“No. I…It’s fine.” I sat up, dropping my legs to the ground and cupped my coffee cup between my hands on the table. “What about Dante?” I asked hesitantly.
“He’s still in the other room, down the hall. He’s got the hangover from hell and he’s pissed I’m stopping him from leavin’ the room.”
“You’re keeping him there?” I questioned.
“Aye, fer now. Brax and the others are makin’ sure he stays put. He doesnae seem to remember what happened last night. He didnae believe me when I recounted the events.”
“I have proof if he needs it,” I snipped, annoyed he would try to deny what he had done.
“Proof?”
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter,” I sighed. I drank the last of my coffee then stood to make a refill. I was going to need a serious caffeine injection to get through that day.
“It matters to me, lass.” Arran crossed the room and stepped in my path, making me pause before him.
I looked up into his deep eyes and forced a shaky breath in. He smiled sadly and he looked so handsome with his neatly trimmed beard and his long hair pulled up into a topknot. He was dressed in khaki trousers and a black button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up his muscle corded arms. He’d obviously showered recently, his hair still slightly damp looking, and the clean smell of his body wash filling my nose. He was perfect, like his brother, but in a different way. They were opposites really,but that didn’t seem to alter the fact that I was attracted to the both of them.
“Tell me, Cara. What did ye mean, ye’ve proof? Did Dante hurt ye?” Arran pushed.
I just watched him as he slowly and gently reached out to cup his hand around my cheek, then he caressed the skin with his thumb again and again. I closed my eyes for a moment and just sank into the sensation. It was like a pocket of calm in the chaos and I needed that.
“Why d-did Dante do that, Arran?” I asked, my voice wobbling as my eyes became glassy.
“He was drunk, wee one. He was angry about last night, and he hit the hotel bar after I tried to talk to him. He obviously drank a few too many, and allowed his wild, protective side to run free. Dinnae get me wrong, I’m ragin’ wi’ the idiot fer scarin’ ye, but I dinnae think he meant to. Ye ken what he’s like. He can be a lot, but he wouldnae hurt ye.”
“Wouldn’t he?” I asked, turning my face out of his grip and stepping back. I set my coffee cup on the table behind me, then lifted Cal’s sweater and my shirt underneath, showing Arran the myriad of colourful bruises all over my middle.
“Jesus Cara! Did Dante do all of that?” Arran gasped as he dropped down to his knees before me and gently brushed his hand over the worst of the bruising on my left side.
“He h-held me too tight. I was struggling and he…his grip just got tighter. I get that he was drunk but I…I don’t know…” I groaned, annoyed that the words wouldn’t come out as I needed them to.
“Yer scared of him now?” Arran questioned.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, covering my torso again. “I’m definitely scared of seeing him after this. I trusted him, and he…he did this. Maybe he didn’t mean to, but he did and it h-hurts. I allowed myself to trust him…to trust all of you.”
“I’m gonna kill Dante!” Arran ground out. He got to his feet but didn’t back away from me.
“I don’t want that,” I argued. “Deep down I know…that Dante didn’t mean to scare me, or to hurt me…I know that. I don’t want you to hurt him. I just don’t know if I c-can face him either right now.”
“Ye willna need to. I just got off of the phone wi’ Dario. Rafe wants you back home as soon as possible. The plane’s scheduled for midday,” he explained.
“Why? What’s happened?”
“Gia. She didnae go on that school trip. She lied to Rafe and we dinna ken where’s she’s been for the last ten days. Rafe and Dario are workin’ to find her, but until we know fer sure what’s goin’ on, yer brother wants ye home safe.”
“Gia’s missing and you’re just telling me now?” I cried as worry consumed me. She had been gone for ten days without us even knowing!
“She’ll be fine, Cara. She set this whole thing up herself. Whatever she’s up to, she’ll be doin’ it in the luxury she’s accustomed to, I can assure ye. She likely just ran off to get some attention.”
“Maybe. But you’re forgetting that she was speaking with my Mum for who knows how long? God only knows what ideas Isabella could have filled Gia’s mind with. We need to find her and make sure she really is safe.”
I stepped back from Arran so I could think more clearly as my mind ran overtime. I had assumed my Mum had only contacted Gia in a desperate search for money, for drugs, but what if it had been more than that? My mother had been conniving behind my back for months, maybe even years, and I had no idea what she had been up to in the time I had been out night and day, working myself ragged. What if she had gotten mixed up in something nasty, and some how tied Gia up in it too? It already seemed she had tangled me in it all, so why not both of her daughters?
“What time are we set to take off later?” I asked.
“Twelve-thirty,” Arran replied.
“I need to go to the gym and speak to Hilt before we leave. Can you call Cal, and ask him to come back. Dante’s not coming with us,” I said firmly.
