Drago (Made Men 6)

Unlike when she came to their apartment earlier, Lucca let her come in this time.

Walking into the gorgeous space was almost unreal. Getting the corner apartment meant two full walls of windows to look down on the city, and with how natural everything was in there, it felt as if you were outside.

“H-Hi.” Chloe smiled at her from the couch while Shadow laid on her lap.

“Hey.” Kat couldn’t help but smile back, going to the couch to sit carefully next to them with some distance in between.

“I’m going to go take a shower.” The dangerous man looked at the broken girl, making sure she was okay before he left the room.

“Thanks for watching him for me. I was afraid he would get out with everyone going in and out.”

Chloe just kept petting his silky black fur. “You’re welcome. I loved having Shadow around.”

“He likes you.” She watched the two for a moment, listening to Shadow’s purr and the way he was with her. “You know, Shadow’s very special.”

“How?” she asked, raising a scarred brow.

Some animals were blessed with a gift, and Shadow was one of them. She’d often found Shadow cuddled up next to Matthias, as a way to “heal” her brother. The closer he became to a human, she recognized the higher level of pain that person had. Unsure of how to word it, she tried the best she could. “He likes to take a person’s pain away.”

“Oh.”

Kat didn’t want to upset her, but she also felt an undying need for the girl not to feel alone. Swallowing hard, she whispered what she’d never talked about, “He hurt me too.”

Chloe’s gray eyes looked into the black ones that were reminiscent of her demon’s, but she could see the pain that she, too, held. Biting her lip, the girl slowly extended a pale, shaky hand.

When she took her hand and gave it a squeeze, Katarina’s heart almost broke in two. She knew what it meant that Chloe allowed her to touch her even for a moment. It was somewhat painful to sit so close to the girl after knowing what her father had done to her. Lucifer was a monster, but what she couldn’t understand was why she was living with another.

Kat nervously looked back to where Lucca had gone and heard the shower running. What she was about to say could very well get her killed, but she couldn’t be who she was if she didn’t say anything. “I’m not sure why you’re with Lucca, but he is a powerful man….” Taking a breath, she continued giving a hint as to what she was talking about without saying it outright. “Like my father was.”

The pale, beautiful, scarred face stared at her for a second before she nodded, understanding what she meant.

Kat could see the girl had an idea about Lucca, but she wasn’t sure if she had truly seen the monster that lay just beneath the surface. However, it wasn’t her life, and the girl wasn’t blind. Kat had seen it instantly in Lucca, and she hoped Chloe would see it too one day. She needed to say one last thing. “You just deserve better.”

When she heard the shower turn off, she almost didn’t want to take Shadow from the scarred beauty when she picked him up off her lap. “You know, you can come over anytime to see him.”

“Thank you.” Chloe smiled, happy to hear her offer.

Going for the door, she wanted to get out before the monster returned, but before she could, she heard Chloe’s voice, stopping her in her tracks. What she heard the girl say, she wouldn’t have expected in a million years.

“Lucca tells me I don’t deserve him either.”

Thirty-Three

The Fucking Point of Having a Husband

“What are you doing?” Drago asked when the elevator doors opened as she passed with Shadow in her hands.

Her stomach sank, becoming nervous. “Uhh.”

Seeing Amo coming down the hallway, she saw his body tense further. What’s going on?”

Usually words came easily to Katarina, but nothing seemed to fall out of her mouth.

Amo was no help when he left the two alone.

“Kat… what did you do?” he asked sternly, obviously sensing she had done something yet again.

Oh God. Please don’t let this go bad.

“Don’t hate me,” she said before she opened the door to the apartment, letting Shadow down when she did.

Drago slowly walked into the apartment. Very quietly, he looked around, seeing all the new furniture that filled up his space. His once bachelor pad had finally turned into… a home.

The longer he went without saying anything, the sicker she felt. Horrible words never hurt when you were a witch and the one to say hateful things to a person in the first place. But when you did something nice to make someone happy, and they didn’t appreciate it, it hurt. Like hell.