The Tyrant (Banker 3)

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?”

I rolled my eyes. “Not even a little bit.”

“Then what is it? Everything okay with Siena?”

Just hearing her name caused me pain. I slept in that enormous bed alone without my lady beside me. I went to bed hard and horny because I couldn’t make love to her. I couldn’t go out and pick up pussy somewhere else because Siena was the only pussy I wanted. “It didn’t work out.”

“What didn’t work out?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Us.”

Bates still took several seconds to understand what I was saying. “What the hell happened? You were in love and shit. What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did anything?”

His eyes narrowed, full of accusation.

I looked away, hating the truth in his gaze.

“Talk to me, Cato.”

“I’m good.” I grabbed the papers and tossed them back. “Just get these signed, and let’s move forward.”

Bates held the papers but stared at me incredulously. “You seriously aren’t going to tell me?”

“No.” Just admitting the truth to myself was difficult. I thought I had everything, and then an instant later, I lost it at all. I’d never felt so alone. Not hearing my daughter’s cries down the hallway broke my heart. Not listening to Siena sing in the shower broke my heart too. “Drop it, Bates.”

A shadow passed over his gaze, a storm of pain and hurt. He’d gotten upset with me many times in our lives, but he’d never looked quite like this—like he was actually offended. He gathered the papers then left my office without another word.

22

Siena

I was feeding Martina a bottle that night when the doorbell rang.

It was almost eight in the evening, so I assumed it was Cato stopping by for a visit. I was in my pajamas with my hair in a bun, but I didn’t have a chance to fix myself up in any way. My hand held the bottle to her mouth as I walked to the door and opened it.

But it wasn’t Cato.

It was Bates.

With a serious expression and a hint of sadness in his eyes, he didn’t look like himself. He stepped inside and shut the door behind himself.

Bates was the last person I expected to show up on my doorstep. “Everything alright?”

“No. You’re living here, while my brother lives alone. Nothing is alright.” He looked down at Martina but didn’t give her the look of affection he usually did. “Cato has been in a mood all week, but I thought it would pass. When I confronted him about it today, he told me you guys split up—but he didn’t tell me why.” He looked at the TV, which showed the nightly news. He grabbed the remote and turned off the screen, so we were surrounded by silence. “So, why?”

“He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out you’re here.”

“I don’t give a shit. He’s always pissed at me.” He sat on the couch and tapped the cushion beside him. “So, talk to me.”

I carried Martina then sat beside him. She continued to suck on her bottle, her eyes open and staring at her uncle. I’d started pumping so she wouldn’t make my nipples even more sensitive. “He didn’t tell you anything?”