Read Online Savage Secrets (Titan #6) by Cristin Harber - Free Book Online Page B

was a much better chance that there was an angry woman with a master’s degree in torment and suffering plotting his slow demise. At least he’d get to see her one last time before he left or she offed him. Still, his palms tingled to make contact with the butt of his holstered gun, carefully concealed by a jacket.
    “Thanks, man.” Rocco nodded and pushed open the door. Quiet piano music drifted from the corner. The lights were low. He didn’t see anybody. Not the enemy. Not his pseudo-wife.
    “Cat?”
    Nothing.
    He walked through the empty tables to the deserted bar. “Caterina?”
    The music stopped. He spun toward the silence, realizing the sad notes hadn’t been background music. It’d been his wife. He couldn’t see her, but he made his way over to the piano, hands in his pockets—a dead man walking toward a woman he didn’t know nearly enough about. What else would he never know about her once they parted ways?
    She sat in the middle of the bench, dark hair falling over her face and hands caressing the white and black keys. She didn’t acknowledge him. He wished she’d just rip him a new one in words he didn’t know, but that was just selfish on his part. He’d like it too much, and she clearly wished he’d get out.
    “I got nothing. I suck. Sorry I screwed our plans.” Apologies weren’t his forte, but that was about as honest as he could be.
    Her head tilted. The dark hair obscuring her sweet face fell to the side, and she tucked it behind an ear. Dark bags discolored the skin under her eyes. Her trademark smile and sass didn’t surface. Sullen and silent. Not how he’d normally describe Cat Cruz, but there she was, looking as if her day couldn’t get any worse.
    Until he walked in.
    Regret socked him in the gut.
    She turned to him, sliding her foot underneath her on the bench. “Are you okay?”
    “Am I okay?” Hey, what’s up, dick? Or Get lost. You ruined my op. were more what he thought she’d say. “Just had something come up.”
    “Want to talk about it?”
    Yeah, no . He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I can’t get into it, but… I just had to go earlier.”
    She turned back to the keys and slid her fingers over them. “Sit with me.”
    His fingers fidgeted in his pockets. He had prepared for war. Not this. Rocco chewed the inside of his mouth. “I should get going. Jared can pull someone else in on the quick. Or, like I said before, any of those MI6 boys would cut their nuts off to play house with you.”
    Pretty pink lips gaped. Her eyes widened. “You’re leaving me?”
    “Well, yeah.” Shifting his weight from one boot to the other, his hands knotted in his pockets, and his tangled mind couldn’t stop thinking she was so damn beautiful. “Just assumed going AWOL meant—”
    “Did you have a choice?”
    “Excuse me?”
    She rolled her wrist. “Whatever it is, the reason you left, did you have a choice?”
    “Nope.” He shook his head. Wished he did, tried like hell, but nothing helped. “No choice.”
    “Sit with me.” Scooting over a couple inches, Caterina patted seat next to her. “ Siéntate .”
    Move over, reality shows. Spanish was now his crack. He dropped to the bench, sliding next to her. It creaked under his weight. Her spicy perfume hung faintly in the air. He wanted to lean close to her neck and breathe her in.
    Caterina tapped a few keys, humming a tune. Very simple. The same notes over and over. He couldn’t place it, but it sounded more familiar and comforting than anything he could remember.
    “I like working with you.” She sighed, leaning. Her shoulder touched his. “I don’t want you to leave. But, you, what do you want?”
    Nothing appropriate for this conversation . This was a land mine, especially when a slight touch made his skin warm. “Kitten…”
    “I pushed you into this. I was manipulative.” She banged a key. The harsh noise punctuated her word. “It’s the job. My training. I do things almost without thinking.