My brow wriggles. “I can say it more often if it means you’ll stop trying to escape … or kill me.”
She rolls her eyes and rubs her lips together to hide her grin.
I take her back inside, where the staff immediately hounds her.
“Oh my God, you’re back,” Sarah says, immediately running up to hug Stella tightly, who seems extremely overwhelmed. “I was so worried about you.”
“I…” she stutters.
“Let me take you to your room, miss,” Sarah says. “Come on.” Sarah grabs her hand and guides her up the stairs.
“Be gentle with her. She’s been through a lot,” I say.
Sarah nods. “I will, sir. Don’t worry about us. I have this.”
I watch as they go upstairs, but Stella’s legs are still quivering from shock.
Am I doing the right thing by leaving her alone with Sarah? What can a man like me even do in this situation? Those fuckers were about to do the most unspeakable things to her. How could she ever trust any man again?
Besides, I’m the cause of all her misery, and the reason she ended up in their car in the first place.
I breathe out a sigh and run my fingers through my hair, groaning out loud. Every decision up until now has been so damn easy. All my life, I’ve only had to worry about continuing the business, the legacy. But then my mother was murdered, and my fixation moved to that bastard Lucio.
But now Stella is involved too. And I can’t shake thisdamn confusion about what to do with her, along with the emotional turmoil in my heart, making me question every one of my decisions.
I waltz into my study, grab the bottle of scotch in the corner, and pour myself a much-needed glass, which I chug down in one go. It does nothing to quell the burning rage fueled from deep within.
Something’s different about me. My desire for revenge is slowly molding into something else, something more unpredictable, uncontrollable…
A type of yearning.
Stella
I shiver from head to toe, the adrenaline still rushing through my veins, as Sarah guides me into my room and locks the door behind her. She gently brings me to the guest bed, sets me down, and smiles at me before going into the bathroom to grab a soft towel and a small bucket of water.
She dips the towel into the bucket and gently dabs it onto my face, cleaning off the dirt and blood of the men Matteo blew to smithereens. Their insides must be all over my bathrobe.
Suddenly, everything begins to itch, and I stand and tear off the bathrobe until I’m completely naked.
“Well, okay then,” Sarah mutters. “You want me to grab you a new one?”
“Get rid of it. Please,” I beg.
“Sure, no problem at all. We have plenty more,” she says, still smiling so sickly sweet it makes me nauseous. Then she walks off toward the closet, while I look around the room.
God. I can’t believe I’m back here in this place I tried so desperately to escape from.
Damn this beautiful prison.
I look at my hands, which are still shaking from the ordeal, and I sink onto the floor, bawling my eyes out.
“Oh, no…” Sarah runs to me and wraps her arms around me. “Don’t cry.”
It’s not her fault. None of this is.
But I was nearly …
Nearly …
