“If ye ever try to take Cara’s choice from her again, I’ll kill ye, Dante, and that isnae just a figure of speech! Cara has been abused and raped, taken advantage of her whole bloody life. She’s had all of her choices taken from her for too long. That’s no’ happening any longer. I won’t allow it, and neither will Rafe. If he ken’t what you did to his sister last night, he’d likely kill ye anyway.”
“Arran…”
“No! Stay away from Cara! I won’t tell Rafe about last night, as long as ye do, but the first time ye try to approach her, or upset her, I’ll tell him everything. Yer my brother, but I’ll no’ sit back and let ye scare Cara away from the life she deserves,” I raged. “Pack yer bags and make yer way to the airport. I’ll tell Rafe youneeded to wrap up some lose ends, and ye’ll be making yer own way home.”
“But Cara…”
“Isnea yer concern right now. I’ll make sure she’s safe. When we all get back to London, ye stay out of Cara’s way. Am I clear?”
“I don’t like it. I should talk to Cara. She’ll understand,” he argued.
“If ye went into that room right now, I think Cara would have a panic attack and run from ye. You were all of her terrifyin’ memories and nightmares come true last night, and she’s no’ gonna get over that fast. Like I told ye, ye fucked up. I wouldnae blame the lass if she never forgives ye.”
“I can’t live with that.”
“Then do as I’ve told ye, and give her some time. Hopefully, she’ll come around when everything calms down.”
“Okay,” he gave in. “But will you tell her I’m sorry, please? I need her to know. I’m never going to drink again, not if it means I could hurt the people I love.”
“I’ll tell her.” I assured him, hating to see the pain and fear in his face. Knowing Cara I was sure she would forgive the bastard eventually, but I needed to make sure Dante respected her wishes until she got to that point, whatever it took.
CHAPTER 19
CARA
I felt flat as the plane touched down in London. The whole trip had been for naught. I didn’t know a damned thing about what my Mum had been up to in the time she had been fooling me.
Arran, Cal, and I had gone out to the gym, which Hilt had left the card for, that morning, but the place had been boarded up, and it didn’t look as if anyone had been there for some time. We waited in the car for a while, just watching the place, but no one came or went. In the end I had posted a piece of paper through the door with my initials and my mobile number, just hoping Hilt would get it and call me.
After that, we’d had to go to the airport, to board the private jet, which Dario had arranged, so going to see Justin – which had been my last ditch attempt to get information, hadn’t been possible.
Now I was back in London, with no new leads or information on who my Mum had gotten us all mixed up with, more shaken than I had been when I left, and without Dante, because I was too nervous to be close to him after what he did. Apart from that perfect moment where Cal and I had kissed, the rest of the trip had been a waste of time.
“Home sweet home,” Cal said. He was seated beside me, clutching my hand in his. He’d been at my side the whole journey, and Arran had stayed close too. They were fussing over me, worried after the night before and because I hadn’t really slept since we left home days before.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’ll be glad to get back to the house.”
“And I’ll be glad to see ye get some sleep, wee one. Yer running on fumes right now,” Arran added.
“I’m good.” I lied.
“Come on. Let’s get home,” Cal said. He leant in to unclip my seatbelt, then stood, and pulled me up to my feet with him.
We spent some time gathering our things and shrugging on coats. It was late at night in the UK, and it looked just as cold as it had been back in Chicago. As we started down the small set of steps to the tarmac, I looked around and saw two black cars with half a dozen of Rafe’s guys standing around them.
Rafe had wanted to meet us off the plane, but some drama with a shipment at the docks had required his attention. He’d called me to apologise that he wouldn’t be there, and to assure me he would find me as soon as he got home. I told him to wake me if I were asleep. I just wanted to see him. I’d really missed him.
Even though the trip had been an epic fail, I was still glad to be home. I felt safer there. I couldn’t wait to get back and have a long soak in the bath. Maybe there would be some leftovers, which Terza had cooked and left in the fridge for us. I could grab something delicious, curl up on the sofa in Rafe’s office, and just wait for him to come home. It sounded amazing after the stress of the last couple of days.
“Head for the first car,” Arran told me from where he was walking ahead of me and Cal.
Cal gave my hand a squeeze and when I glanced up at him, he leaned in and kissed me on the lips, taking me by surprise. I smiled widely at the sweet move and Cal returned it.
“What was that for?” I asked. We were crossing the distance from the plane to the car now.
“I just wanted to see you smile,” he replied, lifting our joined hands up between us so he could place a kiss on my knuckles.
“You’re…” That was all I got out before loud cracks filled the air. A heavy weight crashed into me and I screamed as I went down hard, someone laying on top of me.
