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“Don’t even think about it,” Romeo growled, bringing my attention back to him. He pressed closer to me, his hand still holding on to mine, but now his body was pushing against me too, trapping me between him and the side of his car. “If you run, I will find you.” His eyes swirled, not looking away from mine for a second. “I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth if it means keeping you safe, angel.”
My breath caught in my throat and I couldn’t help but bring my hand up to my neck, trying to comfort myself in the only way I knew how. “I…I don’t understand what’s happening.” My voice cracked, my feelings betraying me and making themselves obvious for him to see. I didn’t want to show weakness in front of him, not after everything he’d done, but yet…he’d gotten me out of there.
“You don’t need to understand, Bailey.” His voice softened just a little, but his body pushed closer, his hand holding me tighter as his palm spread on the side of my face, his fingers dipping into my hair. “I said I would help you.” He paused, his breath fanning across my lips, a whisper of a touch that I hated, but only because I liked it. Fuck. “Now, get in the goddamn car so we can get as far away from here as possible.”
He stared at me for a beat, pushing his point home, and then he pulled away, moving me into the passenger seat of his car. My shaking hands reached for the belt as he closed the door and jogged around the front of the car. And within seconds the engine was roaring to life and he was speeding out of there.
I couldn’t help but watch him, taking in the way his hand rested on the top of the steering wheel, his tattoos peeking from beneath the sleeves of his black shirt. His other hand rested on the gearshift, going through the gears like a pro. He looked relaxed, but I could see the way his muscles tensed, and how he was constantly looking in his mirrors.
“Are we being followed?” I asked.
His head whipped around, lightning fast, a frown on his face, but just as quickly as he’d looked at me, his gaze was gone and back on the road ahead.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because…” I bit down on my bottom lip, not sure if I should have been saying anything or not. The last thing I needed was to make him mad and regret what he was doing for me. I still had no idea where we were going, but wherever it was, I was presuming we’d be there soon with the way he was racing through the streets. “You keep looking in the mirrors like you’re checking for something.”
“I—”
“And you’re really tense.” I lifted a hand, tracing a tattoo on his forearm that was resting on the console between us. His muscles jumped at the contact, so I quickly pulled my hand away, tucking it under my leg and trapping it between my body and the seat.
He pulled to a stop at a red light, turning his head slowly to look at me. “You’re observant,” he acknowledged, his expression an impenetrable mask. I didn’t know what to say to that, and if I was being honest, having his full attention on me was too much to bear. So I turned my head, staring out of the passenger window, and not looking back at him as he started driving again.
It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes until he was pulling up to two huge metal gates. I clutched my hands on my lap, leaning forward a little, my nerves thrashing through me like crazy. It felt like another trap and I couldn’t help the tears that sprang to the surface. Had I just dove from one hellhole to another without realizing it? Was this all going to be worse than Mr. Pozzi?
I’d allowed myself to relax around Romeo when I should have been fighting. I’d forgotten the man I knew he was. And that was a fatal mistake, one that I couldn’t make again.
“Bailey?” I blinked, my foggy brain telling me to turn my head toward the voice, but I couldn’t because I was too busy staring at the mansion we were driving up to. I’d never seen anything so big in my entire life. “Bailey,” he repeated.
I hiccupped a sob, not able to look at Romeo as he pulled the car to a stop behind several other parked cars. The engine switched off, the sound of a door opening and closing, and then cool air smacked me in the face as my door was opened.
“Bailey.” His palm smoothed the side of my face, pushing some hair behind my ear as he turned me to face him. “You’re safe now.” I tried to process his words but it wasn’t sinking in. “You’re safe now.”
“I’m safe?” I asked, my words feeling foreign on my tongue.
He smiled, a small, sad smile. “Yeah, angel, you’re safe.”
* * *
ROMEO
The light from inside the car illuminated her face, showing me the faint bruising marring her skin. I hated how that was all I could focus on. I hated how the rage that had been thrashing through me all night still hadn’t dissipated any, even though she was away from Gio and we were outside of Lorenzo’s mansion.
“Come on,” I told her, holding my hand out as I stood.
She glanced at it, then at me, indecision painted on her face, but slowly—oh so slowly—she placed her palm against mine. Heat zapped through me at the contact, and if the slight widening of her eyes was anything to go by, she’d felt it too.
Neither of us would acknowledge it though. Not now. Probably not ever—not after everything that had happened between us. Maybe if we’d met under different circumstances, or in another life. But not this life, not after the history that was between us.
So many things ran through my head as I helped her out of my car, but not one of them made any sense at all. My brain was a jumble of scattered thoughts and memories of touching her. Memories that I wanted to erase but hold on to all at the same time.
I closed the door behind her, keeping my back to the mansion as I took one last look at her, needing her to know that I had her back. Opening my mouth, I was about to tell her just that—confess to her that me getting her out of there was so much more than only doing it for her uncle. I was doing it for her—and for me.
“Romeo?” a voice called from behind me. Bailey gasped at the sound and my instinct to protect her kicked in, even though I knew the voice. I spun around, my gaze slamming right on Lorenzo as he stood in the doorway with my father and Dante behind him. “What the fuck is going on?”
His expression was thunderous, matching his tone perfectly. I opened my mouth, about to attempt to explain, or at least ask him for us all to go inside, but a hand on my back and a body pressing against mine stopped me.
She was scared.And fuck if it didn’t feed my need to protect her.
