Chapter Five

Chapter FiveAweek went by. And another. And another.I’d gone on as normal. Worked. Met with my friends. Read books. Binged-watched TV series. Worked out at the gym.Whereas I’d once lamented that Danton wasn’t even a tiny part of my everyday life, I now came to find it a blessing. Why? Because nothing around me or part of my schedule served as a reminder of him.Not that my thoughts didn’t nonetheless still drift to him. It happened often, in fact. They were unruly that way.Usually, work—which I was presently taking a brief coffee break from as I lounged on my office sofa—was a terrific distraction from anything that was playing on my mind. Not when it came to Danton, though. Probably because the books I edited were all romance novels. It was really only natural that they would make me think of my own love life—or lack thereof.I’d find myself comparing my situation to that of these fictional couples. I’d find myself wishing that Danton had pushed past his uncertainties and defenses, much like the male characters had. More, I’d find myself snickering at my own stupid self for doing such weird, ridiculous shit.I scowled into my cup of coffee and tucked my legs beneath me. Although I was no longer spending most of my free time in my apartment like a hermit, I still hadn’t yet returned to the Vault. I simply never felt in the mood to go there. I associated the place too much with Danton, so venturing to it wasn’t exactly conducive to taking my mind off him.I had no clue if he had been back there. The day after receiving the perfume he sent me, I’d given the girls strict instructions to tell me nothing of any activities they witnessed him engage in—even something as simple as stepping out of the club’s elevator into the basement.They’d been visibly relieved that I’d changed my mind about wanting to be informed of when he bagged himself a new plaything. Who could blame them for not wanting to be the messenger of such news?They’d known as well as I did that, in truth, I wouldn’t feel better for knowing. In reality, I’d only obsess over the matter—over who she was, over what restrictions they’d put on their arrangement, over if he said the sort of things to her that he had to me. There would be nothing healthy about that.I hadn’t had any more contact with him since the evening I received his package. I really had no idea if he’d tried to call or text me again because I’d once more blocked his number. Purely due to the fact that each time my phone rang, I’d found himself wondering if it could be him wanting to ‘check’ on me again.This way, I wouldn’t feel that tiny surge of pointless hope in my belly anymore whenever my phone chimed. I wouldn’t experience the plummeting sensation in my stomach when I saw that the caller or texter wasn’t him. I wouldn’t want to slap myself for getting so tangled up in a guy I couldn’t have.I blurted out a soft curse, more than a little vexed that I was spending my coffee break thinking about him. It was no real surprise, though. Not when I’d spent hours immersing myself in, and working on, a mafia romance novel.Yeah. A mafia romance novel. It was like some higher power was having a joke at my expense. And I wasn’t seeing the humor in it.Still, I hadn’t even considered turning down the author’s request to edit it. I was nothing if not professional. I didn’t let people down that way.I had a long list of authors that I regularly worked with. Freelance editing was more profitable these days than it used to be due to the surge in self-published writers. But I was also often hired by publishing companies, so I got the best of both worlds really.As a developmental editor, my purpose was not only to aid the author but to represent the readers—spotting grammatical mistakes, fixing errors, altering sentences to improve their flow, and making suggestions that would improve the characters, plot, structure, and pacing.Having an undying love for books, I treasured my job. I didn’t find the pressure of deadlines off-putting. Which was a good thing, since I had plenty of them.I considered myself lucky every day that I had a job I loved. Not a lot of people could boast that. The world sucked that way.Teresa didn’t understand why I wished to work when I could either live off the trust fund I’d been gifted or marry a man who could financially support me. It could be said that we didn’t share the same outlook on this element of life.While she liked to brag to others that I had a college degree, she wasn’t truly proud of me. She didn’t see much value in my profession. Nor did she understand my passion for reading—she thought of it as a frivolous hobby. Yeah, well, I thought that the shocking amount of cash she weekly blew on designer clothes was frivolous, but to each their own.A heavy knock came at the front door. Ah, Inaya was here, then. She’d texted me earlier to say that she’d stop by and drop off a batch of lemon treats that her delightful grandmother had baked. God bless Judy.Over the past three weeks, I’d seen a lot of my friends. They’d visited me, I’d visited them, and we’d gone out for meals or drinks. Despite my assurances that my heart wasn’t broken, they were determined to ‘keep an eye’ on me. I loved them for it, even if I did sometimes find my eyelid twitching from all the fussing.Taking my coffee with me, I walked to the front door and pulled it open. My body went still. Not Inaya.Caught completely off-guard, I merely stared at my brother. He very rarely came to see me. In fact, I could count on one hand the number of times he’d been here.“Julian,” I finally greeted, my stomach sinking. It wasn’t hard to guess why he was here. He’d evidently heard that Danton and I weren’t an item anymore—not that we ever truly had been—and he was here to ask if the rumor was true. Crap.He glanced over my shoulder and into the apartment. “You alone?”“Yes.” I opened the door wider, and he strode inside as if he owned the place. “What brings you here?” I asked, going for clueless.He shook his head at me. “What the hell are you doing, Cat?”Closing the door, I felt my brows flit together. “Excuse me?”“This thing you’ve got going on with Quintero is a clusterfuck waiting to happen. You’re playing a dangerous game here, and you damn well know better.”Huh. So he hadn’t yet discovered that it was ‘over.’ I saw absolutely no reason to enlighten him. “I’m not playing any game.”Julian let out a derisive snort. “You’re flipping Dad the finger. Look, I get that you don’t like the things he asks of you. I get that you resent he has no time for you.”I didn’t resent the latter, I loved it.“Getting cozy with a guy who always point blank refused to do business with Dad might seem like a fun way to non-verbally tell him to go fuck himself, but it is not the road you should have gone down. It ain’tsmart, Cat. Not even a little.”“My interest in Danton isn’t about Jorge.”Another snort. “Of course it is. Just as Quintero’s interest in you is about Dad.”I folded my arms. “Not everything is about our father, Julian.”“Oh, so you think it’s a coincidence that the woman Danton decides to claim just happens to be Jorge’s daughter? You think that Quintero cares about you?”Cares? Ha. Not even a little. But I wasn’t going to tell Julian that. “I’m guessing by your tone that you don’t.”“Neither should you. Jesus, Cat, don’t be so goddamn naïve. You’re a tool to him. A tool he believes that he owns and controls. He thinks having a hold over you means he has a hold over Dad.”If I’d been a mere tool to Danton, he would have used me in some way. But he never had.“I don’t know where you two met, but it will have been no accident. He targeted you.”I sighed. “Look, Julian, I know that you and Dad think the world revolves around him, but that’s not actually true.”My brother let out a humorless chuckle. “Man, Quintero really has sucked you in, hasn’t he? Maybe you’d have snapped out of it if you’d seen how he walked into Dad’s study bold as you fucking please and laid down the damn law, confident he had the upper hand because he has you. Did he tell you he swore that none of us would ever see you again if Dad made a move toward you that he didn’t like?”I blinked. No, he’d failed to mention that little nugget. “He’s protective that way.”“Oh, I’ll bet he’s very protective. To the point of being controlling. You’re basically his hostage, Cat. Quintero might let you go on about your daily life, but your freedom is an illusion. There’s a sword hovering above your head, and he’ll bring it down on you to punish Dad if he feels he needs to.”I knew that wasn’t true for the simple reason that Danton had let me go. But that wasn’t something I wished to share with Julian.“You’re not safe with that fucker. You need to get rid of him.”My eyes narrowed. “Get rid of him? Dad’s decided he wants him out of the picture? That’s what this is about?”“I’m not here for Dad,” he insisted, affronted. “I’m here because I’m looking out for you.”Bullshit. “You don’t make a move without his approval. You definitelywouldn’t have stuck your nose into a situation this delicate unless he okayed it. And, honestly, I don’t believe my safety is all that important to you. Or if it is, you don’t let it matter.”Julian’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t deny it.“It seems pretty clear that Dad sent you to play divide and conquer because ordering me to get rid of Danton would constitute making a move that Danton wouldn’t like.” I put my hands on my hips. “Why does Jorge want him off the scene?”“You know both men well, you should be able to guess.”I poked my tongue into the inside of my cheek. “He figured he could finally do some business with Danton. Figured he could use him. Only Danton’s not interested, so Jorge isn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of laying any claim to what he considers his property. Me.” Unreal. “You do realize that I’m not anyone’sproperty, right? That I’m an actual person?”“Property, person—they’re both one and the same to Dad. He’d have let Quintero stay on the scene if you were learning anything that Dad can use against him, but you said Quintero’s too careful around you. If that’s the case, he’s no good to us, so Dad wants him gone.”And that was apparently all that mattered. “Well, you can tell him that I won’t be cooperating this time.”Julian’s face darkened. “What was that?”“You heard me just fine.”“Don’t be stupid, Cat.”“I’m not being stupid, I’m simply not falling in line this time.” I needed to make a stand for myself at one point. It made sense to do it now, while they believed I was under Danton’s protection. It would make Jorge less inclined to retaliate. “The fact is I’m the only one in this fucking family who makes concessions to spare other people any hurt, and I’m tired of doing it. I’m done doing it.”“Even knowing what the consequences will be?”Like he cared what happened to Teresa—he’d never done anything to help her. “If letting Dad pull my strings in this situation will also mean sacrificing my own happiness to protect her—”

“Whoa, you’re happy with Quintero?” Julian asked, a mocking note to his voice, disbelief rippling across his face. “With a guy who’s using you to fuck with Dad? A guy who intends to milk you for information that he can use against our family?”“He’s never once asked me a single question about Dad or his businesses.”“To lure you into believing that he truly gives a shit about you. Trust me, the questions will come. Maybe he’ll just slip one into conversation now and then, but they’ll definitely come.”I might have been open to believing such a thing if I’d only known Danton for a short time, much as Julian seemed to have assumed. But Danton had had over half a year to toss questions at me. If his intention had been to milk me that way, he’d have started it long ago.“It doesn’t even make sense that he’d think I’d make a good source of information,” I said. “I rarely have anything to do with Dad, and I’m not involved in his businesses. That’s no secret.”“Even the smallest pieces of info can be valuable. I’m telling you, Quintero’s using you. He does not give one single fuck about you. And even if he did, he wouldn’t be worth your time.”There was so much rancor in his voice, I cocked my head and said, “You really don’t like Danton, do you?”“What’s there to like? The man’s a total dick. He thinks he’s too good to do business with Dad. He has plants goddamn everywhere. He knows how to turn people’s loyalties, and he makes no bones about doing it.”Realization dawned on me. “Risa,” I said, remembering one of Julian’s exes. “He’s the one who coaxed her into leaving and betraying you.”“Yeah. And if you give him the chance, he’ll do the same to you. Then who will you have in your life when he scrapes you off? No one. Because you sure as fuck know that Dad will disown you if you turn on us.”That really didn’t sound like a bad fate at all. I’d prefer to have Jorge out of my world for good. Despite how strained things were between myself and both my mother and brother, I did love them. But there didn’t seem to be a way to be involved in their lives and be free of Jorge’s clutches. Not unless they stood up to the old bastard, which I doubted either of them would ever do.Julian’s phone beeped. He looked at the screen and cursed. “I gotta go.” He gave me a pointed glare. “The time for rebellion and pissing Dad off is over. Get your head out of your ass and do what you need to do, Cat.”Julian left, seeming perfectly confident that—regardless of my announcement that I would not be cooperating this time—I’d do exactly what Jorge expected of me.But then, hadn’t I always?Not anymore.Those days were over. They’d figure that out sooner or later. And I really had no idea how they’d react. I wasn’t looking forward to finding out.