Page 55 of Rafael Pagani

My car stayed at the sidewalk, and I didn’t take a single bit of notice at what was around me as I ran up her driveway and to her front door. It only took me seconds to pick the lock, which was probably why she’d had so many locks on the door from the inside.

The smell hit me like an avalanche speeding down a cliff. It was Peyton: her flower scent that I loved to breathe in so much when she was around. My head started to spin as I made my way inside, first checking the living room, then the playroom, and finally heading into the kitchen.

I paused, remembering the morning after I’d spent my first night here. Peyton was in the middle of the kitchen, my T-shirt covering her body. She was naked under the piece of clothing, and everything in me had wanted to wrap my arms around her, fling her over my shoulder, then have my way with her.

But I hadn’t been able to because the boys had been at the table, eating their breakfast. My gaze snapped to the highchair that was in the same position it always was. There was even some food still left on it.

Fuck. I hated this. I should have done more. I should have fuckin’ listened to her.

I’d failed the one woman I cared most about in this world. She’d probably never forgive me for what I did, but that wouldn’t stop me from finding her—from saving her.

With renewed energy, I jerked forward, opening each cupboard, looking on the top of them, searching for something—anything—that could help me. But there was nothing there, other than food and random letters. Dammit. I spun around, ready to run upstairs when a body in the doorway stopped me.

“What are you doing?”

I cracked my neck to the side, not wanting to answer my big brother. “Move,” I ground out, standing as still as a statue as my father walked in behind him, his gaze trained on me. I hadn’t seen him since Romeo’s party, the day that her ex had shown up. Even then though, I hadn’t spoken to my father; our relationship had gone to shit, and if I was honest, in that moment I didn’t care at all. I had way bigger things to worry about.

“Not until you tell me why the fuck you broke in here.” Romeo glanced around the room. “What are you looking for?”

“Evidence,” I snapped back. “Now move.”

“No.”

I inhaled a deep breath, taking three steps back until I hit the counter, needing the space from him before I exploded. I didn’t have time for this—time for him. I had to find something to lead me to her.

“You don’t get it,” I told him, gripping on to the edge of the counter, needing something to keep me rooted to the spot. “Ihaveto find her.”

“She played you, Raf.” Romeo shook his head, disappointment shining in his eyes. “How can you not see that?”

I ground my teeth together, wanting to say a thousand things all at once, but I couldn’t. “No, she didn’t.” I stepped forward, remembering how I’d stood between Peyton’s legs only feet away from where I was standing when we first kissed. It sounded stupid, but I could still feel her here, as if she’d never left. “You didn’t see what I saw. You didn’t hear what I heard.”

“Raf,” Bailey’s soft voice spoke out from behind Dad. I had no idea when she’d turned up, but if I was honest, I didn’t want to hear what she had to say. She’d made her mind up. “Please just listen to Romeo and your dad. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

I laughed, I couldn’t help it. The goddamn audacity of what they were saying to me. I tried to keep a lid on it. Tried to be calm, but dammit, it was hard when I had no one in my corner. Was that how Peyton felt when I hadn’t intervened with her brother? Fuck.

“I love you like the sister I never had, Bailey, but that don’t mean I’m gonna stand here and listen to this bullshit.” I shook my head, my hands clenched at my sides. “No one ever doubted you. No one questioned what you’d been through. So why are you questioning her?”

I waited for an answer, but all she did was look at Romeo, questions shining in her eyes. It was him who answered, “Ace told Lorenzo that she’s mentally ill, Raf. What more do you need?”

“What do I need?” I blinked, moving closer, now only three feet away from my big brother. “All I need is what I saw with my own two eyes.” I tapped the side of my head. “I saw the way she reacted when Gio hurt Bailey.” I paused, my gaze veering to Bailey, then back to Romeo. “I saw the way she flinched when someone got too close to her.” My breaths came heavier. “I saw the way Kian reacted when she got hurt on that goddamn brick outside.”

“Kian?” Bailey asked, her voice a whisper. “He was always so…he…” She blinked rapidly, almost as if she was finally seeing properly. “The day at the barbecue…”

“Yeah. That was nothing to the way he screamed when Peyton was hurt, but it was his words when I got them all inside that I should have listened to when Ace came. I should have fuckin’ done something.” I spun around, throwing my fist at the first thing it could connect with—a cupboard door. It blasted through the wood, splintering.

“What did the boy say?” Dad asked, speaking for the first time.

My muscles tensed as I met his stare, my heart beating a mile a minute in my chest. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to have to explain all of this to them.

“Peyton was trying to reassure him that she’d be okay, and then…fuck…” I scrubbed my hand down my face, feeling like the worst person in the world as more memories pushed to the forefront of my brain. “He said: ‘when Daddy would hit you and you made the ouchies better? Will it be like that, Mommy?’”

“The boys’ dad…that’s Ace’s best friend?” Dad asked, and I nodded in confirmation. “What else?” He stepped past Romeo, coming closer to me. “What else was said?”

My shoulders started to loosen at the prospect that they were believing me. Dad wouldn’t have asked me what else if he didn’t, right? I hated the fact that I was hoping like hell that he was on my side, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to think anymore, so I opened my mouth, telling them everything I’d remembered, every little move she’d made or comment she’d said.

“I asked her if he’d hurt her.” I squeezed my eyes closed at the memory. At the utter devastation on her face when I’d outright asked her.

“What did she say?” Bailey asked, her voice a mere whisper.

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