Savage Secrets (Titan #6) (34 page)

“Out.”

Always the conversationalist, wasn’t she? Caterina nodded and took a calming breath. Anxiety made her so jittery. Couple that with her second finished soda, and she was shaky.

Caterina opened the door. “
Buenas tardes
.”

“Yeah, good afternoon to you too, senorita. Get your butt inside. We need to talk.”

Typical Sugar. Caterina shook her head but followed through the parking lot, then through the very secure front door and down a long, dark hallway. Voices and live fire filtered from the gun range. The inside of Sugar’s place was both tactical and comfortable.

“Nice place—”

They walked into a fuchsia office. “Let’s get down to business. Sit.”

Caterina looked at the chair and watched Sugar take her desk chair. “I didn’t know we had business.”

“Just sit. Please.”

Please
? Not typical and it made her anxiety jump. “Sugar—”

“Look, I’m not good at the whole soft, nice thing, so please sit your senorita ass in the chair. I need to talk to you.
Please
.”

Caterina chewed the inside of her mouth and then sat. “Okay. Talk.”

The confidence on Sugar’s face flickered. Her lipsticked lips faltered, alternating between a forced smile and a comfortable frown. She took in a deep breath then puffed out her lips when it escaped. “I…” She gestured her hand, rolling it in a circle. “I know what happened.” Sugar sucked in her bottom lip. “To you. Even though I guess I shouldn’t.”

She knew? Oh…Cat’s lips flattened, and a full body heat covered her in embarrassed discomfort. “Okay.”

“And I wouldn’t bring it up—”

“Okay.” Discomfort moved aside for anger. Caterina wanted none of this conversation. She hadn’t wanted to talk to a therapist. Hadn’t wanted Rocco to set her up with any of the Titan ladies to talk. None of that. She wanted one thing, and it had nothing to do with verbalizing the inner workings of her mind. “If that’s all—”

Sugar pushed back from her desk and ducked underneath, returning with a large black case and a sheet of paper. “Unmarked. Unregistered. Untraceable.”

Cat stared at the case for a long time, her heart pounding, soaring, hope and terror fighting for top billing in her chest. “What is this?” She picked up the piece of paper then looked at Sugar, confused and hoping her mind wasn’t messing with her. “These are coordinates?”

“Si, senorita.”

“Could you just call me Caterina? Cat?”

A painted, genuine smile cracked on Sugar’s face. “What fun would that be? Anyway. Yes, that’s a little lodge in West Virginia.”

She tapped her teeth together. “And that’s…where?”

“Well, we’re in Virginia. So west.”

“Now’s not the time, Sugar. Work with me.” She shook the paper. “What are you saying here?”

“I’m
saying
nothing because I’d like to
stay
married.
But
, this is a… present. Welcome to America, where all your dreams come true. You deserve it.” Sugar patted the case and cleared her throat. She stared at the case, and when she looked up, there was a cold, hard strength in her eyes that Caterina respected. “Look, Senorita. I’m not the girl you talk to about feelings or whatever. But I
am
the girl who will sit you down and say that fucker needs to pay for hurting you. I know your history, your family and then… he
rapes
you? Fuck him. I’m giving you the one-way ticket to send his ass to hell.”

A lump formed in Cat’s throat. Sugar pushed the case to her side of the desk, and Caterina stood, tracing her hand on the case. When she looked up, Sugar nodded, and Cat popped the buckles. It opened but not all the way, and her hands rested on its top. Looking inside was almost too good to be true. She’d been so close so many times that it scared her how close she was again. A location and a weapon. Caterina could do this.

“Open it. It’s all yours. And whatever else you need.
Comprende
?”

She lifted the case lid and pulled out an assault rifle.

“From my personal stash.” Sugar pointed a pink fingernail at the weapon. “And you can’t go wrong with a—”

“You made these?”

“Well… yeah.” She shrugged. “It’s all mil spec quality, and shit, Caterina. I don’t know. This is what I’d want if I were you. I’m not assuming to know how you feel. I just.” She nodded to the case on the desk. “I’d want someone to load me up with a whole lot of firepower and point me in the right direction, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Caterina glossed her hands over the weapons, and Sugar pulled a black bag onto the desk. It made a heavy noise when she set it down. “And ammo. Grenades. A pistol and a backup. Some holsters. And a flashlight. Every girl needs a good solid Mag light in her pack.”

Grenades? Her mind couldn’t wrap around the enormity of the gesture. “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say this will stay between you and me until I tell Jared. Say that you’ll engage and eliminate, and it will make you feel better.”

“I promise.”

“Smart girl. If you need to talk feelings, talk to Mia. If you need a drink, call Nicola. But if you ever just need to pull a trigger until your ears are bleeding, your body’s aching, and you’re spent, call me.”

“Okay.”

“If you want help or even someone to road trip with, I'm game.”

A genuine smile curled on her lips. “No, this is all me.”

“Figured as much. I’ll help you load up and see you off.”

Five minutes later, both the case and the bag weighed down the back of Rocco’s truck. She slammed the tailgate up and pulled the bed cover back down, securing it into place. “Sugar?”

“Senorita?”

She scowled, rolling her eyes. “You’re a pain.”

“I know. But I’m the best kind of pain to have.”

True
. “I’ve been out on my own for so long. It’s nice to have people to talk to and have them accept me.”

“Takes some getting used to. Trust me, I know. But we get you.”

They did get her. It was nice.

Friends, a man, and a house to call home for the foreseeable future. Her hands still rested on the back of the tailgate. Well, it was nice, at least until he found out what she was about to do. Then, there was no telling.

CHAPTER FORTY

Titan HQ wasn’t that close, and when there wasn’t a job, they didn’t really hang out at the office. Well, Jared and Parker did, but they had office work. When there wasn’t a job to plan or debrief from, they all trained, slept, and caught up with life. But Jared pulled them in this morning with a text message reading, “
get your asses in
,” and Rocco was more than familiar with what they would discuss.

El Mateperros.

They’d all arrived, and Rocco knew only what Jared had mentioned. Parker had found the Dog Killer. Titan had been contracted to provide intel on any upcoming attack on the royal family’s visit to the White House. They hadn’t been contracted to specifically locate El Mateperros. All the ACG intel on potential threats had gone straight to Homeland Security.

Yesterday, Jared had been ninety percent sure they’d found where Yassine Harhour was bunkering down. Today, Rocco had no doubt that Jared was one hundred percent certain. Rocco had already told Boss Man that he wanted El Mateperros, and Jared had agreed with no discussion, and now it was time for a game plan. But he was starting to second guess taking the kill from Cat.

The team gathered around the war room table. They’d spent enough time there that they all had unspoken assigned seats with Jared at the top of the table. Brock was back in his regular seat. He and Rocco flanked Jared.

“Brock’s bringing Delta in a little closer to home than they’ve been,” Jared started. “So while not on this job, the teams will be working together in the near future.”

Roman, Winters, Cash, and Nicola nodded.

Boss Man continued. “I’ve never been one to sidestep situations before. You all know we’ve been contracted to monitor chatter on ACG. Parker’s all over it. Other than feeding Homeland Security any intel we find on the Royal family-White House shindig, we’re hands off. Not our job. Not our mission. No contract, nothing.”

A huge
but
loomed.

“But. Parker found the Dog Killer. He’s remained stationary for almost twenty-four hours, and we got a visual confirmation. I gave Rocco two options. We pass the intel along today, or we pass it along
tomorrow
. Taking down Yassine Harhour tomorrow won’t endanger anyone, won’t move up the timeline on their presumed attack.”

All eyes landed on Rocco.

A gift from Boss Man. Jared slapped his arms across his chest and waited.

Rocco nodded, ready to repeat what he’d already told Jared. “And I said we tell them tomorrow.” His hands formed fists under that table as he thought about El Mateperros and how he’d worked through the real complication of Jared’s offer: did he take care of that asshole, or did he let Caterina? Because there was no way he or Cat would just let the federal government arrest the bastard.

Rage, white hot and blinding, grabbed hold of him. For a hot second, Rocco thought maybe it was a flashback, acid trip-out from before. But it’d been weeks, and this was different. This was internal pain, anguish, and a bloodthirsty need to take revenge out on the fucker who did his woman harm. That was simple enough. Guilt too. Caterina had wanted her whole life to end El Mateperros’s. And that was before the son of a bitch hurt her.

Help her
. Jared’s words from weeks ago rang in his head. Doing this on his own was most likely the wrong decision, but that was the way it had to be. Or was it?

“Let’s do it and be done with it.” Helping her might just kill him. His alpha gene stoked a caveman urged to go fix shit, Titan-style.

Jared nodded, tight-lipped. “All right, we’ll do this one overnight.”

They nodded, talked logistics, and disbursed. He had to be ready to go in four hours, but until then, he’d at least spend time with Cat. Hell, it may be one of his last times doing so because, when she found out, she’d walk.

Rocco dialed her as he drove home. One phone call went unanswered. Then another. He was on the fourth unanswered call when he pulled into the empty driveway and the fifth when he heard the phone ringing in the kitchen.

The house was empty. It wouldn’t have been alarming—Cat had taken to using the truck when she went out—except for the abandoned phone. He circled around the table, staring at the phone, wondering where—

A note taped to the fridge had a heart at the bottom of it.

I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.

XO

He rocked back on his heels, a sudden restlessness taking hold. Rocco snagged the phone off the table and scrolled to her phone log. Other than his number, the last call in was GUNS.

Everything moved too quickly in his mind. All the what ifs and maybe nots. But Caterina was gone. Phone at home. And the last person she spoke to was Sugar? Bad news. Bad fucking news.

Using her phone, Rocco hit redial. The phone rang once.

Sugar answered immediately. “Everything okay?”

“Goddamn it, Sugar. What is going on?”

She sucked in a breath. “Rocco.”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“Well…”

“Spit it out, Sugar.”

“No.”

He choked out a harsh, angry laugh. “I’m not playing. What the hell is happening?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bull.”

She huffed out again. “Fine. Whatever. Titan knows where El Mateperros is.”

“I know, damn it.” He scrubbed the scruff on his chin. “Why do you, and what have you done about it?”

“I overheard and told Cat,” she rushed out her words. “She needed to know.”

“I fucking know. I—” Rocco slammed his palm against the wall. “Damn it, Sugar. Jesus fucking Christ. What’d you do, send her packing with a gun and some ammo?”

“Well, not quite, prick. I gave her a couple handguns, a rifle, some grenades—”

“What?” he roared. “Wait. What did you just say grenades? Are you out of your mind? We’re in the fucking United States. You can’t send her to West Virginia with a goddamn arsenal.”

“No one said she’s going to use everything, but she needed options.”

He put the phone on speaker, sat at the table, and rubbed his face. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

“Nothing. Let her do her thing.”

“Christ. Shit.” He tore his hands into his hair. “How long ago did she leave your place?”

“Like five hours.”

“Five hours…” He did the math. Assuming she’d stopped at home to write the note and was driving reasonably, she’d be nearly half way there.

“So… Are you going to mention this to Jared?”

“Am I going to
mention
this to Jared? I’m going to freakin’ ask him to warm up a chopper.” He blew out an exasperated breath. “Bye, Sugar.”