"Hanako Tanaka. Gaimus Pena. Penelope Pena. Aleksei...Villy."

"Vasily," Samara corrects with an arched brow. She flips the next page.

"Vasily," Catalina repeats with a wince, rubbing her forehead with two fingers. "Um, Emilio Vasily. Demetrius Vasily. Zaphaniah Vasily. Benedict Iglesias. Marina Iglesias. Fergus Iglesias. Ricardo Iglesias. Delphine Iglesias. Horace...Castro?"

"Calvo," Samara corrects again, not even looking at the book.

Christ. Catalina groans and leans back against the couch. "Can we take a break? We've been at it for three hours now."

"Sure, darling." Samara shrugs, crossing her smooth legs over the other as she sits elegantly atop the center table. She looks at her newly-made nails and inspects them at eye level. "If you want to die, sure, let's take a break."

Catalina stops herself from slapping the shit out of the informant for the ninth time that morning and gives her a death glare, smoke fuming from her ears.

Samara sighs. "Fine. Go get coffee. And then you're repeating everything from the past twenty pages."

The blonde makes a face and ventures to the kitchen to pour coffee into her mug, kneading her forehead while she waits with one hand and taking out her phone in the other.

For the first time, she texts her husband. You forgot to mention that Samara can be cruel.

When Samara came in this morning with Chuck and Polo as they were having breakfast with Jae, Catalina didn't think she'd be left alone with a teacher that her professors in med school would cower from.

She noticed, however, Polo's eyes following Samara, his hand at the small of her back. His face was the softest Catalina had ever seen.

"Cata!" Samara squealed and ran over to her, twirling and raising her foot. "Look, Polo got me these stunning Dolce & Gabbana shoes when they came back from Montford. Aren't they pretty?"

They were black stilettos with straps, an embroidered vine and roses with jewels wrapped around the heels.

Catalina found herself smiling at her excitement. "They are."

Samara grinned at her, admiring her new shoes. "I know!"

Behind her, Polo was smiling. It was the first time Catalina saw the ice man smile.

"I'm surprised he found time to shop," Catalina told her with raised eyebrows. They made the trip seem like they had an agenda, and they were back as soon as they were done with the agenda.

"Ah, Polo has this habit of bringing back gifts when he comes home," Chuck informed her, taking a piece of her bread and biting into it. "It's his coming home ritual. He offers them to Samara like a cat bringing dead animals to its master." He snorted.

"Shut it," Polo said, losing all softness in his expression.

Samara grinned and tapped his cheek, then winked at Catalina. "Told you I'm his master."

Soon after breakfast, Catalina finds herself studying headshots and headshots of the family's persons of interest—to recognize their faces during parties and gatherings and to know when she's in danger or not. If she's not going to use a weapon, Kael said, she has to use her brain.

She recognizes a few of the faces and names from when she would attend parties and gatherings as Salvi Di Angelo's oldest daughter, but knowing only a few will get her killed. She understands that, but it doesn't mean she likes it.

Catalina sips her coffee, and her lips pull up into a smile when her phone buzzes not a minute later.

Kael: Like stepmother, like son, I suppose.

That makes her laugh.

You have a sense of humor. I'm surprised.

Kael: I would kill to hear that laugh.

Her pulse quickens and her smile widens into a grin, and a second later wipes it off her face, disturbed, because:

Please don't.

Kael reads that but doesn't reply, and Catalina frowns when she receives a text from Chuck: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY WHY IS HE LAUGHING

"Cata!" Samara barks from the living room. "Get back here!"

Catalina bites her tongue to keep her groan from spilling out, and before she can pocket her phone, another text comes through.

Kael: Study well, wife.

Studying the mafia with Samara is bad enough, but when Kael tells her Jae and Merlot would be training her with basic self-defense moves, she suddenly wants to stick with looking at photos and names all day.

Jae is a sweetheart, but he's hard to train with. For one, he's been blushing furiously since she stepped in the gym in her sports bra and shorts, unable to look in her direction—as if he's never seen a naked body before.

Which. He hasn't.

"You're a virgin?" Catalina whisper-shouts, eyes wide. "I mean, it's not surprising, but..." She didn't think men in the mafia can be virgins and killers at the same time, that their heads would allow them to be. Her dad took Aires and Matias to a brothel when they were sixteen, for fuck's sake.

But it looks like Kael has no intentions of getting his brother laid.

Jae covers his ears, his whole face a tomato. Catalina resists the urge to laugh, because here's a 5'10 experienced assassin with muscles and hands that can choke in a second, an arm full of tattoos, two eyebrow piercings, and a total of nine ear piercings—and he's blushing about sex.

"I want to wait for the right person," Jae whispers, head bowing.

Oh, they exist.

"You're a romantic," Catalina says with a grin, ruffling his hair. "No need to be ashamed of it, buddy."

Jae smiles at her, bunny teeth and all, and tells her to 'get into stance, please'.

For another, Jae is teaching her the moves, asking permission to touch her hands and elbows every time, but it's obvious he's not using any power or strength when they spar.

"Jae, you need to hit me back," Catalina tells him, sweating and panting. "You can't just let me attack."

He shakes his head, wet hair falling on his forehead. "I might hurt you."

Christ. "An attacker isn't just going to stand there."

Jae wrinkles his nose, obviously displeased, but he puts his arms up.

It's better than earlier, but when one of his punches land in her stomach a bit too hard, Catalina stumbles back, wheezing, and Jae panics.

And then he's back at just...demonstrating with his mutters and standing there.

Catalina sighs, shouldering her bag. Jae is a gentle giant presence beside her as they leave the gym. "You know, Jae, you're too much of a sweet—"

Her jaw drops when Jae stalks to one of the other men lifting weights, sticks a knife in his thigh, and his barbell falls. To his feet.

The howl of pain echoes around the gym. Catalina watches Jae with wide eyes as he leans down and tugs his hair behind with a fist so the man looks at him. The younger Kincaid gives him a sinister smile, muttering lowly, before retrieving his knife with one sharp tug and turning back to Catalina. He guides her out the door.

"What the hell was that?" Catalina whispers, frozen, as Jae opens the backseat door to the car.

He throws his gym bag inside and takes hers as well. He blinks at her owlishly. "He was staring at your backside earlier."

Oh my Lord.

"Hyung would've stuck the knife in his eye," Jae offers with a wide grin. "Let's eat dinner, please!"

So, uh, Catalina's character analysis of Jae Kincaid is that when he's not Cerberus, his heart is soft and tender and his body is the opposite.

Merlot, however, has no conception of the word 'soft' or 'tender'.

"Get up," she says in her bored tone, circling the ring. "I don't have time for your dramatics."

Wincing in pain on the floor from a punch to the abdomen is dramatics?!

Well, she did ask Jae to hit her. Merlot is doing that, and she's not holding back. It's almost as if she's enjoying it.

Despite this, Merlot is looking at Catalina like an annoying rock under her shoe, and she's made it clear there are better things to do than to play with, in her words, 'spoiled princesses'.

Catalina gets to her feet, chest heaving, face dripping sweat.

"Arms up!" Merlot barks, eyes dark and intense. She doesn't even look like she's sweating. Jesus, even like this, with her hair tied and in a sports bra and leggings, Merlot looks like a goddess.

Catalina's lungs constrict, trying to find some air before she dodges the captain's attack.

She has nothing against an experienced fighter, but she likes to think she's holding up better than she thought she would. Catalina is smaller and considerably less fit than the captain, but she's quick and focused, an eager learner who thrives on patterns.

After one too many hits, Catalina figures out Merlot's pattern. She manages to weave, moving the head beneath her incoming hook and shifting her body to the right before hitting her in the face.

Merlot doesn't stumble, but her surprise is evident in her features. She's breathing heavily now as she watches her, eyebrows furrowed, like she can't believe Catalina managed to get that in.

Catalina drops her arms because Merlot dropped hers. "You okay—"

She flinches when Merlot takes off her gloves with more force than necessary and throws them on the ground, all without breaking eye contact with her. Merlot steps closer slowly, hands on her hips, and much as she's intimidated, Catalina doesn't step back. She holds her chin high.

Merlot stops a few inches away, head tilting to the side, eyes as dark as coal narrowing.

Catalina clenches her jaw, tired of her shit. "What is your problem with me?"

She's fallen into some kind of routine for the past week. Wake up in Kael's arms, have breakfast, study with Samara, train with Jae or Merlot, go home and eat dinner, and go to bed without waiting for Kael. He's been coming home early in the morning, buried in work.

And through all that, she found herself woven into their little circle, but it's clear as day that Merlot hates her. Catalina generally describes herself as easygoing and likable except when she's threatening underlings and ignorant interns in the hospital, but Merlot treats her like a fly she wants to swat. Polo, at least, even with his indifference, nods at her in respect and regards her with politeness.

Merlot does not.

"I answer to Kael," Merlot starts, her voice soft and bored, but it carries the warning and threat and fury underneath. "Not to you. You don't touch my face again, understand?"

Catalina is too confused to react, and by the time her mouth opens, Merlot is gone, sauntering away.

She tries to rein in her anger. Catalina understands that she's the new addition, she was the outsider and she's still trying to get used to Kael and his way of running things, but the woman can fuck herself with her condescending bullshit.

If anything, Catalina has the right to be angrier. She should be pulling Merlot's hair and slapping her face around for touching Kael, maybe even skinning her alive.

She tries not to think about it during training, preferring to be professional, but it's distracting and difficult to wonder about the ridges of her body and how many times Kael has claimed them.

Her only consolation is that Kael comes home to her. Wraps her in his arms at night when she's already asleep, strokes her skin in the morning, kisses her before he leaves.

Jae already retired to his bedroom that evening to finish his homework after dinner, but Catalina is determined to wait for Kael. She wraps herself in a blanket on the sofa, a show she can't care less about playing on the television.

It's nearing midnight when her phone rings. She frowns when she sees it's an unregistered number. "Hello?"

"Cata."

Catalina sits up straight. "Matias."

She's been talking to Frankie a lot and exchanging messages with Grant and Dylan, especially with regards to her work being transferred here, but Matias hasn't contacted her since the day after her wedding.

"Hi," her friend breathes, and Catalina can see the smile in his voice. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she answers, stunned but smiling. "You? Keeping Aires alive?"

"You bet." He laughs a little. "Uh, he can't pick up that much because Salvi has us doing a lot of shit, but he misses you. We all do."

Catalina snuggles into the edge of the sofa, tinkering with the threads of her blanket. "I'm sure we'll see each other soon."

"Frankie's been pestering us to visit you. She's worried." Matias clears his throat. "I'm worried."

Catalina bites her lip. "I'm fine, I promise. Kael isn't—"

"Kael," he repeats flatly, all friendliness gone from his voice. "You mean the Fourth."

She swallows thickly. "Yes. I'm fine."

More than fine.

"I want to see for myself," Matias insists. "Aires and I are flying over for some business for your father. Have dinner with us Friday night, Casa Carlotta."

She has Kael's—their people to keep her company,  but the thought of seeing her brother and her friend makes her giddy with excitement. "Yes, of course. I need to see some Di Angelos before I go insane."

Matias laughs, the tension from earlier easing. "Great. Uh...I miss you, Cata. Goodnight."

"Night," she whispers before the call ends.

Kael doesn't come home until two in the morning. She opted for some wine on the counter earlier, and when she finally hears the elevator doors open, Catalina jumps up from her place on the sofa.

Kael strides in, all power and all man, phone pressed to his ear with one hand and the other already loosening his tie. "Fix it," he says in his calm and low voice, features contorted in clear exhaustion and irritation.

His beautiful brown eyes meet hers, and when Catalina smiles, his expression goes blank, hand slowly moving away from his tie. He hangs up his call without another word. "Catalina."

It's the first time in days she catches him come home. "Hi, I waited for you."

"I can see that," he says, still staring at her. "Why?"

It makes her snort. "What do you mean why? Because I wanted to."

He follows her with his gaze when she rounds the counter. "Do you want something to eat—"

Catalina's words get cut off with a sharp breath when Kael grabs her nape, curling his fingers in her hair, and buries his face in her neck. A soft moan rips out of his throat that makes her heart beat erratically, her chest pressed against his own. Kael runs his face through the curve of her neck before he grips it with his large palm and tilts her face to his.

She sees that his eyes are dark and wanting in the split second he allows their eyes to meet before he kisses her, ravaging and unforgiving, palming her throat and stroking his thumb along it. Her hands grip his shirt by his waist when Kael parts her lips open, tongue exploring her mouth.

The last heated moment they shared was in the shower after she and Kael discussed the compromises in their marriage.

In other words—a long time ago.

Kael lifts her on the counter, bringing them to eye level as he steps between her legs and forces them apart.

He continues with his hot kisses down her throat and neck, and Catalina gasps in his mouth when their hips align, and Kael grinds his hard-on, groaning.

He lowers his mouth to her ear. "You're so fucking beautiful it pisses me off."

Catalina doesn't have time to react because he rips her shirt open and yanks down her underwear and shorts in one, sharp tug.

"Spread them," Kael orders with a slap to her thigh, and reaching over her back, he takes her wine glass and downs that, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Her face is hot, her skin is hot, and all her bones melt when Kael lowers his head to her chest, his hand going down past her stomach.

Catalina learns he likes to be begged, smiling his dangerous smile, calmly rasping, "What was that?" when her 'please' was too quiet.

He likes his name on her tongue because he orders her to repeat it.

He hisses in her mouth when she digs her nails into his nape, and he likes driving her to the edge of insanity because he slaps her between the legs, driving his fingers inside, and when she whimpers and moans in his neck, Kael pulls her back with a hand to her hair and stares in her eyes. "This is mine. You're mine, aren't you?"

Catalina can only nod.

When he lets go, she whines, eyes flying open as her hips buck up, chasing his hand.

Kael undoes his own pants, grabs one of her hands, and wraps it around his length. "Touch me."

His hand returns in between her legs.

Catalina's breaths come out quick and shallow, lips grazing his, pleasure building at the pit of her stomach as she moves her hand up and down.

"Fuck, Catalina."

She gasps, shutting her eyes, and Kael pushes her hand away and strokes himself. He lets out a low grunt and moans when he releases as well.

Kael pulls his fingers out and rests them on her thigh, kissing her slowly. She sags in his arms and he strokes her back, kissing the top of her head. The gesture surprises her.

"This wasn't what I had in mind when I waited for you," Catalina murmurs lazily, bones melting in satisfaction, listening to the rapid beats of his heart.

He breathlessly laughs and runs his fingertips along her spine, making her shiver. Then he takes her hand and runs his thumb over her knuckles, eyebrows furrowing. "You're sore from training?"

Catalina hums, leaning to his touch. Her body does ache, but what they just did made her muscles melt into...goo. "A little."

He kisses her knuckles. They're a bit banged up from all the fighting. Then he twists her ring around her finger. "Heard you got a hit on Merlot's face."

She can't decipher his tone, so she opens her eyes and looks at him. She's surprised when she finds him staring down at her with a small smile, looking quite...proud.

Catalina doesn't want to ask how he knows that. She's not going to let his answer ruin this moment.

She grits her teeth. "She deserved it."

He laughs quietly again and cleans them up, only pulling her underwear back on. Then he carries her upstairs, tossing her shirt and shorts on the floor, and lays her down on the bed.

Kael strokes her hair and pulls the covers to her body. "I'm gonna shower, go to sleep."

Catalina clutches the pillow, eyes falling shut.

*

Catalina's heart drops—the way it does when she dreams of falling off a building—and gasps when Kael jerks upwards, wrapping an arm around her waist and sitting up suddenly, taking her with him. He has his gun on his other hand, but he immediately lets go when he realizes it was noise from down the hall that woke him.

She fell asleep right on top of him, and seated where she is right now, Catalina can feel his hard-on pressed against her.

It's not morning yet.

"What was that?" Catalina whispers, rubbing her hands over his back, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She feels Kael's tense body relax a bit as his thumbs stroke her skin. She remembers they're both still naked, just in their underwear, and her face flames.

They're silent for a few moments until they hear the same sound again. It's louder this time and distressed.

"Jae," Kael rasps, gently moving her off him. Catalina's sleepy haze can't comprehend what's happening as Kael picks up his sweatpants in a hurry and leaves the room once he has those on.

A quick look at the clock tells her it's half past four in the morning. Slowly, Catalina puts on the shirt Kael discarded off her a few hours before and stands barefoot, rubbing her eyes. She hugs herself as she steps down the hallway.

The door to Jae's room is ajar. Catalina leans against the doorframe, blinking at the sight in front of her.

Kael is lying next to his brother, arms around him. His head is pressed against Kael's chest, sweating, his face pulled together in trouble. Her husband taps his brother's back with one hand, the other going to his hair.

Catalina feels an unexplainable feeling in her chest as she watches them. Kael's lips begin moving silently, and she feels her stomach churn and erupt when he starts singing.

His voice is hauntingly soothing and beautiful. He sounds like an angel even when he's far from it.

Catalina shouldn't be watching this. She shouldn't be intruding, but Kael's hold on his brother, the way that Jae slowly relaxes, the worry and anguish melting away from his face at every word Kael sings—she knew they had a relationship beyond being the Fourth and the Fourth's Cerberus, but right now, it's clear as day that Kael left a part of his heart—whatever's left of it—with the boy, and he's doing everything to protect it.

Catalina hasn't been here for long, but she knows this isn't the first time Kael slipped out of bed to comfort Jae. It's way too routine, it's way too systematic; he knows what works and what doesn't to put him back to sleep.

She feels a sting pierce her body looking at Jae. The boy is twenty-three and an experienced killer—but he's also just a boy.

Swallowing thickly, she turns around and quietly pads downstairs. She's not sure she can sleep after that.

Catalina scours the kitchen for a glass of milk. Halfway done, she gasps when Kael presses his front to her butt, his palms squeezing her hips under her thin cotton shirt. "Bending over the counter in only a shirt and underwear," Kael breathes in her ear, pinching her waist. "I believe this is an invitation for another round."

She didn't even hear him come down.

"Why is everything I do somehow sexual to you?" Catalina mumbles despite the heat flushing her neck. She straightens up, clearing her throat at his hard-on poking her underwear, and Kael sweeps aside the hair from her shoulder and bends his head down to kiss her neck, locking his hands on her stomach.

"Because you turn me on," he whispers, in all honesty, softly kissing the back of her ear. "So fucking much."

Catalina knows. She feels it.

She turns her head a bit and offers him the glass. Kael takes a sip. "I thought you'd go back to sleep." He drops his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck.

Catalina shakes her head once and finishes the drink. "Is Jae okay?"

Kael doesn't answer.

"You have a beautiful voice," she tells him quietly.

Kael steps back and takes one of her hands to lead her along towards the patio. Catalina follows him, blinking.

Outside, Kael lays down on the hanging daybed and pulls her down in front of him, spreading his legs to accommodate her. Heaving a deep breath, she lies down with her back against his chest, his arms around her, his cheek pressed to the side of her head. It's chilly, but they have each other to keep themselves warm.

They sit in silence for a while until Kael murmurs, stroking his knuckles along her skin, "Do you remember every patient of yours that died?"

The question makes her falter. "Yes. It's impossible not to."

"I don't."

Catalina purses her lips.

"They're vague names and faces," Kael mumbles, playing with a lock of her hair in his fingers. "Because they're expendable."

She can never see it that way. Her heart squeezes at the thought that Kael has been so accustomed to taking breath that he doesn't see the piles of bones trailing behind his footsteps.

"Jae is different," he says, dragging his palms down her forearms until they stop at her wrists, and then they go back up again. "He keeps a black book."

Catalina turns her head to meet his eyes. "Of all the people...?"

Kael nods once, watching her face. "He's at his third volume."

Catalina's lips part in surprise and something else that pierces her chest.

"I've long resigned myself to this," Kael tells her, lips brushing her temple. "To being what I am. But if there's a regret I will carry to my grave, it would be picking up Jae off the streets when he stole from my bar."

Because Kael brought him to this life. He regrets teaching him everything he knows. He regrets stripping him of his innocence, regrets making him Cerberus.

Even though he gave him family and shelter and food and school.

"Is that why you're so adamant with his schooling?" Catalina whispers, dragging her hand over his, stroking the veins of his arm. "Why not just...keep him away from all the business?"

"It's his decision," Kael responds tersely. "I offered him residence in other countries. I offered him the best performing arts schools far away from here. I tried to shake him off me, but he wouldn't go."

Catalina turns her head again and kisses his jaw. She's learning new layers of him every day.

"He loves you."

It makes Kael scoff. "No one can love me."

Too bad, she wants to say.

The boy looks at Kael like he's his savior, like he'd be willing to burn for him. She wants to tell him this, but she has a hunch that whatever she says, Kael will still see it in one way: he raised Jae just as the Third raised him.

"You don't have them."

He stares at her.

"Night terrors. I assume they come and go for Jae."

Kael tightens his arms around her. "Not since you moved in."

Oh. Oh.

"Explains why you were so mad about the guest room," Catalina says through her shock, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. Her heart is racing too fast.

"One of the reasons," he breathes, voice lowering and hands moving down her legs to squeeze them. His hands are so large they cup her entire thigh.

Catalina's mouth is dry.

"We need to sleep," Kael suddenly mutters, squeezing her thighs again.

She nods in agreement, hand going down to his. She brushes her thumb over his knuckles. "Kael, I want to ask about the hospital."

Catalina doesn't know how much longer she can go on without being in the OR.

He nods behind her, chest pressing to her back. "I'm still working on it. Trust me."

She doesn't know when she started to, but trusting this man—it's dangerous.

Catalina turns her head to kiss him.

When they're back in bed, they sleep holding each other, and none of them say out loud that it's only the second time since he came back from Montford because it feels natural.

Like they belong there.

*

#ReignTheFourthWP