Then, like clockwork, comes my father’s voice inside my head.
Until you hurt her.
It’s inevitable.
Those words echo through me like a broken record until Gabi interrupts my quiet crisis.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me all night?”
She must have sensed me hovering over her like a deranged serial killer—the dualities inside him wondering which side will win today.
“I like staring at you.” I drift closer and reach for her hand, kissing the delicate skin of her wrist before I wrap it around the back of my neck.
“Said every stalker ever,” she muses.
I lift her up into my arms, and she lets out a soft sound of surprise.
“It’s disturbing how easy it is for you to do that.”
“It’s disturbing how easy you are to steal.”
That problematic thought lingers in my mind as I carry her to the tub, making me question whether the five extra guards she doesn’t know about are enough.
I’ve been fucking with Imperium, leaking their chats to the local news and the police. Next week, they’ll receive a package containing the hard drives I found when I raided one of their shared houses. There’s enough evidence on there that, in normal circumstances, it would secure them lengthy prison terms. But my digital excavation of their lives has found a common thread among them. They’re all from prominent families, well-connected, and some of them are also embedded within IVI. So the leaks are only a temporary solution for a permanent problem. While they prepare for a legal battle, it will buy me some time to figure out how to burn their entire organization to the ground, with the added benefit of publicly shaming them.
They’ll be under a microscope, and Gabi will be safer with additional protection. But knowing the resources at their disposal, I won’t sleep properly until I’ve handled the problem. I just need to find a way to do it without starting a war.
In the meantime, I’ve set up shop in one of the guest bedrooms on the second level of the penthouse. It’s far enough away from her room that Gabi shouldn’t notice, and I can keep a close eye on her until I know for certain she’s safe.
“What are we doing?” she asks as I step into the tub.
“Taking a bath.” I shift her in my arms, lowering us both into the water. “This should help with the soreness.”
She lets out a sigh, settling back against me as I cradle her body between my legs. Fortunately for me, my father had theforesight to have the entire penthouse fitted with extra-large tubs and showers to accommodate the Vitale descendants.
Unfortunately for me, I’m also imagining the disappointment he’d have on his face if he were here to find out what I just did to Gabi. But as she lays her head back on my shoulder, her body melting against mine, I can’t really find it in me to care.
I’m aware of how many different ways this might implode. I could start a war that would impact my entire family, at a time when the wounds of losing both our parents are still raw. I could ruin Gabi’s chance at a life where she isn’t tethered to me, and while the twisted part of me likes that idea—it’s not realistic.
There’s no way to guarantee her safety around me, and the thought that I could have an episode and hurt her will always be a hurdle we can’t overcome.
If I weren’t selfish, I would walk away now and go back to watching her life from a distance. But even considering it makes my body revolt.
I feel my arms tightening around her, and for someone who hates hugging, Gabi doesn’t seem to mind it with me. That shouldn’t mean anything, but it does.
It means that, for right now, she feels safe with me.
At least until she finds out who I really am.
11
GABRIELA
I wake up blissfully rested,sore, and a little sad when I see Eros’s side of the bed is empty. It’s stupid to feel that way, because he told me he’d stay the night, but he’d be gone by morning. I don’t have a point of reference, but I’m pretty sure this is how casual is supposed to work.
Except, last night didn’t feel casual. It was everything I once imagined sharing with Romeo.
I told Eros he wasn’t a placeholder, and I meant it. But the only face I could imagine as he sank into me was the one I couldn’t seem to forget.
