Test With Cat

BELINDA

“Stop pointing at the door every two minutes, you two-legged giraffe! I swear I’ll shove that door right through your head!”

What kind of lunatic was this man? No filter on his tongue, no control in his eyes… and his eyes were strange anyway. Not exactly gray, not really blue either.

I was pretty sure the youngest one's eyes were turquoise. As for the other two, I hadn’t exactly figured theirs out.

I always thought hazel-eyed people — like me — had the most unpredictable eyes. Green in the sun, brown in the dark, hazel in normal light. Even my eyes couldn’t decide what color they wanted to be, serving a surprise platter depending on the moment. Darian’s eyes were like that too. When he narrowed them in anger, they looked turquoise; when he blinked trying to calm down, they shifted gray…

Whatever! Who cared? They didn’t matter. I just needed them to get me out of this mess. Their eye color was the least of my problems.

“I swear I’ll step on you, girl!”

“Come try, handsome!” I winked. Yes, I was testing his patience. And yes — completely on purpose. But he was asking for it.

Every time the truth slammed into my head again, I exhaled sharply.

Darian wasn’t my husband. Well — he wasn’t the Darian I thought he was. I might have been screaming “Darian” under him while really sleeping with some guy named Kevin.

That truth alone could suffocate a person. I hadn’t just been conned financially — my body had been touched by a fraud. Even my stupid heart had been given to a Darian who didn’t exist.

Pretending to be calm when my insides were ripping apart? Hard. But I managed. And judging by Darian’s twitching jaw and murderous stare, that alone was driving him insane. If he could, he’d strangle me right here.

Maybe my husband was fake — but the men chasing me were very real. What was I supposed to do? Say, “Oops, misunderstanding!” and go out on the streets? I had nowhere left. No house. No money. And I couldn’t drag my friends into danger with me.

But Darian and his brothers looked powerful. They clearly had money to take care of this debt. And I’d pay them back eventually. So yeah — I stuck to them like a shameless mosquito.

He kicked me away, I climbed right back. If you really want something in life, sometimes you have to toss your pride, act shameless, and cling for dear life.

Most people wouldn’t approve. But pride didn’t pay bills — nor did it stop guns from pressing to your skull. I wasn’t risking a repeat of that moment.

“Bro! Maybe take your anger off like… your coat?” Luke suggested.

Fine by me. He could take off more than his coat, honestly.

Darian glanced between me and his brother. He muttered something under his breath again. I was pretty sure he was negotiating with God about sending me to the afterlife.

This man was angrier than me — which was saying something.

“Fine,” he finally said, though he didn’t look convinced. Ten minutes ago, he’d almost agreed too — then nearly flung me at the door again.

“So what now?”

“I’ll stay at Marcus’s place. She stays at mine.”

I jumped in immediately.

“I really can’t stay alone! I’ll stay with Marcus. You go home,” I said, turning to the cute one.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Marcus shrugged.

“No way in hell!” the giraffe roared. What was his issue? He didn’t want me gone, didn’t want me close — make up your damn mind, God!

Paspas purred in my arms, slid down, and immediately circled Darian’s legs.

Darian looked like he was about to throw my cat out the nearest window. “Take it,” he grunted, nudging her with his foot. At least he didn’t kick her. Small blessings.

I rushed to grab Paspas. Did I succeed? Of course not. She was as stubborn as me.

“Oh, for God’s sake! Gavin really cursed me,” Darian groaned. Gavin? Whoever that was — I was busy rescuing my cat.

Luke and Marcus burst into laughter.

“Paspas, come here girl!” I called. They laughed again.

“Knew it — the cat’s female.”

“Take the damn cat!”

“That’s ‘damn’ to you,” I fired back, glancing up. From down here he looked like a thirteen-story building.

He nudged Paspas again.

“Stop pushing her!”

“You can’t even handle a cat? Why the hell do you have one if you can’t take care of it?”

“Sorry, do I ask your permission for my life choices?”

“Grab it before I accidentally hurt it!”

“What kind of psycho are you? It didn’t even do anything!”

Finally, I scooped Paspas up and stepped back before he committed a felony.

Luke burst out laughing again.

“The cat pissed on him!”

My eyes widened. I peeked at the floor and squeezed my eyes shut. Oh God. He’d kill me himself.

“She marked her territory like a dog,” Marcus added.

Darian’s death-beam stare hit me again.

“Sora!” he barked.

Who the hell was Sora?

His secretary slipped in, startled. “Get me a new suit. And shoes.”

Poor woman nodded fast and fled.

“As if she peed in your lap! Psycho.”

“Shut that mouth,” he wagged a finger at me before turning to his brothers.

“Stop laughing.”

Silence. Immediate silence. Guess we’d hit the danger limit.

“Someone take her to the house. Actually — put her with Rose for now. Let her disappear for a bit. Then we’ll talk.”

“I’m not going anywhere I don’t know,” I protested. And who the hell was Rose? I didn’t appreciate being shooed like a stray cat.

Luke intervened, clearly worried I’d end up dead.

“I'll drop her off at my place first. You cool down. Then we’ll figure it out.”

Darian shooed me with his hand. How insulting. They were deciding my fate while I stood right there.

I opened my mouth — Luke shut it with a look.

“I’d stay quiet if I were you. He’s basically unplugged from reality right now. You don’t want him snapping.”

I glanced at Darian. No visible smoke — but trust me, I saw the fumes. Fine. We didn’t want that.

“You would've been the better fake husband anyway,” I told Luke loudly. “If I had to be stuck with one of you, it should’ve been you.”

A muffled curse erupted behind us as the door shut.

Luke guided me to the elevator.

“Too bad for you,” he grinned. “I’m married. You’ll meet your sister-in-law soon.”

“What sister-in-law? I’m not staying married to that idiot. We catch the bastards, then everyone goes their own way.”

Luke laughed as he pressed the button.

“You know… I’ve heard that before.”

He kept laughing until the doors closed.

What did I even say?