Page 80 of Tailored for You

Heads were going to roll.

The men knew they had made mistakes, which was good, but I needed to know what went wrong. Who did I entrust with Serena’s safety? Who had failed?

It seemed that, though I made it clear I was not one to be screwed with or attacked, someone wanted to test me. Like they wanted to see how far they could push me before I snapped.

They were skilled killers: their approach said as much.

Questions circled in my head as I drove. Was this an attack on me? The second the thought popped into my head, I knew this had nothing to do with me. They went straight to my room, where she’d most likely be.

Which meant someone had escalated from causing fear to doing real harm. But who was it?

Too many questions, not enough answers. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t ready to share them with Serena.

If I could go back and shoot those idiots who ruined what was the best date in the history of dates, I would.

We were at our second stop, hours earlier than I anticipated. Unfortunately, this was the hand I was dealt. I only hoped it didn’t scare Serena away.

She was shivering and quiet, and I could see she had a thousand things running through her head.

Merda, she held a gun. One that I gave her to protect herself and feel safe. I had a feeling she’d never held one, let alone known how to use it. I needed to talk to her about that and remedy it quickly.

I pulled the dinghy to the dock and helped Serena off, the sunrise casting a warm glow on the expansive back lawn.

While my home in Queens was impressive, it was still a brick monstrosity I’d built because it was what people expected a made man’s house to look like.

My villa had touches of my home country in every detail. Outside, whitewashed concrete, red-tiled roof, and shutters. Inside, color, mosaic tiles, and arched Moorish doorways.

If I could, I’d spend all my time here, but this place wasn’t meant to be lived in daily. It was an oasis I’d built as a side project once the money started flowing into the brotherhood again.

We walked up the flagstone path, Serena quietly holding my hand.

I pulled out my phone, brought my arm around Serena’s shoulders while keeping hold of her hand, and dialed Rafael’s number.

“Sí,” Rafael answered. I opened my mouth, but never got the chance to speak before he continued. “I heard. I’ll take care of it. Take care of Serena. Enjoy your time together.”

“It’s all screwed up,” I huffed, speaking in Italian. I didn’t need Serena to listen in. “It was perfect. Now it’s fucked to hell.”

“Everything that you hoped for?” Rafael teased me about what a romantic I was being with her, but I didn’t care.

He could tease me all he wanted. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do, no lengths I wouldn’t go to, for Serena to know how special she was to me.

In the last few hours, she was faced with the cold reality of what it meant to be in my world.

I only hoped it didn’t scare her. Something of this magnitude was bound to push her into reconsidering.

“Yes.” I watched as she ventured further into the house. It was an open floor plan, so I could watch as she walked around, taking in the grandness of the rooms. “But none of it matters if they scared her away.”

I saw her walking away with vivid clarity, Harper in tow, because this was too much for her. The idea of it created ice-cold fear in me—that I couldn’t do my job, could make her feel safe enough to stay.

I would understand if that was her choice, but I’d do everything in my power to convince her otherwise.

Rubbing my thumb against Serena’s knuckles, I tried to use the feeling of her hand in mine to ground me. Remind me that she hadn’t turned and run away. Yet.

“Call in reinforcements. I want eyes on every angle with her,” I said, not wanting to say Harper’s name. Serena might not know Italian but she’d home in on me mentioning Harper. She hadn’t brought her up yet, and I had to assume it was because she was still in shock and not thinking clearly.

There was some yelling, muffled voices, and the phone call beeped. I pulled it away and saw I’d been hung up on.

Serena walked ahead of me, slipping out of my embrace to the balcony that overlooked the pool, yard, and ocean beyond.