Page 77 of His Forbidden Obsession

“I told you Remington ordered me to stay away from you and that he wants you sent away as soon as our operation ended.”

I nodded. “You did.”

“My brothers think I should’ve just told him no, and so does Alina, but there’s another reason that I was hesitant to let you stay with me.”

My stomach flip-flopped as my heart rate skyrocketed. “What is it?”

“Before you decide what you want for your future, you need to know about my past, about why I’m so adamant that I’m responsible for my brothers. After you hear my story, you can decide if you still want to trust me or not.”

My fear subsided a little. “Lorenzo, I don’t think there’s anything you’re going to tell me that would make me not trust you.” He was willing to die to defend me. How much more could he do to prove that to me?

“Just listen to my story.”

I nodded, though I didn’t think I could change my mind. A shiver of fear ran through me. What had he done?

“Seven years ago, I was doing some reconnaissance work for Bébé, Remington’s father. That was before he retired from running the family business. I needed to make contact with the Russians. I needed an inside source. So, being very sure of myself, I seduced one of your grandfather’s guards.”

So far, the only thing disturbing about his story was the idea of him giving someone else the same pleasure he’d given me.

“We spent a lot of time together, a lot more time than was needed for me to learn what I wanted to learn. I was having fun. So much fun that I lost my head. I should’ve seen the signs, but I didn’t. I wasn’t really the one getting information. He was.”

I tried to imagine a younger Lorenzo falling for lies told by an older man. I hoped the man who’d betrayed him died a painful death.

“I made plans for him to let me into your grandfather’s house. He said he was going to help me place bugs in the office. Bébé had already started to doubt whether the information I was getting was legitimate. He must’ve realized I’d gotten too deep with this guy, so he sent one of my distant cousins with me.

“It should’ve been a one-man job. My cousin shouldn’t have been there. But as Bébé had suspected, my informant betrayed us. As soon as we stepped on the property, their guards were waiting for us. They shot my cousin through the heart. I watched him fall to the ground as blood spread out under him. I managed to escape, but I was out of my mind with grief, knowing it was my fault my cousin was dead, and wild with anger at myself for being too stupid to realize I was being used.”

I moved closer to Lorenzo and laid my hand on his thigh. “I’m so sorry. You should never have been in that position.”

He covered my hand with his and continued. “I went on a rampage, fighting my way through bars, destroying property, making a mess after mess that had to be paid for by my family. Finally, I tracked down my betrayer at a bar where he was enjoying the reward of a night off. I beat him almost to death, then pulled out my gun. I was ready to kill him right in the middle of a fucking restaurant, but someone had called the cops, and they showed up before I followed through.”

I supposed that was for the best, but the man had deserved to die for what he’d done.

“I went to prison for two years. Rafe was eighteen. I’d taken care of him for years, and that was what he saw of me.”

“But that’s not who you are now.”

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the couch. “Isn’t it? Isn’t that man inside me?”

“A man who is passionate. Who defends his family. Who cares. Yes.”

“Look what I did to you. I just showed up and told you I⁠—”

“No. You saved me.”

He shook his head. “I left you there.”

“You left me there because it wasn’t safe for you to take me. How do your brothers feel? Do they resent you? Do they blame you?”

Lorenzo shook his head. “No. They say it wasn’t my fault. That the man betrayed my trust, that he was evil.”

“They’re right.”

He sat back up and looked at me. “Niko, it’s okay to be angry with me.”

“But I’m not. I’m angry with my grandfather and my father. I’m angry with Ivanov. Not with you. Not unless you’re going to be an idiot now.”

“What kind of idiot?”