Conflict plays out over Roman’s face, his need to protect his lover clear as day, before he finally nods. “You’re right. I can’t have no representation at all, even though I trust Lio and Carter to speak in my stead. Having you there will reinforce that I am serious about taking my rightful place.”
“Who is guarding you, Little Monster?”
“Antonio,” Lio responds to Tennant. “Benjamin will stay here as my Second, while Antonio accompanies me.”
“All the more reason for me to go,” Jude says. “If he thinks he can manipulate you and have you back, Bello…”
“I’m yours, Sir,” Antonio says.
“Yes, you are. I won’t interfere with your job, but I also won’t sit back and let him fuck with your head again.”
“Is Marcus still going as your guard, Carter?”
“I am,” the man replies. “Keegan will stay as Carter’s proxy here, and I will accompany our Boss.”
“Allesandro might have an issue with one of his Boys jumping ship,” Tennant points out.
“We discussed that, but I can do my job. No matter what else may happen, I'll protect him.”
“You better,” Roman says. “I won't be injured forever…”
The hardness in Roman’s voice makes me smile a little. I don't need my son to fight my battles for me, but that he’s so protective of me warms my heart. I trust Marcus, though, he and Keegan have proven over and over they have me. No matter what hold Allesandro might have on him still, I know he won't allow himself to be compromised on the job.
“What can you tell us about Luca?” Lio asks. “I've listened to the recordings Hollis has, but what have you seen?”
Donovan shrugs. “He didn’t require full-time care, so I only had a few interactions with him, but…you could tell he wasn't pleased about what he was seeing with Il Padrone and his behavior.”
“I did a PT assessment on him,” Dominic says. “Gave him a few exercises to rebuild the muscle mass he lost in his captivity. He is…different from what we were warned about. I'm pretty sure Doc still wants to stab him because he is a snarky asshole, but his loyalty isn't with Il Padrone.”
Lio lets out a breath, but I can't tell if it's one of relief or…what.
Though if Doc and the trips are right, and we have no reason to distrust them, then that makes going into this meeting a little easier. It also helps knowing Doc has an ally outside of Soren and James.
“Thank you,” Lio finally tells them. “I'll have rooms prepared for you.”
“We only need one,” Dominic says. “We don't mind sharing. We need it right now, being separated from Soren.”
Dmitri says something in RSL that has Dominic snorting. “Correction,” he voices. “We're close, but not close enough to watch our brother and his Master, so I hope Jayden has his own room here already?”
“Don't be jealous,” Donovan says from where he's still leaning against Jayden’s leg.
“Of you? Never,” Dominic shoots back.
Some of the seriousness leaves the room as the trips start snipping at each other, and I relax a little in my seat, though my mind is still working with the new information we've learned.
I want to say I can't believe Cristian would stoop so low, but what do I know? If anything, I'm learning I don't know my husband as well as I once thought. It's a bitter pill to swallow, to know that the person I fell in love with might not be the man I ever thought he was.
A pang of sadness rushes through me as I come to the realization and acceptance that everything we've been through together might have been for nothing.
At the end of the day, I might end up as alone as I was when Julian first threw me onto this path. Only now, I have so much more to lose.
Ilean against the doorframe, watching as Luca runs through his exercise regime. While he lost some muscle tone when in captivity, he’s been gaining it back fairly rapidly. Unfortunately, the Fire Chief turned up dead. I had hoped to take that matter into my own hands… Although the Fire Chief’s son is certainly acting like we did it, from the way he’s screaming on the news.
“Fuck!” Luca yells as he sets down a pair of weights.
Shaking my head, I stroll forward. “You tried to increase your weight limit too soon.”
Luca sends me a scathing glare, and I merely raise one eyebrow. With a huff, he sits on the mat and grabs the bottle of water he had placed nearby. He studies me as I come closer, and it’s the oddest feeling. There’s a wall between us. It may not be visible, but for the first in years, there’s something almosttangible dividing us. This is far worse than when he betrayed me. Even then, we were in sync. This? This is not us.
