Kat threw up her hands and nodded her head for him to continue. "As I was saying, when she was younger, eight years old, her parents gave her a pet snake for her birthday."
"Who gives a girl a pet snake?" Blaze asked.
"Who names their kids after animals?" Kat fired back.
"Now she loved this snake, this python, and treated it just like the family pet. When people came over she kept it in a cage but when she was alone she let it roam around like a dog. It cuddled with her, it sat with her, it slept with her at night in her bed."
"Is this some kind of kinky s.e.x story "cause if so, I"m leaving." Sebastian just rolled his eyes at Blaze. "What? Those are the kinds of stories you tell. And who treats a snake like a dog? You"re exaggerating."
"That part"s definitely true. I saw it with my own eyes."
"A girl showed you her snake you"ve got to have that backwards," Kat murmured.
"Anyway," he said loudly, "she had this snake and one day she noticed that it wasn"t eating. She checked the next day, still wasn"t eating. After three days, food still untouched, she decided to take the snake to the vet and left it there overnight.
"The next day she returns to the vet and is told that they"re going to have to put the snake down. The reason the snake wasn"t eating was because it had triggered on a big meal and it was saving up room. "And the big meal" the vet says, "is you.""
"No," Blaze gasped.
"Eww, eww, eww," Kat murmured, trying to shake the thought away.
"And the girl, she asks, when can I take my snake home. And the vet tells her that once a snake gets the idea in its head, it won"t be able to get it out and it won"t eat anything else. You can"t take the snake home with you because the snake will eat you, the vet said. She said what if I keep it in a cage. The vet said no, it would get out and it would eat you. But she wouldn"t listen; she still wanted to take it home. The snake was her companion. Can you just imagine what would happen if she didn"t listen to the vet? The snake wouldn"t have been able to eat her but it definitely could have killed her trying. Splashed all over the headlines Python Devours Debutante, story at eleven."
"What," Kat asked with a shiver, "was the point of telling me that?"
"Once a snake, always a snake. Poisonous and destructive at heart. And women just always want to try their best to ignore it." Sebastian looked down his nose at her meaningfully. "But they can"t and shouldn"t be ignored. A snake can"t change its nature." Blaze snorted and clapped a hand on Sebastian"s shoulder as he left the room.
"Back to Marco, really?"
"I"m serious," Sebastian murmured, "once a snake. A beautiful creature like you shouldn"t be gallivanting with such things."
"Aren"t you a snake?" she asked. She couldn"t help but compare the both of them in her head.
"No I"m a pig baby adorable yet dirty. Don"t you remember?" Sebastian winked and Kat couldn"t help but laugh.
Chapter 12.
Sergei returned to New York and while he had Sebastian shaking hands and kissing babies to project a "confident, royal heir," Kat was matchmaking. She"d spent so much time with the prince now she could predict with swift accuracy what flaw he would pick apart when he arrived at her apartment, at one am, to recap his date. Blaze had decided not to punch him but so many late night visits were pushing the statute of limitations on that promise. Especially since every last one of them began with a frustrated marriage proposal.
Kat was doing her best to try and find the Royal Rebel a wife but her organized, pragmatic style was getting her nowhere. The prince had been right finding someone worthy of the t.i.tle and willing to take it, in such a short amount of time, was like working in a Venn diagram that didn"t touch. Sebastian"s loud and chiding dismissal of "love" wasn"t helping either. A whirlwind romance seemed to be the only thing that might overcome all of the obstacles but his diatribe on flighty Americans who put too much stock in "happily ever after" and "love conquering all" wasn"t helping in the least.
So she was getting desperate. Lane had lost her foul language deal with her mother and was once again being forced to pretend at prim and proper for an afternoon. Having royalty and his entourage tag along had been win-win distracting to Lane"s mother and entertaining for Lane herself.
"Good job Kat. He looks almost civilized." The two girls were watching the Prince from across the room. He was hard to miss. Even if the scowling advisor and his broad bodyguards could be overlooked, the crowd surrounding him couldn"t. Sebastian"s charm was reeling the women in, like flies to honey. Kat couldn"t forget how sweet he did taste.
"He can play the part when he wants to. You caught him on a good day."
"Meaning one without strippers and orgies."
"Well we can"t ask for much more, can we?"
Lane"s eyes narrowed and gave her a searching look before continuing. "What the f.u.c.k is that supposed to mean ah s.h.i.t, she heard me." Lane winced as her mother lasered in on her and started to approach. "Hurry, run. Go save yourself."
Kat saw the crowd around Sebastian thin and she approached, watching as he chatted with a pixie brunette. She could tell that Sergei approved but Sebastian looked unamused.
She sighed as she watched the girl walk away. "You need to be more open. Stop judging books by their covers since it"s what"s on the inside that counts." The Prince looked down his nose at her, not at all impressed with her contrast refrain. "What was wrong with her?" The charity event was filled with high society women intelligent, beautiful, driven the breeding ground for America"s version of a princess. What fault could he find here?
"Do you even have to ask?"
"Tell me."
"She was so pure I"m fairly certain I caught "virgin" from her."
That comment had Kat snapping her head back in surprise. "Really Your Highness? You"re that much of a pig?"
He brushed away an imaginary piece of lint from his lapel and gave her that look that seemed to cut right through her. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Virginal at that age means either religious fanaticism or dedication to a romantic hero troupe that I"m not at all appropriate to fill."
The real problem was Sebastian didn"t trust himself around virginal. Every time he looked into their eyes he saw Anton"s bride, the doe-eyed innocence he couldn"t tell was manufactured, the sweetness just a touch too earnest. Violetta seemed the epitome of glowing romantic and he didn"t trust that he could avoid the same spell Anton had fallen under. That"s why he needed Kat. Sergei would push him towards the innocent ones; Kat would steer him away from them.
"What are you really looking for?" she asked. "You find a flaw with every single one of them. Too tall, too short, voice too high, eyes too close together, accent too thick. Too conservative, too liberal, too cultured, too pure. Seriously, what am I doing here? You don"t want to settle down with anyone, you don"t want to be married; you don"t take any of this seriously. Why am I wasting my time when you"re just playing games?"
Kat turned her back on him and stalked away, pulling her phone out as she breezed through the lobby. "Wait!" he said, running after her, Sergei and his bodyguards not far behind.
"What?"
"I need you."
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him, full of att.i.tude, trying hard to ignore the flutter that started at his words. "For what? To keep you busy while Sergei and your sister and the rest of your country just decide things for you? As a convenient diversion?"
"To marry me of course." Kat rolled her eyes, ready to stalk away, and he placed a hand on her arm, all teasing now gone from his voice. "I need to get married. I need to find a wife. For my family. For my destiny. For my country. And I am not too proud to admit that I can"t do it alone. Sezynia is full of matchmakers but I am here. With you. And I trust that you can help me.
"I apologize that I am not taking this as seriously as I should. You are right. I am full of nothing more than excuses." He dropped down on one knee before her. She shot Sergei a look of surprise. "With my sincerest apologies."
"Okay . . ." Kat said, staring helplessly at Sebastian"s downturned head.
Sergei cleared his throat and she jumped a bit to find him there next to her. "Place your hand on his shoulder and say "Then with my deepest grat.i.tude.""
"Then with my deepest grat.i.tude," she murmured. He looked up at her then, pulling her hand against his cheek. It seemed like the longest time since she"d touched him after the opera, when she almost let herself get swept away again and she liked the feel of him too much. "Get off the ground people are staring," she snapped as he let the silence stretch on too long.
"Will you stay?"
"Yes," she said in reluctance.
"Then I will rise."
"How often do you grovel from the floor?" she asked tartly.
"Never Kisa," he replied with a wink. "Only for you."
She followed him back into the hotel, wondering how much longer she"d be able to do this. That wink had done funny things to the pit of her stomach. It was all turning into the plot of a book she wasn"t sure was going to end well.
"Those ones; go chat them up." Kat took wicked delight in sending him to the most wide-eyed girls in the place and their shrewd, social-climbing mothers but he deserved it. What was he doing to her? Acting like a jerk and then offering half-hearted apologies she was used to why did he have to complicate things by seeming sincere.
"Where"d you go?" Lane appeared beside her and she was grateful for the distraction.
"You survived the wrath of your mother?" Kat deflected.
"Just barely. Royalty in tow has bought me some goodwill it seems. Not enough to get me out of coming next year unfortunately."
"I think you look cute in your flowery pink dress."
Lane snorted, hand on her hip, and Kat couldn"t hold back a smirk. "Kitty Kat, I try hard to project a rough and tumble, edgy, don"t f.u.c.k with me att.i.tude even when running in stilettos. This does not fit into the image."
"Don"t call me Kitty Kat."
"Don"t call me flowery."
It was a week before Kat saw Sebastian again. Seven days seemed like an eternity and she was trying hard not to read anything into that. Which was how she found herself with Marco again her feelings towards him were clear. Ill-advised and unhealthy but clear.
"Why did you go out with him?" Blaze demanded the minute she entered the apartment, rising from his seat. Giovanni shook his head and continued reading his magazine from the couch.
"Stop being so judgmental. It was just dinner."
"With Marco it"s never "just dinner." Please."
Kat pursed her lips and gave him a look he hadn"t run afoul of in a while. "I"m not sleeping with him. Not that it"s any of your d.a.m.n business. Cut out the big brother c.r.a.p and just let it be."
"Why did you go out with him?!?!" he asked in a whiny voice, practically ready to stamp his foot in frustration. "I thought we were past all of this s.h.i.t."
"I don"t need to justify my actions to you Blaze you aren"t my keeper. I went because I wanted to! I"m a big d.a.m.n girl and I can do whatever the h.e.l.l I want and he makes me feel good."
"How the h.e.l.l does that a.s.s make you feel good?"
"Well for one thing he doesn"t say scornful things like that when he sees me. That"s a plus."
"Children," Giovanni chided, rising. "Let"s play nice shall we? Kat, your brother"s just worried about you and the choices you"re making. Blaze, your sister"s old enough to know what she"s doing and you need to respect that even if you can"t agree with it."
"I"m so tired of being civil to that snake, Sebastian had it right. It makes my blood boil every time I see him. I just want to deck the b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Blaze said.
"Oh, like you punched Sebastian? My, aren"t we great at follow through," Kat snapped.
"What about Sebastian? You"d rather spend your nights with Marco instead of him? A douche from New Jersey or a prince from Europe. Yeah, I see the logic there."
"Stop being a p.r.i.c.k," Kat said. "Sebastian hasn"t called me. He"s been busy on official Sezynian business all week doing G.o.d knows what." Or who.
"Oh," Blaze said, "so while the Prince is away the Kat will play? Using Marco to make him jealous?"
Kat scoffed. "Why the h.e.l.l would I need to make him jealous?"
Giovanni gave her a slightly pitying look. "Kat, sweetie, really? Really??"
"What Gio? You got something to say just spit it the h.e.l.l out!" Kat was angrier than she should have been but her night was not the successful distraction she"d hoped for. As a diversion Marco just wasn"t cutting it anymore. And their comments were hitting too close to home, slowly circling something she wasn"t ready to admit. Marco was easy in more ways than one. She didn"t have to think when she was around him, pretend, try it was all just dry circ.u.mstance a better choice than nothing at all.
"You"re so afraid of being alone that you attach yourself to anything. Marco might be a waste of s.p.a.ce but he always comes back. Sebastian is leaving, that"s always been a foregone conclusion, and the more you want him to stay the more you regress to Marco because you"re not about to be the person abandoned again."
"You"re right about one thing I"m the person that gets to decide when they walk away." She sauntered towards her room and slammed the door.
"Gio, did you really have to go there tonight?" Blaze asked tiredly.
"You were the two that started fighting! I was only trying to help."
"Help? You think that was helpful?" he asked, gesturing with a thumb towards Kat"s bedroom. "Sometimes I swear you"re taking those college courses just to annoy me."
"I take them to understand you annoying you is just an added bonus," Giovanni replied in a bored voice before returning to his magazine.
A knock at the door roused Sebastian from staring at the wall. He"d finished reading all the papers hours ago and craved human interaction. House arrest was boring him to death.
Sebastian"s eyes lit up when he saw her it had been far too long. "Where have you been hiding yourself Kisa? It seems an eternity since I"ve seen you." He couldn"t resist looking her up and down and the smile he wore had Kat"s heart racing. Was everything Gio said true, again?
"You haven"t had time for me Casanova, remember?"
"Oh, I could always find time for you."
"Hmmm, lie," she murmured, leaning against the doorjamb.
His eyes twinkled rebelliously. "Are you accusing royalty of dishonesty, miss? There"s a penalty for such insubordination."
"Beheading?"
"Much more enjoyable," he purred, reaching a hand out to caress her face. He ran his thumb absently across her cheek and she felt herself being pulled slowly closer. But she resisted, trying hard not to remember what he tasted like.
"Ooh," he moaned, laying that wayward hand across his chest, "rejection. Apparently the only thing I"m good for lately."
"I thought when I didn"t hear from you that meant you were caught up in a clandestine, whirlwind affair. I take it that"s not the case?"
"Hardly," the Prince laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her after him into the living room. "How can I have succeeded with any woman without you there to give me a kiss for luck? Sergei has had me chained to the apartment. He thinks that you"re a bad influence on me."
"Does he now?" Kat asked. That was interesting.
"Yes. I caused a bit of a stir back in Sezynia and he"s decided that you"re only encouraging my rebellious nature."