I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 80: Home

Checking out of the hotel was a little chaotic as we had so much more stuff than we came with and the bags were inconvenient. We managed and got everything into the rental car. I chewed on a bagel as Alisha navigated us out of the city. It looked stressful so I did my best to be quiet and calm and only offered input when it was very necessary.

Once we were on a highway again, we could both relax a little. I tore a bagel in half and offered to hold it for her to eat but she turned me down. She'd eat when we stopped to pee or get something to drink or something. 

For the first time in forever we felt isolated together. The city's crowds were incredibly present in the back of my mind, even more than I realized before they were gone.

This also meant we could talk openly about whatever we wanted.

“Alisha,” I said softly.

She gave me a quick glance, listening but keeping her eyes on the road.

“Would you ever leave your job? If given the opportunity?” I asked 

She didn't respond right away. I let her process her thoughts and gazed out the window for a long moment, watching the urban setting gradually taper in and out of suburbs.

“I don't know,” she said. “If it was just me, I'd happily walk away. But I have a responsibility to take care of my family, even if they're not related by blood.”

“Your family?” I asked.

She nodded. “I know it's rather cheesy, but I do see some of my people like family. I grew up with some of them and others have been good to me over the years, at their own expense. They are the kind of people Nico will want to exterminate as soon as possible. So if I didn't go back, it would be a death sentence for several of them. And that just isn't fair.”

“I see. People like Tye,” I followed. He was loyal to her, even given the chance to advance in rank or probably make more money working with Nico, he'd shown her his support.

She nodded. “And Matteo and Jess and Claire and the others that don’t make me want to throw them out a window.”

“I feel like if you weren’t put into this life by force, you’d be a remarkable human being. I already think you’re a decent person, but if you weren't forced to do such awful things…” In some ways I viewed her as being a better person than I. She had a lot of money but she had been generous with it to me, and from what I could tell her people were well taken care of. She had spent a ludicrous amount to get Sergei the north block, which was far from an insignificant expense. And while Tye didn’t strike me as being fabulously wealthy, he did own a car and a house while only in his mid-to-late twenties. That was a feat in this economy. On top of that his car had been modified. Alisha either paid him well enough to afford that, or paid for it as a business expense. I was the kind of person who shied away from giving out money. Part of that was awkwardness, but some of it was selfishness, too. Alisha didn’t have that. The question for her wasn’t so much ‘do I have to’ as much as it was ‘can I?’

“I wouldn’t be the same person I am,” Alisha told me. “And I don’t think I’m a good person. I’ve done plenty of terrible things for the benefit of the family.”

“Yes, but that’s business. People with your occupation– people like your father or Mr. Santos– they do things just for money right? At the cost of human lives and the like? I find that you try very hard to keep people safe, even if you don’t like them.”

“Like who?” she asked, rather skeptically.

“Sergei,” I stated. “I know you don’t like him, you’re very open about that, but even given an excuse to do so, you didn’t just have him killed.”

“Well, no. That’s what Nico wanted. If I killed Sergei, the old family would be pissed. If I killed him and then it turned out he didn’t even do anything wrong, it would be easy to rally a coup.”

“But you still didn’t do it,” I pointed out.

She didn't say anything for a long moment. “I hate that man,” she said. “But he is capable…”

“Right,” I agreed. I didn't fully understand what that meant, though the last time I'd seen him he'd been quite complaisant with Alisha.

We went back to quiet for a while. I watched out the window, the suburbs were starting to morph into rural wilderness. 

“Alisha,” I said again. “I am scared.”

She was silent.

“Of what's about to happen, when we get back,” I explained.

“I know, Kitten…” she didn't look over. “I am too.”

“I'll be there for you,” I told her. “But… I don't know if I'll be of much help.”

“Tye will be there, so you don't need to worry about that.”

“...and if Tye betrays you?” I asked 

She shook her head. “He won't. He's too much of a softie to do so.”

“A softie?” I questioned. She described her top enforcer as a softie?

“As terrifying as he is, he is very sensitive to people's feelings and he cares a lot about people he considers friends.”

I hesitated to accept this statement fully.

“You know his phone background is of his cat, right?” she asked.

“I didn't… but does he consider you a friend?”

She thought for a long moment. “We have a lot of history between us,” she said. “I would consider us as close to friends as we could be. There are boundaries but, you know.”

“He’ll kill for you?”

“Absolutely. But I wouldn't ask him to without good reason. That's why he trusts me.”

“I see.” She trusted that man with her life. And this was Alisha, she didn't exactly trust people easily. The history had to be significant.

“People will almost definitely be dying tonight,” she informed me. “So don’t feel like you need to stay with me.”

“But I will,” I said. 

I then held my hand out with my deep blue painted pinky extended.

“I promise, I'll always be there for you, no matter what.”

She glanced over at my extended finger and picked her hand up off the shifter to link her pinky with mine. “I'll always be there for you, too,” she promised, and took her hand back to focus on driving. I settled back into the seat, trying to relax, though it wasn't really working. The drive was long, and boring. I did my best to entertain myself with the radio but there was only so much music could do after a couple hours.

It was a huge relief to see the city skyline crop up on the horizon. I had no idea how much I missed this place.

And then my heart started to pound again. I had said I'd go to the banquet and Alisha had even helped me get a dress for the occasion but I didn't know what to expect. How many people were going? I knew Alisha had at least a dozen captains. And then under them were soldiers. How inclusive was a gathering like this? How far down the ranks would be dragged together? We passed through the outer suburbs and then back into the rural areas. I recognized the route to her house.

My stomach settled a little. There was still time. I could ask questions and brace for the onslaught.

Alisha stopped as the car pulled onto her own driveway.

I blinked and looked around.

“Do you have your sidearm close?” she asked.

I looked up in that tree, seeing the blinking of the tiny red light, and understood what it meant.

I might not have time to ask questions, I realized, but reached for my purse and slid my hand in, feeling the harsh cold of the metal.

She nodded, and started the car forward again.

I did my best to keep my heart calm as we crawled along the bend and tensed as another, gray car came into view.

Alisha let out a sigh.

I blinked and then saw in more detail.

“Sophia?” I questioned. What in the world was she doing here?

Alisha pulled to a stop next to her car, still a bit wary. I pushed the gun deeper into the purse and clambered out, feeling the stiffness of my legs. 

Sophia got out of her car, looking more worried than I felt was justified.

“Hi,” I greeted her. “What are you doing here?”

I hesitated upon seeing her face. She was clearly upset.

“I've been trying to reach you for three days,” she told me. 

“Ah… sorry,” I managed. “Uhm…”

Alisha got out of the rental on the other side and did her usual gaze at the two of us, calculating risk. “Would you like to come inside?” Alisha asked her.

Sophia shook her head. “It's fine, thank you, though.”

Alisha nodded and brushed against me as she went, giving me a meaningful look in the process. I needed to get Sophia out of here, and quickly. We still didn't know the full situation we would be walking into.

“Where have you been?” Sophia asked once she was out of ear shot.

“We took a small trip. Nothing major,” I explained.

“You didn't bring your phone?”

“Well… no. It's complicated.”

“I tried texting and even calling Alisha but her number was disconnected entirely,” she continued. And then she pointed at the bandage on my hand. “What happened?”

“It's not like that. If Alisha has any means of contact with anyone, she never gets any peace and–”

“Bail— Kit,” Sophia corrected herself.

I went quiet as an unpleasant emotion dug into me.

“I know she has her fingers in some sticky pies. Which–fine, whatever– but if she's putting you in danger or if she hurts you, you know that's not okay. I don't care how much she spends on you or how good the sex is, if you're not safe, that's not okay.”

I felt a little blindsided and scrambled to put my thoughts together. Sophia knew Alisha was a criminal? How? And how much detail did she have?

“I-I’m fine,” I said. I showed her the bandages on my hand. “It was just broken glass. I put my hand in it so I got a cut. It's no big deal.”

“Did it need stitches?” she asked.

“Yes. Five total. But it's healing. And it wasn't Alisha's fault, I should've been more aware.”

Sophia released a breath.

“Where did you go?” she asked after a moment, a bit calmer now.

“We went to the city,” I explained. “Ate some ramen and cannolis and stuff. Got some clothes…”

“I see,” Sophia agreed. I was glad she was calmer now.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you or anything. I just didn't even think about it. Things happened really fast,” I explained. “We can catch up later, but right now we have to get ready for this fancy party thing Alisha has tonight.”

Sophia nodded. “Just be safe, Kit. I don't want you getting hurt or thrown back to the street or worse,” she told me. She then went in for a hug, which I accepted and found myself not really wanting to let her go quite yet. “Whatever Alisha’s involved in, take care of yourself first, okay? I just want you to be okay.”

“I'm always okay,” I lied.

Sophia separated us and gave me that skeptical look.

“Mostly okay,” I corrected. “I'm not dead yet and I'm not planning to be.” It wasn't that long ago death was starting to feel like a welcome peace. 

“Let's get coffee soon,” Sophia said and finally started to head back toward her car.

Alisha reappeared in the door of the house and came out, folding her arms to observe as Sophia gave her a goodbye wave and got in the car to drive off.

I approached Alisha, standing close as the car disappeared around the bend.

“She's fine,” I told her.

“Mm,” Alisha stated. There was a furrow in her brow.

I suppressed the fear. “I know,” I said. “She's a liability.”

Alisha took a deep breath. “It's fine,” she decided. “This is the unfortunate inevitability of getting too close to civilians. As long as she doesn't start digging around it's fine.”

My heart sank a little. I didn't realize she'd overheard that much of our conversation.

I didn't want either of them getting hurt, especially not because of each other.

Alisha ran her hand across my back. “Are you ready to get dolled up?” she asked.

I nodded and followed her beckoning into the house.

It smelled like home.