Abbie chokes back a sob, eyes bright with tears. “It’s because of you she doesn't even want to fight her case to come home, isn’t it?”
I flinch, spine rigid. Looking between them—Cora’s fury, Abbie’s disappointment—is torture sharper than anything my Da ever inflicted. These girls are like sisters to me, like family to Lily in every way but blood, and I know this mess has hurt them nearly as much as it’s hurt her.
But fuck… I want her. I want her under me, trembling, gasping my name even as her eyes blaze with fury. I want her so badly it hurts, like my veins are lit from the inside, my hands aching to pull her back, to claim her again, no matter how much she should despise me.
And beneath all of that, deeper and steadier, Ineedher beside me, ready to fight for the truth, for our chance at a happy ending. I need to be able to love her without fear of what it might cost us.
Cora sees it and lunges forward, jabbing a finger into my chest. “She’s not your fucking toy. If you ever cared about her, you’ll leave her alone.”
Her words hit like fists and I open my mouth to speak, but every word dies in my throat. Because she’s right. Iknowshe’s right. Lily has been dragged through the mess that is my life enough. She deserves a chance at her own happy ending, a life she can actually choose for herself. And I know—fuck, I know—that bringing her back into my world, back into the Points, is a recipe for disaster.
Da is still hunting blood, still convinced Lily’s name is tainted in ways that don’t make sense to me anymore but the days of keeping my distance are over. I’ve tried. I’ve tried to let her live without me, to bury this obsession, but it’s killing me, it’s killingher, and I refuse to stand aside any longer. I have to try. For fuck’s sake,I have to.
“I’m not trying to make her my toy,” I grit out, my voice like gravel. “I’m trying to fix what I broke. I love her, I always have.”
Cora’s glare is a blade, any trace of sympathy long gone. “You can’t fix this, Matt. You can’t fucking fixher. And you don’t get to keep tearing her apart while you figure out what the fuck you want.”
“She’s not safe,” I snap, the words shaking my chest.
Abbie shakes her head. “Oh my God, don’t you dare try the protector line.Youare the thing she needs protecting from.”
The words punch the air out of me.
“She’s in danger,” I insist, softer, cautious that anyone could be listening. Jonathan has been adamant we keep our suspicions on a need-to-know basis as we dig, and for whatever reason, he’s vetoed telling Cora, despite also teaching her to fill his shoes one day soon, but I don’t know how much longer I can follow that order. I’m so fucking done letting secrets keep me and Lily apart.
Cora steps closer, glitter catching on her cheekbones, eyes flashing. “Then tell her. Tell my dad. Hell, tellyourdad. Stop skulking in shadows, acting like the big bad Mafia prince who gets to decide life and death. She deserves the truth for once in her fucking life, and if you can’t see that, then you’re even more of a lost cause than I thought.”
Abbie swipes her hand through the air, eyes fixed like daggers. “Stay away from her, Matt. If you love her at all, just stay away.”
“I can’t,” I whisper before I can stop myself. They both stare at me, unmoving, unrelenting. I can see the judgment in their eyes, but I don’t care. Ican’tcare, not when my entirebeing is tangled up in her, burning for her, obsessed with every impossible, maddening inch of her.
Cora shakes her head. “Then don’t pretend you’re doing this for her. You’re doing it for yourself.”
They storm off, leaving me behind, the noise and music of the club suddenly sharp, empty, hollow. As they retreat to their guards, my gaze catches Liam’s. The knowing glint in his eye does little to temper what I’m about to do.
I press my palms to my face, shuddering, trying to breathe, trying to think rationally but rationality has no hold here. All I can think about is her. Cora and Abbie are right—nothing’s changed. But nothing will ever change unless hard conversations happen. And maybe… maybe it’s time we start having them.
Because the thought of walking away—heading back to Turin without even trying to speak to her—feels wrong. Like leaving a part of me behind, a part that will never let me go.
I’ll carry the fight for both of us. Bear it alone if I have to. Until she’s ready to face it.
Until she remembers that some things aren’t meant to be outrun, aren’t meant to be escaped—they’re meant to be survived together. And I’ll make sure she knows I’m here for the long haul this time, no matter the cost.
I walked away once.
Never again.
I don’t even remember how I got outside. One second I’m drowning in neon and bass, Cora’s words still slamming intomy skull like gunshots. Next, I’m staggering across the footpath, lungs burning, and every nerve screaming.
I can’t think past the need to find her, to erase the space between us and demand answers. I was a fool to ever let her walk away, an idiot for not chasing, a coward for staying silent when it mattered most. But lucky for me, I know exactly where to find her and this time, nothing will stop me from taking back what’s mine.
The hotel lobby is bright, sterile, and painfully normal—smiles, chatter, the kind of ordinariness that makes my skin crawl. How can anything be remotely normal tonight? How can these people be going about their lives as if everything isn’t seconds away from exploding, either in the best or the worst way?
The lift dings open and I step inside, pulse drumming in my ears, heart syncing with the hum of machinery. Each passing floor is a countdown, each number a tease pulling me closer to her. By the time the doors spit me out on the top floor, my fingers are already circling the key card Liam slipped me when the girls were preoccupied with their spa treatments—his stern instructions ringing in my head,don’t fuck this up.
Trust me, mate. That’s the last thing I want to do.
I press it to the scanner and hold my breath until the green light flickers. The door swings open and I’m met with both the best and worst sight imaginable.
