I made eye contact with Damien and Mikhail, letting them know I was getting Catalina out of there. Damien nodded at me while Mikhail focused his attention on Catalina. His eyebrows pulled together in a small frown.
He hadn’t been there when Melinda disrespected Catalina—lucky for the bitch, because people might think I was unhinged, but Mikhail was more monster than me.
We passed Gabriel when Melinda scoffed under her breath. I didn’t miss the word “cheap,” uttered from her lips, and I fucking knew Catalina and everyone else heard her too.
Catalina tensed beside me, her grip on my hand tightening. I stopped.
Mikhail’s eyes flashed with anger, but I thought it was Damien who would have done something.
Instead, the sound of glass shattering on the floor drew my attention. Gabriel stood calmly by the wet mess he had made and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, slowly wiping his hands.
“Leave,” he said.
“W-what?” Melinda asked.
“Leave. Or do you need someone to show you the front door?”
She let out a small screech. I pulled Catalina closer to me.
“Really? For her? For the fucking stupid bitch who can’t even talk?”
Mikhail moved so fast, I didn’t even see it coming. He had Melinda pinned against the wall, his hand around her neck. She made a small choking noise, and Catalina gasped beside me.
“Get her out of here, Nikolay,” he said to me.
I turned Catalina away from the scene. “Come on, princess. Time to leave.”
She shook her head, pointing at Melinda.
I let out a small sigh. “Mikhail.” The other man turned toward me, his eyes going to Catalina briefly before coming back to me. “Don’t kill her.” Catalina roughly tugged on my shirt. I closed my eyes, holding in a small groan, before opening them, taking in the scene. “Fuck. Just let the fucking bitch go. It’s not worth it.”
I grabbed Catalina before she could do anything else and carried her out of the room, ignoring everything that went on behind me. I didn’t care what happened to Melinda, but I didn’t want Catalina to feel guilty over anything that had to do with that bitch.
Fucking hell, she had made me soft.