Page 68 of The Mafia Heir's Obsession

Dec kicks me lightly. “Clawzilla’s for adoption, you don’t buy him.”

“Well, can I make a hefty donation?”

Wild-eyed, Dec shakes his head. “Oh, no. Cal will kill me, then you, and then me again.”

And I smile. “I’ll take those chances.”

We get home… I mean, to the Murphy residence, loaded down with things for our new furry family members. It takes Declan and two of their men to drag everything inside. I have a cat tree, a doghouse, a dog bed, a cat bed, a litter box, and litter. Toys, food, more food, and…

Something sharp attacks my leg and I look down. The kitten Declan dubbed Clawzilla is clinging, trying to climb me, and Arnold, who seems to have forgotten he was a bedraggled, scared stray, struts up, closes his jaws around the kitten, and pulls it off me.

He backs off, looking around.

Arnold doesn’t know the whole house, but he’s been in the great room, the living room, and the kitchen. He bypasses them and disappears into a study. No lights are on, and I follow, looking.

There, under the desk against the back in the darkest corner, I see them.

My heart breaks. Arnold is scared. He knows to trust us, but here, where he can’t get out, he wants to protect someone as vulnerable as he was. The kitten.

There’s a burning in my eyes and my vision blurs.

“Lucie?” Declan calls.

Arnold whines. “It’s only Declan,” I whisper. “You like him. And so does your little friend. But… we’ll let you be.”

I back out of the room.

“Where’s your menagerie?” Declan shoves his phone in his pocket, an expression on his face that makes my insides shift with unease.

“In there.” I nod in the direction of the room.

The too-bright smile doesn’t move. “My office?”

“Is it?”

“I think so,” he says cheerily. “I use it to playWorld of Warcraft.”

There’s something wrong, I feel it. And my instinct is to… I’m not sure anymore. Reach out to Callahan? At home, I’d hover by Dad’s study, the one place I could find out things he didn’t want us to know. And if Viv was out, I’d text to make sure she was okay and let her in on whatever I found out.

But while they have guards, it’s clear not one of them would do so much as breathe out of turn. And Declan or his brothers won’t tell me a thing. I can’t call my family, either. As for Viviana? I have zero idea where she is.

So I smile, too. Put on a facade of cheer.

“Declan,” I say, “let’s leave them water, set up the litter box and their beds, and then we’ll lure them out. I think Arnold wants the kitten?—”

“Clawzilla.”

“Clawzilla,” I say, “to feel safe.”

“Okay, and then let’s go shopping. Or visit someone. Do you want to invite your mom to a later afternoon lunch? What about friends? Do you have those?”

“Mom?” She’d either be drunk or blissed out on pills at this hour. “No, I’m sure she’s busy. And I have friends, thank you.”

I don’t, not really. The mafia girls weren’t my thing and sure, I had all the girls and guys that Viv knew, but…

But Cal shot and killed the only one who’d ever contacted me.

And I don’t think John had any good intentions toward me, considering the gun he pulled on me.

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