Page 338 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“I don't know,” he whispered. “Probably not long at all. I'm going to ask Fox to be your shadow at night, okay? You can't be with me, but I don't want you unguarded.”

“Okay,” she agreed, tears filling her eyes again. Her fear for him was overwhelming. What if he couldn't fight Roxanna? What if she lost him forever? She shook her head. These were thoughts she couldn't stand.

Dom pulled open a drawer in his closet and came out with a huge wad of cash. “Here's some money.”

She started to shake her head but he thrust it at her aggressively. “Take it. You might need it. We don't know where the fuck this is going. And you can use that credit card, too. I don't think they're going to be detailed enough to trace my financial records. She'll find me soon, just through word of mouth.”

She took the money reluctantly.

“Okay, I want you to go home now.”

“No! Dom—” she pleaded.

“Do not argue with me.”

“I'm scared,” she croaked.

He took her roughly into his arms and squeezed her so tightly he took her breath away. He murmured something softly in Italian, kissing her hair several times. Then he put her down and held her face in his two hands, looking at her with a fierce intensity. “I'm going to make sure that nothing happens to you. Capiche? But I need you to do everything I tell you to. And right now that means getting the hell out of here. Now come on.”

Stella took her home and stood on the porch clearing her throat until Kate remembered to invite her in. She put the tea kettle on and started picking up the clutter, embarrassed. Stella joined her, clearly as incapable of relaxing as Kate. “You don't have to do that,” she protested, but Stella just ignored her, moving through the little adobe casita with a relentless efficiency. She scrubbed the toilet and bathtub, swept and mopped, vacuumed and dusted while Kate took care of putting all her things where they belonged, washing, folding and putting away her clothes and cleaning out the fridge.

By the time dawn rolled around, her place looked better than it ever had before and she was dead tired. Stella grabbed her, gave her a quick kiss and dematerialized.

She crawled into bed and slept till two in the afternoon. All she wanted to do was call or text Dom, but he had forbidden it. She wondered if she was allowed to contact Fox. That question was answered for her after sundown, when she saw Fox's car pull up in front of her house. She swung the door open and walked toward the kitchen to get a beer for him, but he called out to her from the porch.

“Kate? Come here for a sec.”

She walked back to the door. “Come on in,” she said with a note of impatience, then she saw why he'd called to her. Fox wasn't alone. With him was a beautiful male vampire. He looked like he'd been about 35 when he'd been turned. He had shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and large square jaw. Her eyes went from Fox's to the vampire's. Dom had said he didn't want any of the vampires to see her. But Fox wouldn't have brought him if he wasn't safe.

“Kate, this is Randolph,” he introduced her.

She stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Won't you come in?”

“Thank you,” he said with a British accent, shaking her hand and following Fox into the house.

“Would either of you like a beer?”

They both accepted her offer and she cracked one for herself, too, sitting down with them in the living area. Randolph was staring at her neck—her carotid artery, to be precise—in a way that made her uncomfortable. It was oddly like having someone ogle her breasts.

“Is Dom okay?”

Fox nodded.

“Did you get everyone out of the house?”

“Yes,” he sighed.

She continued peppering them with questions until they'd told her all they knew, which wasn't that much. She still hadn't figured out who Randolph was, either.

She offered them a second beer, but Fox stood up. “Actually, I'm supposed to take you to buy a car tonight,” he said.

“What? No way,” she insisted.

Fox shook his head at her. “Don't argue,” he said rather grimly. “I'm answering to Dom on this one. Come on, I called some dealerships to make sure they'd stay open for us.”

“Fox, no. What are you talking about?”

“Let's go,” he said, ignoring her protests. She followed dumbly to Fox's car. She didn't want a car. She didn't want Dom to buy her a car. She quite liked sharing Dom's car, thank you very much. And the part that frightened her most was that this felt like Dom was putting his ducks in a row in case something happened to him. She blinked back tears as she got in the back of Fox's car and saw Randolph eyeing her throat again.

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