Page 201 of Safe Word

‘Get some rest tonight.’ Alessio rose to his feet, and the women instinctively followed. I stood taller – a good deal taller – but he met my gaze without hesitation.

‘I’ll make a few calls,’ he added with determination. ‘See if we can track this bastard down.’ He turned slightly, ready to leave. ‘Oh, and I sent that address you wanted to your phone.’

My heart stuttered, but I coached my face not to betray what lay beneath. Paula was too involved in the issue at hand to react.

‘Will he be deported when you catch him?’ Her voice wavered as she rubbed her elbow, a nervous tic I’d noticed earlier.

Alessio’s lips curled into a deceptive smile, his gaze turning towards her with an unsettling kind of knowing. ‘No, tesoro,’ he murmured, his voice smooth but final. ‘He won’t.’

Then his eyes met mine. Briefly. Pointedly. Then he turned fully and walked out.

I had to admit: I was beginning to like him.

A hush settled over the room as they all filed out.

Paula shifted closer, her hand still resting on mine – grounding me, grounding her.

Her hair smelled like flowers and lemons, paired with the house’s scent of wood polish. It was the sort of blend that clung to family homes and gave you a false sense of safety.

Somewhere down the hall, footsteps fell, the sound of a kettle boiling added a strange comfort to the chaos.

I inhaled slowly – though still nursing the hurt of her lie. But I rooted myself in this moment, when I wasn’t screaming inside, bleeding outside, and no one was trying to kill anyone.

Just Paula. Warmth against me. Just us, in a house I didn’t belong in, but somehow didn’t mind being in.

My fingers traced idle patterns on her thigh. She rested her head on my shoulder.

The rat-dog was still settled near my shoe as if it had declared allegiance. And for a few stolen seconds, it almost felt like peace.

‘I’m going to take a shower,’ I murmured, glancing up at his amber eyes – not as an invitation, though I wouldn’t have exactly complained if he followed. I just needed a moment to myself. A moment to breathe, to untangle the chaos in my head and slot every fractured piece of the night back where it belonged.

Cain’s gaze darkened, sliding down the line of my throat, pausing at my chest, before settling on my knee, where his hand still rested like a claim he had no intention of lifting.

‘Got anything to tell me?’ he asked, voice low. ‘About this?’ His finger gestured vaguely at the ornate ceiling, tracing lazy circles in the air beneath its fragmented light.

I exhaled slowly. ‘Not really. I don’t know much. Only that Mum was sent abroad for her safety, and she met Dad there. Everything else is just… speculation.’

‘Now that would hurt Alessio’s feelings,’ came another voice.

The door pushed open halfway when Matteo filled the frame – cropped hair glinting under the chandelier, black leather jacket creaking with movement. A helmet with a demon sticker hung from one hand, his gaze as severe as I remembered.

‘Bro!’ I called, a grin breaking across my face, my heart filling with the kind of safety I hadn’t felt in a long while.

I crossed the room and threw my arms around him. His body stayed rigid, his jaw tight as his eyes skimmed past me – straight to Cain, who had already risen, his shadow cutting across the room.

‘D’Angelo, I assume,’ Matteo said in a clipped tone.

‘Be nice,’ I muttered, swatting his chest before stepping back.

‘Matteo DeLuca,’ Cain returned in a cool tone. ‘Nice to meet you.’

The silence between them stretched taut – a quiet, electric standoff that could’ve easily tipped into a brawl. Matteo’s hand scraped over his dark-blonde buzz.

‘I heard you broke that bastard’s face.’

Cain’s mouth twitched. ‘Yep.’

‘Anything crack?’ Matteo asked.