*Caterina*
I groaned as the high-pitched squeal of my alarm blared through my ears, loud enough to wake a damn elephant from the best sleep of his life, not to ntion fully interrupting the dream I had just gotten invested in. As soon as my eyes opened, said dream slipped away as the morning light fluttered through the window.
The warm and bright sun of LA had returned, leaving the semi-chilly days of our pathetic excuse for winter behind and I yawned as I shut off my alarm, resetting it for tomorrow. I rubbed the crust from my eyes as I stepped out of bed, finding the other side empty, as usual.
Elio was surprisingly a morning riser, getting up even earlier than . Though I was by far from a night owl, even I couldn’t beat him. He told his internal clock was damn near perfect, waking at the sa ti every day no matter how late he went to bed.
I was a bit jealous, if I was being honest.
I slipped on my fluffy slippers, no longer embarrassed at the pink bunny ears on the top as I shuffled my way to the bathroom.
A minute later, I made my way into the kitchen, following the scent of my nose and my instincts. The sound of sizzling ca to my ears, cookware being used and footsteps on the tile beneath our feet.
I yawned, barely able to keep my eyes open as I took a seat at the island, and I heard a familiar chuckle and felt the heat of his body as he stepped next to , then his lips were on my forehead.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said happily.
My eyes finally opened wide, more awake as I took in my surroundings. As usual, Elio had made breakfast, and my heart ward as I took in the plate that he’d slipped in front of .
It was covered in crepes that were oozing with a strawberry cre center and a mountain of whipped topping with a side of bacon and the only mug I’d kept from my old ho. It was a unique one in the shape of a pink frosted donut with a white handle on the side. The open top was made to look like a bite had been taken out of the donut, even though it was just ceramic.
I breathed in the fresh scent of morning coffee. I could tell the drink had already been loaded with crear and sugar.
I sent Elio a warm grin as he moved back and forth in the kitchen, making sure I had everything I needed before he sat down himself.
“Eat up. You have your exam today, right?” Elio said, giving a smile as he took a seat across from . Contrary to my fresh and warm breakfast, Elio had only a cup of coffee and a bagel on his side.
I grabbed a slice of bacon and put it in my mouth. With the salty and greasy at mixed with a sweet taste of smoked maple, I was in sheer heaven.
“I love you,” I said honestly, feeling a bit drunk on sheer happiness. This was my heaven.
He chuckled. “If I knew all I had to do was cook so bacon to get you to fall in love with , I would’ve done it sooner.”
“It would’ve worked,” I moaned, taking a second bite. “Thank God you can cook bacon, or I’d have left you.”
“Good to know.” He smirked, shaking his head playfully. He sipped on his coffee as I pretty much inhaled my breakfast, only feeling alive once my belly was full and the coffee had woken my brain up with the shot of caffeine.
“Thank you so much,” I purred in contentnt, heading to his side of the island and plopping myself down on his lap.
I took the minute to wrap myself around him, just existing as he finished his coffee, hands on my hips to keep from slipping off. He chuckled, kissing the top of my head softly.
“Well, I feel terrible for forgetting about your finals yesterday. I never would’ve asked you to do all of that if I had rembered. You have enough to stress, and I shouldn’t have been adding to that.”
“It’s okay.” I nuzzled into the crook of his neck. “You’re forgiven.”
After such a wonderful lazy morning, I felt ready to tackle my finals, and I spent a few more minutes clinging to him like a kitten before he finally dropped into the shower for to get ready, which I did reluctantly.
By eleven am, I was heading off to school, leaving Elio behind to finish his work. I wasn’t sure what he was doing as he wanted to stay focused on my exam today. I made it there with plenty of ti to spare, and the exam started at noon.
I actually felt pretty good about that one as I knew the material pretty well. It was a breeze to shoot through, and there were only a couple of questions I had to guess. Even then, I was about 80% sure I had the correct answer.
I finished within the hour and triple-checked my answers before leaving. Out of the hundreds taking the exam today, I was one of the first dozen to finish. I stretched as I usually did after I left, my body still feeling cramped from sitting in the sa position for so long.
Elio had offered to give a massage tonight to help, and I thought about taking him up on that offer as I headed out to the car. As I held my keys in my hand, there was a familiar feeling of deja vu when I opened the door and heard a soft voice call out.
“Hey.”
I stiffened, whirling around defensively and just like last ti, that stupid asshat was standing there, his hands raised in defense, attempting to show he ant no harm and with a sly smile on his lips as he stared at intently.
“So much for disappearing,” I sneered, crossing my arms.
Alexi chuckled, his posture completely relaxed and open like I was no threat to him. I wasn’t, truthfully, and we both knew it.
“Did things work out like I said?” he asked casually... like we were friends and as if he hadn’t worked for the man who tried to kill and my mom and had killed my father. Before I could answer him, he just smirked knowingly. “Trick question. I already know they did.”
He stepped forward, and there was a different vibe to him this ti... a much less innocent one. Questions swirled in my mind. Was it because I knew his identity now? Or maybe it was that I knew what he was capable of? I didn’t know, but I didn’t like this situation one bit.
I kept the keys clenched in my fists, the door to the car wide open in case I needed to jump in.
“Why are you back here?” I demanded. “You gave us what we needed. Our transaction is done.”
He just smiled like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Let’s just say there are more loose ends than I first thought. So, you trust now, right?”
“I don’t know about that, yet,” I said, glaring at him and keeping a careful distance. I thought about it and then decided to be honest. “But it’s promising.”
“That’s a bit hurtful.” He gave a short laugh, eyeing intently. “I an I did lead you to Junior. I know your boyfriend already found him.”
My head went blank.
I swallowed, trying to act unaffected by this piece of news, especially in front of a shady character like Alexi.
Elio had found Paul already?
But Elio said—
And with Alexi’s dark eyes focused on , looking for any tiny changes in my expressions, I realized this was exactly what he wanted, why he had just told this. I kept my expression neutral, swallowing down my building anger toward Elio as I pretended I already knew the bombshell he had thrown at .
“I still don’t trust you,” I said plainly, “especially now that you’ve cornered in a parking lot twice.”
He gave an amused look, crossing his arms like I was a baby rabbit trying to fight a lion. I felt like it too, like I had been thrust into a world of carnivores, each just toying with until they got bored and finally decided to devour .
“That’s okay, Cat.” Alexi sighed then gave a piercing look. “You will.”
And without another word, he turned on his foot and walked away leisurely like a lion who had decided the prey wasn’t worth killing... at least not yet.
A shiver ran down my spine and I breathed out, my hands trembling. Sothing about Alexi had changed. There was a danger to him that hadn’t been there before.
Maybe it had always been there, but now he just wasn’t hiding it anymore.
I jumped into my car, slamd the door, and locked it as I shakily grabbed my phone and dialed Elio’s number. The call clicked and before Elio could say a word, I rushed out with a hurried, “Where are you? We need to talk.”
I could tell he heard sothing in my voice, the urgency, the underlining anger, I didn’t know. But Elio quietly replied, “I’m at a showing. I’ll text you the address. What is this about, Cat?”
“I’ll talk to you when I see you,” I snapped, ending the call.
I waited in the car for a mont until I received the text and then took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart and stop from flipping out on Elio.
He had lied to ... again.
And as pissed as I was about that, I knew I had to handle this like the adult I was. I was not a child Elio needed to protect, and I thought we had finally got past this issue. But old habits die hard, apparently.
The car rumbled to life under my fingertips and I kept calm as I drove to the address, which wasn’t far from my school. And despite my promise to keep calm, my anger only rose at every stoplight, every crosswalk where I stared at people passing by and going about their lives.
My chest was burning with righteousness, a fury that couldn’t be contained as I parked at the sky-rise Elio was showing. When I arrived, he was already waiting at the entrance, arms crossed with his back to the wall.
I turned off the car, grabbing only the keys as I stord from the car to the entrance. Elio’s eyes lit up once he spotted and normally, this would’ve lted my heart but right then, all I wanted was to punch him in the goddamn face.
He’d fed a morning of lies and he expected to jump into his arms happily... not this ti.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked worriedly as I approached.
But then he hesitated, a wary look crossing his face as I stord up.
I lashed out once I was at arm’s length, and he winced but my hand wrapped around his silk tie, pulling him down to my level until we were face-to-face and re inches from one another. From afar, I was sure it looked like we were just a happy couple, but only Elio and I knew the truth.
I glared at him with poisonous anger as I whisper-yelled my grievances at his face.
“You found Junior?”
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