Forced To Change Ch 35

Chapter 35

I paced the downstairs of the cabin as I waited for Katie to come out of the bathroom. I was nervous for a lot of different reasons. I still hadn't figured out if I should tell her about the connection between Jorge Riaz and Paul Donnelly. The paperwork Joe gave me was stashed away in my laptop bag, as if by hiding it I could bury the information. I preferred living in denial while cocooning in the cabin with Katie, forgetting there was a real world outside the door.

The news story about Katie's disappearance was still local, only running in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. It hadn't quite travelled to the national level. That was good for us, but a sad commentary on what the media prioritized as newsworthy. Joe was right. We were safe, and we didn't need to run anymore, just hide.

If I could let go of my natural urges to kill Jorge, I could have a wonderful life, a perfect life. The problem was I had so much to hide from her. There were secrets and promises I'd made that would destroy her if she ever learned them.

I so wanted to be the person Katie seemed to see in me. Part of my problem was I loved her. She'd called me a 'bossy, lethal killer' with mirth. There hadn't been an ounce of fear in her words. If she truly didn't care about the dark parts of my past, then we could move forward together. It would be enough. It should be enough, but the fact that the people responsible for what happened to her were still walking the earth fueled my wrathful fire for vengeance.

I'd considered slipping out and taking care of the problem on my own. I could find and kill them, and... No, she'd want to know. She'd probably be interested in doing it herself. She'd killed Noel Riaz. I didn't want to rob her of her chance to face her tormentor, or deny her the pleasure of watching or helping him die. It could be the closure she needed to move past Cantana, even if the idea of her in a room with that man sent a cold chill down my spine. Was it love that the idea of Katie with a gun in her little hands, killing Jorge Riaz, made me hard? There was no doubt in my mind—yes.

Katie emerged from the bathroom tugging down the hem of her short red dress and every thought in my head receded. I watched her fidgeting with her clothing, a breathtaking vision that sent my heart galloping into overdrive. She made me wish I'd taken a greater interest in poetry at some point. I felt like a moron trying to describe her.

Why were we leaving the cabin? Fuck if I knew. Oh yeah, because Katie wanted a date. I smiled because I knew I'd do anything for her, anything. I'd done so much already that she never need know about. She'd been my reason for living for six long years and she was mine, completely.

She took one look at me and beamed from the inside out, love shining in her big brown eyes. Then she gasped and her hands dropped to her sides as she stared at me. We walked toward each other as if gravity forced us together. I swept her into my arms and kissed her passionately. The kiss was all soft sweet lips and wet tongues twisting together with urgency. She sighed into my mouth and melted against my body, her hands on my shoulders. I finally pulled back and set her on her feet.

"We could stay right here." I arched a brow and smirked.

"No! We're doing this," she said firmly, but I saw the indecision in her face. After a moment of just gazing into my eyes she said, "So where are you taking me?"

"I thought I'd surprise you, if that's okay. I figured it would be more romantic." I was nervous again as I tried to run my fingers through my hair. I'd tied it back, though, so that didn't work.

"Okay." She smiled. "You know that's corny, right?"

"What else is a Horny Corny Man to do?" I smiled down at her and kissed the tip of her nose. "Ready?"

"Oh yes. I can't wait," she said, grabbing her wrap. I took her hand and we left the safety of my cabin for the first time in a week.

***

"This is Atlanta, right?" Katie said after waking up from a little nap on the ride down to the city. She was virtually bouncing in her seat as she stared out the passenger window.

"Oh, there's the Fox. And that's the Georgia Terrace Hotel. I heard a lot of famous people stay there." Katie's enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself grinning ear to ear. "Why's every street named Peachtree something or other? That must get so confusing, right?"

I laughed as I pulled into a parking garage down a side street. I felt so normal and free as I walked with my arm around Katie. I took her warm hand in mine. My other fingers glanced over the holstered gun under my dinner jacket when a man stared at Katie a little too long. There was no real reason to kill him because the man took one look at my face, ducked his head, and crossed the street immediately. A car horn blared as the man kept his eyes cast down and scurried out of sight.

"Idiot," I mumbled getting a bad feeling. What if she was recognized? There were a myriad of things that I couldn't control or that could go wrong. The look of pure joy on Katie's face squashed my doubts and I settled my jacket over the gun as I released it.

I couldn't blame the man. Katie was stunning in her sexy red dress and three-inch matching heels. Her figure was covered in silk, the dress clingy in all the right places, so that my eyes had a hard time finding anything else to fill them. Her thick, almost black mane of hair was shiny and down, with a slight curl to it that framed her lovely face. Her lips were stained with a deep red that just made me want to eat her plush mouth and taste her sweetness.

I should have thought more about the purchase. She was in public, not safely locked away in the house, after all. But I shook my head and tried to get a grip. Of course men and maybe a few women were going to stare at her tonight. She was a vision.

I whisked her into the Livingston for dinner and wine, then over to the Fox Theater for the latest Tyler Perry play,

Medea Goes to College

. The night was playful, light and relaxing except for the occasional stares of predatory men. By the time we went into the Georgia Terrace Hotel lobby, I had counted six men that I wanted to find and kill later.

My growing hit list included the vagrant I'd given two hundred dollars to, for his comment, "I'd rather have the girl." The man had been joking, of course, and once he looked at the notes in his hand he ran away, shouting his thanks back at us.

Katie smiled at the exchange. "I pray he does something good with that money. Twenty bucks? You're so generous."

I pressed pause on my murderous thoughts but I didn't bother to correct her assumption. I'd made all of the night's arrangements using a laptop to hack into the reservation sites, with the aid of a few aliases. I even checked us into the hotel prior to leaving the cabin, so we only needed to stop at the front desk to pick up the key card as we'd done at the box office for the tickets to the play.

I quoted the funnier lines from the performance verbatim and Katie giggled uncontrollably on the elevator ride up to the room. Once inside the room, I was on her. I picked her up and tossed her on the bed. She giggled from the move but there wasn't even a jiggle from the mattress. It was that high quality. Before she could recover I wanted to and did ravish her.

I was in favor of dates. I'd take her to Savannah next time, I thought as I slipped the dress over her head. Or over to New Orleans, I mused while I removed my own clothing. I pushed her back onto the bed and made love to Katie for hours, an act that I couldn't get enough of.

The night was amazing and perfect. No one had recognized her on the street. If I'd checked us into the hotel longer than one night, I might have started another sexual marathon to rival the last week at my cabin.