watched Caterina have her fun until it got out of hand,” I explained. “One mont she’s having fun with her friend and the next thing there’s this douchebag guy that starts grinding on her like so stray mutt.”
The other end goes silent.
“Listen, Leo,” I continued, “you’re right. I’m not soone to overreact. And at first, I didn’t do anything. But I saw Caterina try to pull away and the asshole refused to let her go.”
My friend’s voice blared through the speaker on my phone. “What the fuck?!”
“I saw red, man. One minute I was sitting down and the next thing I knew I had the dickhead nailed to the ground.”
Leo chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you were there. There’s no way I want soone like that back in my club. Consider it done.”
I let out an easy breath. “Thank you, Leo. I’ll talk to you later.”
I ended the call and noticed a strange light in the corner of my eye. I sat up and turned my head to see that the lights had been turned on in Caterina’s room.
I wasn’t able to see anyone clearly, but that didn’t stop my mind from spinning back to Caterina. Amid my insane night, I hadn’t missed the tantalizing outfit that she’d pieced together before heading out.
Caterina wore jeans that clung to her every curve and a top that was just a small step above too tight. The material looked soft and offered the slightest peak at her generous cleavage. She was a walking fantasy in my eyes.
Her lips were so pouty as her voice held so much conviction. It was nice to see that she still owned that fiery streak within her. I was so tempted to spend the remainder of my night standing in her driveway if it ant continuing our conversation. I wouldn’t have cared if most of the night was spent with getting berated by her.
“At least try to rember that I am an adult now....”
She was right, though.
Caterina was an adult. She was grown. That stubborn, hard-headed girl who had gone off to school had co back a mature, beautiful woman, a woman who knew how to press my nerves in all the right ways. Every scowl and shake of her head set my blood a blaze with a new kind of interest.
For as long as I could rember, our relationship was purely on an as-needed basis.
‘Watch after Caterina.’
‘Make sure Caterina is doing okay.’
Of course, I grew to care for her deeply over the years, but not quite like this. This particular feeling, which stirred in the pits of my stomach, caused a scorching heat to spread throughout every corner of my body. It made feel uncomfortably tight in my pants.
The previous vision of Caterina in my mind’s eyes had all but faded into this new stunningly attractive version of her that made want to reach out and snatch up for myself.
I heard a persistent buzz and glanced down to see my phone going off. My brows lifted as I took in the na that lit up across my screen—Caterina.
I quickly cleared my throat and answered the call.
“Hey, what’s up?”
A huff of frustration blew through the speaker. Her voice was strained and filled with irritation, part of already kind of knew where this call was going. But I wanted her to ask for my help. I wanted her to say that she needed .
“Can you co over here?” she gritted. “My shower decided to not work.”
For so strange reason, the shower in Caterina’s room had always given her trouble. If it wasn’t sothing as simple as a leaky shower head, then it was sothing more serious like a broken knob. But regardless of the issue, I had always volunteered to go over and fix things. It was nice to see that so things never really change.
A chuckle rumbled through my chest. “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” I told her.
I heard another aggravated huff before the call ended. With my shoes still on my feet, all I needed was to grab my toolbox and keys.
I make sure to lock the door behind before heading across the path between our hos. Heading up to the front door, I stopped for a brief mont to find that the door was completely unlocked.
I hissed under my breath at such a careless misstep. How could she possibly forget to lock the door once she walked inside?
Nonetheless, I pushed my irritation aside and walked through the door, making sure to close the door and turn the lock over. I quietly headed up the stairs and turned in the direction of the bathroom. I heard muffled shuffling on the landing up ahead while keeping my head down.
"You really need to lock the door behind you," I said firmly.
A soft, feminine voice spoke out. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
I slowly lifted my head up from the floor to find Caterina standing at the end of the hallway. She was dripping wet. Her hair still had so suds bubbling through. And all that covered her was a skimpy towel.
As all the blood in my body headed toward one direct place, my mind was wiped blank. The air was torn from my lungs and there were only two words that repeated brokenly in my head.
Holy. Shit.
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