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My lips lifted into a smile as I padded down the hallway, then down the stairs, my body coming to a standstill halfway down when I saw the two men standing there. Raf shuffled from foot to foot, his gaze slipping between me and the man beside him.
“This is my dad,” Raf said, clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
“I remember,” I whispered, my body going into fight-or-flight mode. I was locked in place, my muscles not able to move an inch.
His dad stepped forward, nodding as he lifted his lips into a kind smile. “I’m Antonio.” His rough, deep voice was so much like Romeo’s. “I wanted to come and see how you were doing.”
“You did?” both me and Raf said at the same time. Although, Raf’s tone was complete shock whereas I was just intrigued.
“I did.” He didn’t bother to turn and look at Raf. “You can go back outside now, son.”
I blinked, panic setting in, causing my stomach to drop and my head to spin. I grabbed on to the banister, needing something to keep me upright. I didn’t know this man. I didn’t know who he was and what he was capable of. There was no way Raf would leave me alone with him—
“I’ll be just outside the door as usual if you need anything, Bay.”
My head whipped to the side, my attention trying to grab Raf’s, but it was too late. He was already pacing across the living room, then out of the door, leaving me behind with a man that gave off the Mafia vibe in the same way the old-school movies did.
“You don’t need to be afraid,bella.” He grinned, the nicknamebellarolling off his tongue with an Italian flair to it. “Come sit. I’ll make us coffee.”
He stepped toward the kitchen and something inside just clicked, pushing me into motion. “No, I can make us drinks.” I took the last few steps, but by the time I got to the bottom, he was already in the kitchen.
I followed him, standing in the doorway and taking him all in. His dark hair was cut short on the sides and a little longer on top. His designer suit fit his body perfectly, but you could tell by the worn sleeve edges and the faded color that he’d owned it for a long time. Luckily for him, that style had come back into fashion again so no one would have ever known.
Antonio expertly maneuvered around Romeo’s kitchen, messing with gadgets that I hadn’t even known were there, and within five minutes he was holding two cups of coffee and facing me.
“Let’s have them in the living room.”
I didn’t say a word as I worked on automatic, moving to the sofa and sitting down awkwardly.
“So, how are you doing?” Antonio asked, placing the cups on the coffee table. I waited a second, then reached for the one he placed in front of me, needing something to do with my hands. It was weird, sitting here with Romeo’s dad.
“I’m…okay,” I croaked out. Swallowing, I tried to lubricate my dry throat, knowing that the coffee was too hot to drink in that moment. He raised a brow at me, looking so much like Romeo that it was kind of scary. “No, that’s a lie,” I confessed, already knowing that my first answer was a lie. “I’m not okay. But…I’m getting there.”
He nodded, looking pleased that I’d confided in him. And I wasn’t sure why I had. I didn’t know why I’d told him the truth, but there was something…calm…about him. “It will take some time. But it will happen.” He pulled in a breath, the sound the only thing in the room as he paused and stared at me—really stared at me—like he was seeing something that nobody else could. “I have experience with things like this.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Just don’t shut yourself away,bella.”
My shoulders sagged at his words. “I’m trying not to, but Romeo wants me to be safe and—”
“My son is protective over you.” It was a statement, not a question. “But I won’t allow him to make the same mistakes that I did. He needs to give you some leeway.” I took a sip of the coffee, the taste like heaven. I didn’t think I’d ever had something that tasted so damn good. Antonio hadn’t noticed my reaction though because he was still telling me, “He needs to allow you to find yourself again before you’re lost forever.” He stared off into the distance, his expression morphing, his anguish clear for me to see.
The silence had me shuffling in my seat, both of us trapped in our own heads. It was comfortable but also uncomfortable, which didn’t make a lick of sense. “He is protective,” I murmured, my voice seeming to bring him out of his own head. His eyes widened, like he’d just remembered that I was sitting a few feet away from him. “But it’s hard with him sometimes—” I cut myself off, not wanting to bring the past up, not wanting to think about how Romeo and I had first met.
It was something I was trying to get over, but it wasn’t easy.
“Don’t bury what he did to you,” his father said, concern lighting his eyes. I opened my mouth but nothing came out as I stared at him in utter shock. “I know what he did to you.” He placed his empty cup down on the coffee table and moved to the edge of the sofa. I did the same because my now shaky hands were causing the liquid to spill over the edge of the cup. “Talk it through with him. Don’t pretend it never happened, because if you do, it will eat away at you until there’s nothing left at all.”
His words spoke of the truth but also of knowledge he could only have gained by it happening to him too. The darkness in his eyes was there plain as day, but there was something else, something more. Something that I wondered if anyone else was privileged enough to see or not. Maybe he was letting me witness it so that I’d heed his words. If that was the case, then it was working.
“I won’t.” I took a breath, some of the heaviness lifting from my shoulders. “I didn’t know I needed this. So, thank you.” I blinked, more relaxed now. “Thank you for coming and seeing me. It was starting to get a little lonely here.”
He reached over, his hand patting the top of mine in a smooth but quick motion. “Same,bella. Same.”
We stared at each other for a beat, an understanding passing between us, and then the sound of the lock on the front door disengaging had me snapping upright, butterflies swarming low in my stomach.
Rafael would have knocked first, which meant it could only be one person…
Romeo hadn’t said what time he was going to be home, but it was only the middle of the afternoon. My mind swirled with thoughts, wondering if something had happened to him. Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he’d gotten into a fight. Maybe he’d—
“What the fuck?” he murmured, but he may as well have shouted it with the thunderous tone he was using. He stood in the doorway, not moving a muscle as he blinked once, his face frozen in shock. “What is he doing here?”
