AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lorenzo sighs. “But what?”
“I thought once he saw where I was, he’d just leave and not bother me again.”
Lorenzo snorts. “That’s either incredibly naive or incredibly stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid.” I glower at him.
He narrows his dark eyes and glares right back. “Naive then?”
“Maybe.” I shake my head. I clearly didn’t think my plan through well enough, and now I feel like a fool.
“You’re safe while you’re in this house, Mia. But is that what you want? To stay behind these walls forever?” Dante asks.
“No. But I thought maybe just for a little while. Until I can figure out my next move. Then I could start somewhere new. With a new name.”
“Just like that, huh?” Lorenzo’s voice drips with sarcasm.
“Enough,” Kat says with a sigh. “There’s nothing that needs to be decided right now, is there? Let Mia think about her next steps, and while she does, she can stay here as long as she needs to.” She squeezes my hand again.
“Of course.” Dante shoots a look at his brother who closes his eyes and shakes his head.
“You won’t hurt Brad?” I ask.
Dante stares at me for a few seconds before he replies. “We won’t go looking for him, but if he turns up here and causes any trouble…”
“We’ll give him a pair of concrete boots and toss him in the river,” Lorenzo finishes for him, a malicious grin on his face.
Reluctantly, I agree. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”
ChapterFive
LORENZO
Ipace up and down my study, hands stuffed in my pockets to stop me from punching a hole in anything. We’ve already had the door to this room replaced three times in the past two years. I’m astounded by Mia’s naivete. I guess I had her figured all wrong. Last night she seemed strong and determined, yet today she refuses to take any vengeance against the man who spent the last decade beating the shit out of her. I can’t comprehend her thought process. Why won’t she let us protect her?
A soft knock at the door snatches my attention. “What?” I bark.
Mia’s soft voice carries through the thick oak. “Can I come in?”
Why the hell is she here? “Yes.”
She walks in and closes the door behind her. Her right eye looks even worse today, and she blushes when she catches me staring at her bruised face.
“Did Kat check that out for you?”
She brushes her fingertips over her cheek. “Yeah, but it’s fine. It usually calms down in a day or two.”
The fact that her piece-of-shit husband has done that to her so many times before that she has ausualrecovery window makes my blood fucking boil.
“Did you need something?” I snap at her, my tone harsher than I mean it to be.
“I just wanted to…” she chews on her lip. “You seemed angry about me not wanting anyone to hurt Brad?” Her voice rises at the end like she’s trying to understand my frustration.
Why the fuck does she care what I think?
She fidgets with a button on her shirt. “I’m sorry. I get why you’d want to do that, I mean, I do, but it’s not…” She swats at a tear running down her cheek. “God, I hate crying.”
I resist the urge to ask why she hates crying. She’s Kat’s cousin, so I will tolerate her presence in this house, but that’s as far as our interactions need to go. I open my mouth, about to tell her that she shouldn’t concern herself with what I think and then ask her to leave my study, but she starts talking again.
