Page 260 of Hate to Love You
ROMAN
“What the fuck do you mean she was taken?!”
“Boss!” Cal says firmly, his voice panicked. “He can’t answer you because you’re choking him. If you don’t let go, you’re going to kill him!”
“I am going to fucking kill him!” I roar, feeling Oleg’s windpipe closing beneath my fingertips.
As Oleg’s eyes roll back into his head, I finally release him, slamming him through the drywall in Abby’s living room, leaving a giant hole.
“You had one job you fucking idiot!” I snap at him as he crumples to the floor, moaning. “You were never supposed to let her out of your sight!”
But as I violently yank my pistol from my holster, resolved to shoot Oleg in the face, I accidentally manage to knock over a lamp in the living room and send it shattering to the floor.
“Yerrow!” A loud hiss echoes in the room, and before I can yell at Cal to close the front door, Abby’s cat darts between his legs and out the front door.
Shit! I can’t lose the cat too!
Leaving the debilitated Oleg on the floor, I immediately shove past Cal and out into the garden.
My head is spinning.
The Irish took Abby.
One minute everything was fine, next my girlfriend was kidnapped, and her cat got out.
“Hey cat! Come back!” I call out. “Fuck!”
“Did you see where she went?” Cal asks, as the two of us comb the garden.
“Are you referring to my girlfriend?” I snap angrily. “Because, no, I didn’t. That’s what I pay you people for!”
“We will find her, Boss,” Cal says reassuringly before gently whistling for the cat.
“Yo! Cat! Get the fuck over here!” I shout.
“Sir,” Cal clears his throat. “You’re going to have to be a little…”
“What?!”
“Softer,” Cal finishes. “And the cat is named Lily, by the way.”
“Lily!” I call out again, but I already know my tone is still far too aggressive to convince this poor terrified cat to trust me.
Suddenly, I snap.
“Fuuuuck!” I shout loudly, my hands balled into fists as I grab the small flimsy lawn chair near the small fire pit and smash it violently against the brick pavers. “How the fuck did this fucking happen?! How?!”
“Boss, I—” Cal starts to say but I toss the chair to the side and storm over to him, pointing at him.
“Did you fucking do this?!”
He tries to respond, but I grab him by his jacket and shake him violently.
“You did this!” I roar, trying to punch him in my blind rage. “You deliberately got rid of Abby, didn’t you? Didn’t you?!”
But just like always, Cal doesn’t fight back, remaining the strong silent force that he is when there’s a crisis. For every blind jab I throw his way, he blocks it, using up all his energy just to stay calm and upright as the two of us grapple in the small garden.
“No, Boss,” he finally whispers quietly. “I would never touch Abby. And I promise, no one on our team would dare touch Abby.”