Page 44 of Her Cruel Bodyguard

“Someone has to put Salvatore in his place,” Vittoria stares at Eva with pitiful eyes. “Poor child,” she shakes her head. I don’t know what it is with her and feeling like she is in her late fifties instead of her late twenties today.

“We will handle it,” Emanuele assures her, and I take it that it is partly to tell her to stay away from it.

Knowing Vittoria, she might want to step up and handle it herself, which won’t be good. I can’t trust her not to pump bullets into Salvatore and pretend it was a casualty. Maybe she should handle it. But Emanuele doesn’t deserve that.

He still loves his son, even though he will never openly admit to it again. It is the only reason Salvatore is alive and causing more havoc. Feeling invincible. He knows that when it comes down to it, his father won’t be able to pull the trigger.

“Come, Eva, let’s get out of this place,” Vittoria snaps her fingers, and Eva reluctantly peels away from me, dabbing her cheeks.

Now that we’re alone, Emanuele takes his cigar to his mouth and puffs, his brows stretching to his hairline as he glares at me. I know this look. It’s time for me to explain myself.

I puff, taking my time to drag it in, letting it dance on my tongue before blowing the smoke out.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your son?” He asks, sitting at the edge of his desk. “Why keep such a secret from me?”

I pinch the brink of my nose with my thumb and index finger, unsure what to do with myself at this point. I didn’t want anyone to find out about this aspect of my life. I knew it was going to be difficult to keep it hidden since the night he announced I would be marrying Eva.

I had thought of all the ways he would find out and not one had Salvatore in the picture.

“I am sorry,” I gulp.

“Reasons, Fabio, not bloody apologies,” his voice spikes. “We have been through hell together, and you would hide this from me?”

“I was ashamed,” I blurt. “I was ashamed of my weakness.”

I focus on twiddling the cigar between my fingers, avoiding meeting his eyes or tilting my head in his direction. I was weak that night. I should have never kissed Eva, and when I did, I should have been able to collect myself and go home instead of looking for a quick ticket to hell.

“Welcome on board. At least now you know why I can’t kill Salvatore,” he puffs.

I nod. We don’t have the same understanding of the word weakness, but I nod, not capable of explaining my ordeal any further to him.

“Does this affect…” I chew my words first, processing them, “Does this affect the marriage between Eva and me?”

“What do I care about your son?” He clips in annoyance, “I married Vittoria as a father of two grownups. If Eva is fine with it, then I don’t have a say.”

The knots in my stomach untangle.

What was I so fucking afraid of again?

“Thank you,” I stand. I owe him a lot, and I will make it up to him for the rest of my life.

“Don’t thank me yet. My son has your son, and I can’t vouch for his safety,” He takes his cigar to his mouth and puffs. “We need to find a way to get Jake back and we are doing it right this bloody minute.”

I nod, “I might have a plan.”

“No,” he stands straight, dipping one hand in the pocket of his pants.

“Relax, I won’t kill your son,” I scoff, but the look he gives me tells me he sees past my bullshit.

Because when it comes to it, I am not so fucking sure I won’t.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

EVA

There has got to be a way out of this.

I huff, grinding my teeth and clenching my fists as I try to think of possible solutions instead of worrying about Fabio’s emotional state.

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