"Enough. I'm not doing this anymore—not until I know what's going on." Kat's outburst surprised her and she stopped quickly, but Spot didn't seem at all surprised.
He stood thoughtfully for a moment before brushing past her and dropping to the cot. He leaned back against the wall and stashed his cane beside him.
"I'm gonna level wid ya cause I don care dat ya know—I ain't got notin ta hide. But dis is my decision. Every decision is my decision."
"I know. I don't have a problem with your authority just get on with it."
Because she seemed heated and Spot didn't like being told what to do, he took his time.
"You bein a goil ain't da reason everyone's all riled up. Dey's agitated cause yer wid me. I don jist take in no street trash—ders a reason Brooklyn's da toughest. Now dey don know ya like I does, and dey tink dat the only reason I'd 'ave ya round is ta *ahem* corrupt yer youthful innocence." Kat forced herself to be still much as she wanted to shift uncomfortably. She forced herself to make eye contact with him—he would have to break it before she would. And he wasn't.
"I know bout all da kids in da streets a Brooklyn—know bout most a da kids from da rest a da boroughs too. I know dere business. I know who's useful an who ain't. So I knew you back when you was in Queens. I know yer nutin special as a newsie. I know yer uncontrolled and wouldn be much use in a fight." His eyes trailed over her rage-filled form. "You don ave notin ta offer me."
"I get it." She interrupted with a puffed breath. "I'm nothing."
"An don ferget it." He parried, rising again to his feet with dangerous eyes and a tight jaw. His hostility flooded the enclosed space so that her insides twisted so violently she not only turned her eyes but her back on him. The floor creaked as he closed the distance between them, his breath growing warm on her neck.
"Dis is my woild." He said softly. "No madduh what no one says, I own dis city. Da only reason yer here is cos I said ya could be. The only reason you stay is cos I say ya kin. I don't gotta explain notin ta you." There was a thick silence.
"Spot." Kat began slowly, methodically. She fought to stay calm even as he had managed to do nothing but infuriate her further. "You're not answering my questions. Don't think I don't realize that. Everything you've told me has been what I already know. I honestly don't care why you let me stay. Your intentions are nothing to me." She lied, "You asked me to live here, asked me to work for you, and I accepted because… well because we both know I can't do any better. This is my best option and I'm gonna do whatever the hell you ask me to because I don't have any other choice. But if it turns out that this isn't the opportunity I thought it was…" she paused to collect her thoughts because she really wasn't sure where she was going. "I don't need you to baby me, Spot. I know better than to ask you for any favors. I'll do what you ask. I'm ready to make you the boss—in my mind I already have—but I feel that I need…" she hesitated again but the impartial expression he'd adopted when she started persisted. "I need your word, too. I need to know that you're worth following." His eyes locked onto hers so that she couldn't think of anything but that and wonder if she had just ruined her chance at safety.
"Whaddaya tink so far?" he asked impassively.
"If I didn't believe in you I wouldn't still be here." She replied, and though her voice was soft it wasn't weak. She dropped her gaze, unable to keep looking at him. But his fingers scratched at her chin and raised her face back up.
He smirked.
"Bout time ya started talking like ya belong here." He growled and then brushed her neck with knowledgeable hands.
"Never been so attracted ta ya." He added with his head cocked obnoxiously to the side. Furious, Kat pulled away, further into the hut with indiscernible words sputtering from her parted lips. Spot followed.
"Don look so betrayed, Kitten." He chuckled, "I gotta know yer wid me."
"All you had to do was ask!" she spewed.
"I gotta know ya mean it." He grabbed her hand then, so she couldn't pull away, and shocked her by dropping to one knee.
"Fair Katherine," he teased," Jist as ya give yer allegiance ta me, so I promise my undyin guidance an protection as yer leader." His eyes glittered with the joy of a good joke, one eyebrow raised as though welcoming her to accept his invitation. They both knew what her answer would be, irritating as Spot was. She nodded once, determined to remain unsmiling.
"One more ting." He ordered as she struggled in the arms that suddenly ensnared her waist. And he kissed her. Hard. His lips committed to hers in a rough and certain way, moving expertly without waiting for her reaction. Kat was so surprised she didn't even have time to close here eyes before he was smirking in her vision again.
"*Now* ya kin stay." He asserted smugly, and pulled her, dazed, onto the dock, chuckling as he did so. He let her go when they neared the end of the shipyard and he felt that she could walk again, but neither of them said anything. Kat's mind was a whirlwind of befuddled activity. She felt that she should not be okay with what had just taken place between them—she knew Spot; she knew that this didn't mean anything. But she wasn't sorry he'd kissed her. She glanced over at him—at his tousled hair and amused denim eyes—and wanted to squeal with delight. Spot Conlon had just kissed her and, whether she should have or not, she had loved it.