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Taking a step, I held my hand to the wall, determined to make it inside, but as soon as I did, all I saw was utter chaos. “Fuck, what happened?”
Furniture was flipped over, tables crashed to the floor. The room was an utter mess.
I frowned down at Peyton and then at Romeo, before my attention finally landed on Gio. He’d been the one to knock me out. Fuckin’ douche. “Bailey?” I asked, realizing that she was the one person who I couldn’t see. I maneuvered past Peyton, trying not to show how shaky each of my steps forward was. I refused to show any kind of weakness, especially in this moment.
“She’s behind me,” Romeo growled, pushing his shoulders back. He was in protective mode, something that hadn’t left him from the moment he’d gotten Bailey out of that underground sex-slave and trafficking ring. The problem was, it was still happening with other people. We may have Bailey away from them, but we hadn’t been able to close them down fully—yet. It was what Romeo had been working on—why he was supposed to be gone all day. But now he was back and—I looked at the time on my wrist…fuck, it hadn’t even been an hour since he left.
“Leave. Both of you,” Romeo grunted, then spun around, crouching beside Bailey, but neither I nor Peyton moved. I felt her step a little closer to me—could hear each of her sharp breaths. She was looking for reassurance, but I wasn’t the person to provide that to her. If my instincts were right, she was running away from a threat, but she’d managed to land herself in just as much danger by living next door to Romeo.
I wouldn’t make that worse for her. So as I stared at her from the corner of my eye, I committed her face to memory, making sure I took in the smattering of freckles on the bridge of her nose, the way her eyes lifted at the corners, her long lashes, but most of all, her full lips.
Because after today, things would change. We had Gio where we wanted him—within our grasp—which would mean that I wouldn’t need to guard Bailey every day. I had no reason to be here anymore.
“Let me check you over,” Romeo murmured, snapping me out of my own head. “Let me make sure you’re okay, baby.”
Peyton took another step forward and I turned to look at her fully just as her face went as white as a ghost. Fuck. I hated how my stomach bottomed out at the expression on her face. I couldn’t let it affect me though. I’d just made my decision, and I had to stick to it.
Frowning, I wasn’t sure what she was seeing—what she was doing—but my gaze tracked her as she darted toward Romeo and Bailey. I shoved my arm out, trying to stop her, but all of my movements were off, and she had passed me before I could blink.
Then a groan rang out, and just as I stumbled a step, I witnessed Peyton slam the sole of her boot onto Gio’s face.
Well, damn.
Why was everything she was doing making me want to come to this house every day when I didn’t need to just on the off chance that I would be able to see her and say two words to her?
I shook my head, trying to dispel the stupid-ass thoughts, but all that it achieved was for the thumping to get louder and heavier.
“I hate men like him,” she gritted out, sneering down at him, then glancing at Romeo and Bailey. I clenched my hands at my sides, thinking about the words I’d overheard from her son, yet again. There was so much more to Peyton than met the eye, so many secrets she was keeping close to her chest. I wanted to know them all. I wanted her to tell me what was haunting her.
Jesus. I was giving myself an even bigger headache with my back and forth. I blamed Gio. If he wouldn’t have hit me on the head, I never would have allowed half of the thoughts I was having to come forward. It was all his fault.
“Come on, Bailey. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Peyton continued, her tone calm and neutral, as if she wasn’t witnessing what we all were: the aftermath of Gio Pozzi trying to rape Bailey…again.
That thought had my teeth gritted together, all of my muscles so taut that they felt like they were going to snap at any second. I was supposed to be the buffer between Gio and Bailey, but I’d been taken out in seconds.
“Don’t touch her,” Romeo warned, standing up to put himself between Bailey and Peyton. I jerked a step closer, my protective instincts kicking in, but not for Bailey…for Peyton. It didn’t matter how many times I told myself to stay back—to not get involved—there was a deep-seated need to do something—anything.
The room spun. Fuck. How hard had I been hit on my head?
I rubbed at the sore spot, feeling wetness from the blood, but I didn’t look down at my hand as I pulled it away. I’d seen enough red liquid spread across my palms over the years, so I didn’t need to witness my own there, not when all it did was serve as a reminder that I’d let Romeo and Bailey down. We wouldn’t have been standing here right now with Bailey looking like she was falling to pieces in the corner of the room if I had been paying attention like I should have fuckin’ been.
“I’m trying to help.” Peyton shook her head, staring up at Romeo. And all the while I stood there, not knowing what to do or say. For the first time in my life, I was at a loss. “Just let me help her.”
“Romeo,” Bailey whispered, her voice so small and shattered. Gone was the Bailey I’d come to know—the one who kept trying to get me to come in the house or would bring me glasses of water and homemade lemonade—and in her place was a broken version. “I want her to help me.”
Romeo’s features screwed up, and even though I felt like I couldn’t concentrate on any one thing right then, I could see the indecision plastered all over his face. He’d told me what he’d done to Bailey the first time he met her, he’d confided in me how he felt and the indecision he was battling with, but you only had to take one look at Romeo and Bailey together to know that they could overcome anything with each other by their sides.
“Fine,” he relented, but I could clearly see he didn’t want to go anywhere or let anyone be near Bailey. “But go to her house, okay? Don’t stay here.”
Bailey nodded, wrapping her arms around her knees, her gaze flipping over to Gio. “Once he’s gone, I’ll move. I just…I can’t…”
“I get it,” Romeo growled, the Pagani side of him rearing its head as the Mafia man that lived inside of him twenty-four seven took control. Just seeing that switch within him caused my own to kick in, so as he waved me over, I went without a second thought. I didn’t want to admit how out of sorts I felt, not when it was me who should have been stopping any kind of attack—an attack that I hadn’t seen coming at all. “Grab him.”
I did as he said and dragged him to the door with Romeo. We dropped him on the porch while Romeo moved the car closer and I stood there, staring down at the man who had caused so much pain to the people I cared most about.
He’d get his comeuppance.
The Pagani men didn’t mess around when it came to revenge—we took that shit seriously.
