Project Trouble X Three

A/N Thank you for reading & commenting. It means so much to me that you do.

Recap

I heard the alarms go off on Cat’s wrist. Everyone halted in their tracks and turned towards Cat. Cat didn’t say anything, she put up what was happening on the screen. We all gasped.

I was looking at a train wreck waiting to happen. I shuddered in my boots at the look on everyone’s faces. I knew we were in a race now. I could hear my mom weep for a second. When I looked back over at her, not wanting to see what was showing on the screen, she had a murderous look on her face. I knew then and there the twins were in for a party. And, it wasn’t one without presents of a deadly kind.

Cat turned up the sound. I knew this wasn’t easy on her, but she would do what was needed of her. I made a vow to myself, no one was going down on our side. I would do anything to protect all of us - even if it meant me dying. I didn’t want to die but I would if I had to.

I didn’t want to hear what was happening, but I knew I had to. I turned back to the screen on the wall and almost puked. I could hear the grunts and curses, but they weren’t on camera. We heard a gunshot and a scream. I had to cover my ears and hardened my heart.

I asked the one question everyone else was wondering. “Do you think this a ploy of Cruz’s and the cartel? Everything was off camera. We couldn’t tell if he faked it or not.”

Cats POV

I didn’t answer right away and neither did anyone else. I had to think about what I heard from Cruz’s confession and what my mind thought. I wasn’t sure. But, my mind made me question why he was in the twins territory. He knew where the twins compound was, so did he go there to get their money and disappear? “I’m not sure how to answer, Sophia. I mean, why was he in their territory. He knew where they were, so why did he go right up to their fucking door?”

“Good question, Cat?” Madrid offered with a smile. I wasn’t sure but we needed to find out. If he did accidently get taken then we needed to save his stupid ass. I swear he lived to make our lives difficult. We needed a camera in on him.

“Let’s get a camera on him, but quietly,” I suggested, everyone else nodding.

“I can put it in there without him noticing,” Flirt’s son, Firash, admitted. “I can mask my scent and lower my heartbeat enough to make everyone think I was either dead or not around.”

“Do it.” Madrid turned to me. “Do you have a mini camera we can use? It needs to be hidden enough their detectors don’t pick it up.”

I smiled really big. “Oh, yes, I’ve been wanting to try this little baby for a while.” Madrid went to say something but I held my hand up. “Our detectors can’t pick them up, so I have no reason to think theirs would either.”

“Alright, let’s get to it,” Madrid ordered. I took Firash, or Trigger, with me, Martim following us. I walked over to my rucksack and pulled out a case and entered my passcode. I opened it up and held it against my watch, syncing the two up.

“All you need to do is attach the suction cup to the bottom of the grate. It will pick up everything no matter how far it is. I’m hoping it will pick up everything the cartel is talking about, too. Do you have any questions?”

“Yes, one. Where is the tunnel?” He asked as I laughed at his words. I knew he wanted to get this done with, but he needed to be careful or he could bring them to us easily.

“My dad will show you, but be careful. We don’t need them following back to us, okay?” I told him, making sure he knew this was serious. He nodded his head and followed the rest of us to the table.

“Are you ready, Trigger?” I heard my dad ask Firash. I waited for Firash’s answer before walking over to Sophia. I could tell she was scared for her mate but she needed to have faith in him. I knew he had the same for her.

“He will be fine, Sophia. He wouldn’t be a Shadow Cat if he couldn’t handle himself. He trusts you to be able to take care of yourself, so trust him. Now, go give your mate a kiss and tell him you will be waiting for him to get back to you, okay?” I asked, not getting an answer from her. She had already walked to him before I finished talking to her, so I guess she took my words to heart.

I walked back over to Martim and leaned against him, Sophia joining me after giving Firash a kiss. She had a blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face. I guess she really enjoyed her kiss.

As soon as he walked over with our dad, I pulled up my watch’s screen and opened the program for the camera. I wanted to hear what our dad would say to Firash and I was sure Sophia did, too. I turned up the volume a little, making sure we were the only ones who could hear what was said, or so we thought.

We heard our dad say, “What are you to my daughter, Sophia?” I rolled my eyes at our dad. I swear the man was too nosy for his own good.

“I’m her mate, sir,” he answered in a soft voice. I could imagine him thinking about Sophia at that moment and what she meant to him.

“She’s not a virgin. How are you going to handle that information?” My jaw fell open as I cut my eyes to Sophia. I could tell she was pissed but she also knew what her mates response would be.

“I don’t care, sir,” he said forcefully. “She’s my mate, so nothing you say will change my mind about her. She had already told me that she wasn’t a virgin and why. Do you even know the reason she’s not a virgin any longer. Did you ask her? She was raped after being given a date rape drug, so you evidently don’t know what happened if you can be so callus. The guy even took pictures to embarrass her later, well, until she took charge and got all the pictures back. But, what was the real reason you told me? Did you think I would run away from her? Not going to happen. Now, you either press charges against the asshole or leave it alone and Sophia and I will take care of it. It’s not your business, or your business to tell.”

Sophia's dirty little secret

Spilled out to the world

“She’s my daughter and I don’t want her to be hurt,” our dad answered. “But, I didn’t know she was raped,” our dad quietly said.

We were waiting for Firash to say something, but when he answered I knew he was a keeper. “She’s my mate. She told me minutes after meeting what happened to her and how she used to act. She was ashamed and embarrassed. She tried to give me a way out if I wanted it, but I didn’t take it. I love your daughter already and you will not push me away from my mate.”

I saw the tears in Sophia’s eyes but played as if I didn’t. I was proud of her mate’s answer. He wasn’t going to let our dad push him away from Sophia. He was a gentleman and he wasn’t a push over. I was thankful he wouldn’t let Sophia push him, but he would push her.

We didn’t hear anything else, so we walked over to the table and waited for our dad to show back up. I was mad at him for his words. He tried to embarrass Sophia. He told someone her secret, not waiting for Sophia to tell him herself. But, it backfired in his face. I was proud of Sophia for letting her mate know first hand. I knew it had to be hard on her. Her mate did say she was embarrassed and ashamed. She even tried to let him off the hook, but he was a fine male who wouldn’t take the bait.

I leaned over to Sophia’s ear. “You have a fine mate, Sophia. He is truly a man who can handle himself.”

“He truly is, Cat. He wouldn’t take my offer of finding another mate. He wanted me and me alone.” She smiled, a huge smile that covered her whole face. “He loves me.” I nodded my head and smiled at her. I noticed her smile diminishing in less than a second and a hard look came across her eyes. I looked over my shoulder to see what she was looking at with animosity. Of course, it was our dad.

I watched as Sophia bolted out of her chair. She was standing in front of him in seconds. He raised an eyebrow at her. I could tell he was wondering what was wrong with Sophia.

“What the hell was that, Dad? You think you could scare off my mate by telling him my secret, a secret you had no business telling him about, a secret you didn't have all the facts to. I had already told him about it but you didn’t take that into consideration. How dare you!” Sophia said without taking a breath. I was proud of her for standing up for herself.

He looked over at me and I gave him my blank face. I wasn’t happy about what he did. He should have trusted Sophia but he didn’t. He tried causing trouble.

“I had to make sure he was good enough for you.”

Sophia’s face went blank as she stared at our dad. I knew she was trying to calm down, but she was having a hard time. She took a deep breath and said, “You don’t get to judge whether he is or not. You don’t get to decide my fate one way or another.” Sophia turned around and walked out of the main cavern quickly.

I stood up and glared at my dad. I followed Sophia, Martim giving me space to talk to her. I found her at the blade range. She was sinking blades into targets as fast as she could. “Are you okay?” I asked, stopping her from throwing another blade.

“Yes, I’m okay. But, every Shadow Cat knows what happened. I’m embarrassed and pissed.” Sophia shook her head, a few tears escaping her eyes. “I should have listened to my jaguar way back then. I should have listened to her about a lot of stuff.”

“Who cares who knows. Your mate is not upset about it and he’s the only one who counts. The Shadow Cats didn't know you were raped and will understand now. And, you are listening to your jaguar now,” I told her as I hugged her. “Let’s practice at…”

A/N: Yeah, another cliffhanger. Sorry. Not sorry. Lol. I had to leave off at this point, well, I could have added the rest, but I didn’t.