I nod slowly. “I could go without if I needed to, but I suppose you’re right,” I say slowly.
“I could too,” Rosalie pipes up. “Don’t go thinking it’s just for my sake.” She stands up off the bed and unfolds her arms. She practically stomps over to the two of us with her heels clicking against the ground. “I’m not some damsel in distress.”
“Course not.” Damian takes a step to the side and looks toward the exit to the room. “I’ll be in the living room keeping an eye on the door. Avoid any windows, keep the curtains closed.”
“Got it,” I mumble.
I can’t help but watch him leave the room. The broadness of his back and shoulders catches my attention. The veins that travel from his elbows, where his sleeves are rolled up, down his forearms to his strong hands. Those hands were just on me, moments before, saving my life.
Heat surrounds me, filling my stomach and down lower. Lower than I want to think about. I try to ignore the arousal, but it’s difficult. I pry my eyes away from him and guide them over to Rosalie. She’s slowly taking her jacket and gloves off.
I take mine off as well, tossing them onto the chest at the end of the bed.
“We could have gone to a much better safe house,” she tells me. “My family has one by the water, it’s not so…” Rosalie looks around, then at the floor and wiggles her heeled food on the scuffed floorboards. “Used.”
“And that’s probably the first place they’ll look for us,” I remind her.
She sighs. “You’re right. God, this is all just a disaster,” she says, waving her arms around with her gloves in her hand. She lowers her voice for the next part. “This marriage was to ensure the safety of both of our families. After all, you were our biggest enemy. Now we’re both in hiding.”
I shake my head. “We may have been the biggest, but we’re not the only ones. All it takes is a couple families to decide to band together against our…newest collection, and…well, we’ve got a problem on our hands, darling.” I widen my eyes at her for a moment before folding my arms across my chest.
Rosalie scoffs. “We should be able to take care of them regardless. I shouldn’t even be here. I should be out there looking for them,” she wrings one of her gloves. “When I get my hands on whoever shot at us today?—”
“Please, like they’re ever going to let us get anywhere near them.” I roll my eyes.
“Oh, are you scared, Alessio?” she asks me as she sits down on the end of the bed and crosses her ankles.
“No,” I reply, eyes darkening and voice lowering. “If Carmine wouldn’t drag me back, I’d be out there right now.”
It’s quiet for a moment between us.
“Face it, to them we are what they can’t risk losing. Therefore, we’re the hot item everyone wants. The further we are from the fight, the safer we are. That’s what they think anyway,” I remind her.
Rosalie chews on one of her ruby red lips and her lipstick stains her teeth, but is quickly removed by a swipe of her tongue. “They’re wrong. I feel like a sitting duck.”
“Maybe we are,” I say with a shrug.
“You’re okay with this?” she asks me.
I chuckle and step closer to her. “No, I’m not, but we do have Damian here to protect us. Plus, I’m certainly not going down without a fight.”
She scoffs and shakes her head, looking toward one of the curtained windows. “I know he saved us, but…” her brow furrows.
“What?” I ask her, voice quieter. I sit down on the end of the bed with about a foot between us. It’s uncomfortable in the suit I’m wearing, but at least I can look eye to eye with Rosalie.
“I don’t know that I trust him,” she admits.
I stare at her with uncertainty. “Your uncle hired him,” I remind her. “He’s unrelated to anything else. At least, I think so. If anything, I’m the one who shouldn’t trust him.”
“I don’t trust Eivor,” she says honestly. Her voice a whisper. “He wants more power than Carmine is willing to give him. He acts like the exchange of power along with our marriage is enough for him, but I don’t think it is.”
I scoot closer to her. “Maybe you should’ve mentioned this before,” I tell her with a huff. “Before we, you know, saidI doin front of a judge.”
“It wouldn’t change anything. Everyone is dead set on this,” she reaches over and places her hand over mine. “Everyone expects this. No matter what. For power or to shut my uncle up… Hell, I think it should happen just to give both of our families a moment of peace.”
I look down at her smaller, more feminine hand above mine. My fingers are long and lithe, but hers are more narrow andher nails are perfectly manicured in a white pearl color. I slowly wrap my fingers around hers, curious.
Curious if it makes me feel anything.
