Page 87 of Scorned Beauty

“I have Ginger.” I cut her off. Shit. This wasn’t the way I planned to tell her.

Her whole body froze, and she slowly turned to face me, her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I found her in the alley. She’s okay. No broken bones….”

“She tried to defend me,” Sloane whispered. “Anton tossed her out the window. Hurled her out like a baseball.”

“She’s fine, Sloane.” I walked toward her. It tore me up to see Sloane struggling not to show vulnerabilities, especially to the bastard who rejected her at the time she needed him the most. If I stood a chance of winning her back, I should learn to be patient for the long haul.

My girl was broken and lost.

“I…” She struggled for words to say. “You and my cat.”

Still, I couldn’t resist needling her. “My cat now.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You can’t even pet her, let alone have her on your lap.”

“Well, she enjoys sitting on my lap, just so you know, just like this other pussy I know.”

Her mouth fell open. I smirked.

“Where is she?” she demanded. “Is she at your beach house?”

“I didn’t bring her.”

“Where is she?” Sloane repeated. “You left her alone? Who’s feeding her? Who’s taking care of her?”

“Relax, Lucy is taking care of her.” I crossed my arms before they had the chance to wrap around her. God, I wanted to fix her so badly, but she wasn’t a toy to be fixed. She was a person with feelings and insecurities. Who’d been handed the shit things in life but grew up swinging her sass. Her fire was what attracted me to her, and I was loving seeing the sparks right now.

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, she’s staying with me at the penthouse.”

“Ginger is in your penthouse.” Disbelief rounded her eyes.

“What can I say? She likes the upgrade from the alley to the Ritz.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I have cat videos to prove it,” I shot back.

She was surveying me with squinty eyes while mine challenged her, but before she could form words, a knock sounded on the door.

“Are you two still alive in there?” It was Bianca.

Sloane opened the door and addressed the women, “Ginger is with Dom?”

“Guess the cat is out of the bag,” Sera laughed.

I hated that my cousins broke our moment, but at the same time, I was relieved. Relieved because my cousins tempered my instinct to bulldoze Sloane to accept me back.

“Let me see?” Bianca asked, turning Sloane around and bending over to inspect my handiwork.

“It’s a stitch. It’s not like he gave me a tattoo,” Sloane muttered, glaring at me.

Ah, my Firecat. I couldn’t wait to tattoo my name on her ass. Property of Dominic De Lucci. It was only a matter of time. “And that’s the thanks I get.”

“I didn’t ask you,” she snapped and padded off into the kitchen.