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Miss Silent had no family, either. It turned out her parents were killed when she was taken. The youngest, Callie, had family, but they wouldn’t get a notice of her body having been found or anything that told them of her life ending. They ended her life when they agreed to her sale. And it didn’t look like they spared a single thought for her in their fancy house in the suburbs of New York. A mercenary was on his way there. We called him Karma. The child in the basement was a fourteen-year-old girl. Her name was Lucille, once upon a time. Her mother’s boyfriend had sold her to fund their drug habit. Since then, they both had overdosed. Good riddance.
“I’m sorry,” Cat whispered to the remains of her companions as they became nothing in front of our eyes—nothing but painful memories for her that I tried to soothe by holding her close.
“They’d understand. I promise you.” I kept my eyes locked on her mouth each time it opened. Sen Chasity had brought my ringing back, and I appreciated her for that, if nothing else, because it stopped me from fucking hearing her.
“I hope so. I don’t even know their names.”
“Lana. Harriett. Calliope. Lucille.”
“Which one did—”
“Harriett was the one who hurt your shoulder. An act of survival, not hatred, just like the push you retaliated with.”
“I took her life.” Cat’s sad eyes watered, tears racing down her cheeks.
“The only ones to blame are the scumbags who kept you there, pitting you against each other.”
Cat wiped a tear from one eye, and I wiped one from her other. The blue twinkled a little more than the melancholy shade of green that her sudden depression brought out, but they both looked beautiful to me.
“When we’re done here, we’ll continue that date. Cheer you up a little.”
“It’s not a day for celebrating.”
“It certainly is. You could be with them, and I could be grieving. Imagine if I’d found you dead, what that would have done to me. I couldn’t get over you when I prayed you were still alive.”
“Did you want to?” Her head tilted to me.
“It would have been easier to forget you, but I couldn’t. I remembered every little thing about you. How your nose crinkles when you smile and how it creates lines in the dusting of freckles trailing these high cheekbones.” My finger connected the dots on her face, and my touch, as if by magic, dried up her eyes. I never voiced the next part, but I still remembered how her fiery red hair tickled my arms as she’d lean in for the protection I never once gave.
I had goosebumps now, millions lining my arms beneath my sweatshirt as I tried to brush away the chill that was spreading inside me.
It had nothing to do with the weather. It was the ice melting around my fucking heart because of the heat she constantly filled me with.
Cat ignored any lingering sadness, looking at me with those eyes, so utterly unique, so perfect, and I melted a little more when she asked, “Are you cold?”
I loved that she cared, but I never got to give her an answer because we were interrupted by Rodregez.
“Hello, I wasn’t expecting to see you both here today. I did text you this morning to tell you that your hearing aid was delivered to your address, but I didn’t hear back from you.”
“Yeah, I saw that.” I saw it and ignored it, along with the messages from Ollie that I had no interest in reading. “I told Cat the girls were being put to rest today. She wanted to pay her respects.”
Rodregez’s hair blew in the wind. “I understand.” He plastered on his professional smile and looked over to my girl, watching, as I did, her silky red hair dancing in the breeze, her pants—my pants—still hanging low on slender hips.
“Cat, if you don’t mind hanging around for a little while, we can take a look at doing that root canal. What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t want to keep Remi hanging around.” Her mouth hadn’t told the rest of her face about the lie she was telling.
“Little Dream,” I tested the new term, and her nose didn’t scrunch the way it did when I called her Little Nightmare. “I’m good. But, if you’re not ready, then another time.”
I placed a kiss on her temple and pulled her body into mine, my hand rubbing over her arm from elbow to bicep. It wasn’t cold, not really, but the need to comfort Cat was something I couldn’t fight. And she was shaking for one reason or another.
“Will it hurt me?”
“Some people find them uncomfortable. But it’s nothing compared to your shoulder.” Rodregez shrugged.
“Is it wise, given the heart attack?” I wanted no risks.
“It’s advisable to delay, but her infection is severe and could lead to sepsis.”
