Page 24 of The Beast Who Begged Me

Then I scowl into the dark, because I had big expectations for his arrival home, and I’m angry to have missed them.

And I’m kinda hungry, too.

I lie there in the dark for a while, listening to the sound of Dami breathing, until I’m sure the house is just as asleep as he is. And then I slide out from under Dami’s arm and take down my guest robe from where it hangs on the back of the door. I feel a sudden ache of loss for Dami’s robe, the one I always used to steal because it smelled like him, and put mine back. I take his larger one instead, snuggling into it like a comforter.

But I have a mission tonight, and I need to get moving.

The mansion is a different prospect in the dark. During Finch’s tour, it was a stage set, every angle lit for maximum effect. Now moonlight makes everywhere I look a chiaroscuro. My bare feet make no sound on the wooden floors and thick rugs.

I did exactly this not long ago, moved through a man’s house at night, investigating it while its owner slept. At least this time I’m unlikely to end up chained to a wall in the basement.

Well. Less likely.

The formal dining room door is heavy, a slab of mahogany with an ornate brass handle. I ease it open and then almost-closed behind me, slow and deliberate, holding my breath until it leaves only a sliver of light from the hall to see by.

The silence in here is thicker, more absolute. A space for terrible secrets.

Finch’s words come back to me: This is where Louis Clemenza attacked my husband…

This is where my grandfather fell.

I crouch down in the place Finch glanced at when telling me his story today, giving away the exact spot I was looking for. I place a hand on the carpet, soft and deep, and silently address my grandfather’s ghost.

I hated you, old man. You know that. You died on this floor with more enemies than friends, and you earned every step that ended here. The Morellis gave you nothing you didn’t deserve. And if you ordered Vincent Orsini’s death, then everything that has been done to me was done by your hand first. But I’m going to avenge you anyway.

Not for love. That’s what none of them seem willing to accept: not Finch with his barbed tongue, not Luca D’Amato, not even Dami. Hate and love have nothing to do with Family.

I have a duty. That’s all that matters.

In the hallway outside, a floorboard groans.

I freeze. The silence that follows is worse than the noise. I picture Finch standing there. Or Luca, with those unnerving pale eyes. Well, I’m not going to let them find me on my knees. I rise to my feet, ready to act.

And then the sliver of light from the doorway turns into a shaft as a dark shape shoves the door open.

CHAPTER 10

DAMIANO

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I hiss at Caligula.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he hisses back. I can barely see him in the dark room. “Are you trying to kill me yourself via heart attack?”

“I was looking for you! I woke up and you were gone. You know whose goddamn house this is?”

“I’ve hardly been allowed to forget,” he mutters.

“What are you doing?” I repeat doggedly.

He pauses before answering. “The ring. This is where I know it was last.”

I cross the room, carefully since it’s so dark, and grab him by the arm. “Forget about the ring,” I say into his ear, because God knows who’s listening in. “That goddamn fire gave you the perfect excuse. Tell your people it’s a puddle of gold.”

“If it still exists, I want it back,” he says stubbornly. “What can’t you understand about that?”

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, and that includes yourself,” I grind out, my fingers digging into the muscle of his arm. “And you’re going to get yourself killed chasing that stupid ring.” He tries to wrench free, but I pull him even closer. “You will come back to bed and you will not leave it again during the night. You hear me?”

He makes a noise of pure frustration, a snarl that’s more animal than human. He shoves my chest, hard. “You can’t decide that for me.”