Before they could respond, I stormed back into my room and frantically searched for my old phone under my bed. I turned it back on with shaky hands and locked myself in my ensuite.
My knees bounced as I sat on the toilet seat, waiting for it to come to life. As soon as it did, I prayed he’d sent me another text so I could respond, because if he hadn’t, I had no way of contacting him.
And there it was.
Buongiorno, bellissima.I’m sorry, I have to cancel our date tonight. I’m in Verona for family matters. But I’ll make it up to you.
I shook my head, brushing aside the complex feelings that the message provoked.
Where’s Damiano?
It was a few minutes before I got a reply.
Away from you. That’s the most important thing.
A shuddering breath passed through my lips. That was practically a confession.
Is he dead?
Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, beautiful. Let me handle the monsters in the dark.
I dropped the phone, burying my head in my hands. Oh my God. Oh my God.
Another text came through, but I couldn’t even read it. I felt too sick. I’d been such an idiot. No more. I turned the phone off and rushed back into the living room.
“Okay,” I breathed before I could change my mind.
“Okay?”Papiasked, his brows furrowing.
“I’ll marry Callum. The sooner, the better.”
Family First
Ask your father what kind of man Damiano was. You’ll never have to ask me to protect you, but I always will.
Istared at the unread text for a full five minutes before groaning in frustration and hitting delete on the message thread.
I knew sending Piero Damiano’s bloody ear was risky, and there was a chance he’d be honest with Aria about what I’d done, but I would never hide the fact that I’d destroy anyone who had any intention of harming her. The sooner she accepted that, the better. But until she trusted me, I couldn’t incriminate myself by confessing anything her father could use as evidence.
Hushed voices and a girly giggle caught my attention from the hallway. I narrowed my eyes at the door, straining to hear the clumsy sounds moving past my bedroom. By the time I’d arrived at my family mansion in Verona last night, it was too late to see anyone, so I’d come straight upstairs and crashed. After making my own home porno for my rebel, of course.
Climbing off the bed, I whipped the door open, wearing only my boxers, to find my seventeen-year-old nephew, Raffaele, sneakily ushering a dishevelled maid, who was at least ten years his senior, out of his room and down the stairs.
When he reappeared, the horny teenager avoided my eyes and messed with his black hair as a distraction. I leaned casually against the door frame with an amused smirk.
“Don’t.She seemed like a good idea at the time,” he mumbled, striding past me back to his room, his shoulders bunched. I smirked, following him as he fell face-first onto his mattress and groaned.
“They always do,” I chuckled, flicking on the light, which made him moan again and bury his head under his pillow. I picked up an empty bottle of one of Gio’s finest whiskeys off of Raff’s bedside table. It should have been safely locked in Gio’s office. “When they told her to tuck you in and give you a bottle… I don’t think this is what they meant.”
“As if you've never screwed a maid.”
He had me there. But teasing him was too entertaining. “Genuinely curious whether she was meant to read you a bedtime story.”
“Piss off, please.”
“I hope you covered your cock. Does she realise she’d be raising a baby with a baby?”
“Why are you still here?”
