He won’t stop until he finds me. I can’t endanger Storm and Damien any longer. I need to haul my ass to Tanner’s house and somehow push this weird investigation forward.
The drive home passes in a trance, almost on autopilot.
The kendo swords keep clashing before my eyes in short flashes, like camera strobes, and my arms tense on the steering wheel in reflex, driven by muscle memory.
I force myself to shove the whole thing out of my head. It feels like that’s all I’ve been doing lately, first pushing away the pain of breaking up with Salt, and now burying another traumatic mess on top of it.
I’m going to lose it. I swear, I’m going to go insane.
When I arrive at the small house, I find Storm and Damien on the living room sofa, in the middle of having sex.
Fuck, not that.
Not now!
Without looking, I pass them and head for the stairs, aiming straight for my room, but Storm’s voice stops me.
"Hey! Eliano! You’re bleeding!"
He smells it, for sure. I stop in my tracks but don’t turn around. I already caught a glimpse of his monstrous dick plunging into Damien’s wet hole, and I definitely do not need a repeat.
"I’ll be in my room," I reply curtly. "Sorry for intruding."
A minute later, Storm, wearing only his pants, rushes upstairs and invades my space while I shakily try to wipe the dried blood from my face with a tissue.
Reluctantly, I turn toward him. I have no desire to look at the strange body of a purple alpha, crisscrossed with a network of purple lines and places where his bony armor pushes through the skin during the fighting mode. I keep my hand pressed to my cheek.
"What happened, Eliano?" Storm looks at me in disbelief.
"Nothing serious. Just a small scuffle with some idiot. I’ll be fine," I say, downplaying it. My voice comes out surprisingly light. I’m good at pretending, I guess. There's no way I'm discussing Rocco with him.
"Damn it, the blood is still soaking through the tissue."
"It’s a clean cut. I’ll just disinfect it."
"Eliano, be honest," he says, his tone changing, sharpening. "Did you get yourself into trouble?"
Our eyes meet.
"No. Rather, I… got out of it. But I need to speed things up here in the city and go back to the island. This isn’t a safe place for me."
We hold each other’s gaze for a moment. Does he suspect something? Never mind. I’m gearing myself up to deny everything, to make it seem like nothing important. But hesomehow senses my resistance. Finally, he just lets out a huff, giving up, then slowly nods.
"If you need help, say the word, Eliano."
I close my eyes. "You’ve already helped me more than enough. I’m grateful. But I need to finish this last part on my own."
Silence settles over the room, and I feel the weight of my fucked-up life about to knock me flat.
Please, Fate. Make a miracle happen. Just make a miracle.
Let things finally start falling into place.
???
After a night of relentless nightmares in which I’m back in a cage, whipped by Rocco this time instead of Anzo, my back flayed raw, skin peeling away and blood spilling like a river, I wake feeling like a brewing thunderstorm, impatience surging inside me.
The need to do something is almost unbearable; I have to finally take a risk. I can’t just keep sitting there, staring at Tanner’s house forever.
