There are 6 reasons that a person does anything: Love, faith, greed, boredom, fear... revenge ― ALLY CARTER

Cat's brain flipped through the horrors of all she'd suffered and all she'd lost, just to be able to breathe now. She awoke with a start and realized she'd fallen asleep in her hotel room. She saw that the nightstand clock read it was 7 pm. She picked up her phone next to it ready to lay into who answered her call.

"Did you know, Max?"

"Cat, did you reach safely? Got all the information I sent you?"

"Don't pretend you didn't know this was about him. A little warning would have been nice," Max always knew everything about everything. His latest stunt should have come as no surprise to her. But she was beyond anger and hurt now.

"Tell me honestly, would you have reacted as naturally if you had known before?"

"Yes," The silence dragged on. "I had a right to decide. I can't be...he's too..."

She heard him sigh, "Did he know, Max?"

"I hope I don't have to tell you how important this job is."

"Yes, of course. But this isn't what I want. I'm not ready for hi-'' Feelings are a weakness that anyone can exploit, Max always told her that.

''...Anyway, I was on my way to Washington, before you pulled me out here. Send someone else to take over. Now."

"Don't worry about that. I already sent someone over there. This job is top priority now."

"That was fast."

"Forget about Washington and concentrate on Knight. I am sure you two have a lot of lost time to make up for."

That had definitely sounded weird. "He'll make everything more difficult and complicated. Also, he'll want answers I don't...have to give."

"Is that a problem? I thought I would never live to see the day you backed down from a challenge," Max intoned as if battle lines had already been drawn in the sand.

Complete silence echoed with unsaid words and meaningful enunciations. What more could she say for not wanting to do this job?

"I can handle anything that you throw at me, Max. But deliberately lying to me? I'm going to slit your deceiving tongue in your sleep and feed it to ravenous beasts for this."

"Don't be tedious, Cat."

"Keep believing it's only a threat. I want all the information you have on Alex and Knight Inc."

"I'll send it to you. You're the only one who can handle this," He paused for a moment before continuing, "I know you're ready. If you weren't, I wouldn't have sent you there. You know that, little girl."

She smiled in spite of herself at hearing him call her that silly old nickname but didn't acknowledge the rest of his Yoda-knows-best remark.

"Ok, Cat. If that's all, then I see no problem that you'll get the job done. I'll see to it that your apartment will be ready in the next few days."

She'd hung up after that.

Max couldn't have been more right. If only he knew.

Concentrate on Knight.

That's precisely what she couldn't afford to do...Wait a minute. Max had specifically said Knight and not Knight Inc. She had half a mind to call him back and rage at him for his duplicity.

But what would that achieve? Since she was already here and couldn't really afford to waste any more time or be affected by anything or anyone, Cat decided she would stay and let it all play out. On her conditions, of course

Well, a lot had to be done.

Crap. She only had half an hour left to get ready for her dinner with Alex. She'd ordered some basic essentials and a dress for tonight. She'd fallen in love with a stylish cobalt-blue dress hanging in the hotel's boutique while on her way up to her room.

She'd quickly showered and had gotten ready. Cat had stared at herself in the mirror and tried to see past what Alex would see.

She'd lost a lot of weight since he knew her eight years ago. She had always been slender and fragile-looking, but now the fabric emphasized a more sleek and toned body. The off-shoulder, knee-length dress didn't hide much and felt amazing against her skin. Her silky, black hip-length hair was styled in a simple knot and a few strands had already escaped to frame her soft, delicate, heart-shaped face. She accentuated her flawless face with only a pale, pink lip gloss and mascara. Her eyes which had inspired her nickname in college were truly like a cat's and changed from blue to green to gold depending on what she was willing to reveal of her mindset.

A deep blue hue glinted back at her as Cat's bow-shaped mouth curved lost in thoughts about the past.