Page 30 of Ruthless Savage

The home is surprisingly silent. There are usually staff cleaning one of the many rooms. But I do smell my father’s chowder, and I know for certain he’s entertaining guests somewhere inside. He always cooks his chowder when he’s welcoming company.

I still in my tracks, and my hands visibly tremble. But Devlin’s fingers slip into mine, his body so close I register his rigidness against my shoulder, the slow rise and fall of his chest consuming me with panic.

“What’s waiting for me there?” I whisper, my tears throbbing behind my eyes.

He sighs, and his brows snap almost painfully. He turns all the way to me, a hand cupping my cheek, holding it as our eyes connect.

My heartbeats quake louder, beating tumultuously in my chest.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

It’s an oath he means, but it’s not enough. If he really didn’t want to hurt me, then he’d have asked my father for my hand, and he hasn’t.

His touch vanishes, and I grow colder without it.

“Come on now. We don’t want your father waiting.”

But I need to stall. I need Iseult here. I can’t face whatever is there without her.

Sudden footfalls start closer, light and tapping nearer, until Fernanda, my father’s new wife and Gio’s mother, appears.

“Hey, sweetheart!” She embraces me tightly. “I heard you were coming in. Hello, Devlin.”

“Ma’am.” He nods.

“Hey, nice to see you,” I say. “Do you know why Dad had me over?”

“I do not. Your father tends to be secretive about certain things.” Her forehead scrunches in frustration.

Because he probably knows she’ll hate this as much as I do. With her past being as it was, she isn’t a fan of arranged marriages.

She was once married to Giancarlo Marino, the former head of the Messina crime family, until he died. But my father and Fernanda were apparently high school sweethearts, and though they were in love, they weren’t allowed to get married. She comes from an old-school Italian family who arranged a marriage for her to Giancarlo, a cruel man from everything I’ve learned. But my father and Fernanda never stopped loving each other.

Iseult was angry with him because she always suspected he didn’t love our mother like she deserved, but in his way, he did. He just loved two women, and I can’t fault him for that like she does. I almost feel sorry for my dad and Fernanda. To love someone and not be allowed to marry them… I know how that feels.

I glance at Devlin, and my heart breaks, wanting him more than I can say.

More footsteps come, this set heavy and foreboding. And I know instantly it’s my father.

“Darling, there you are!” He appears, his green eyes full of joy, a large grin on his face with no hint of anything amiss.

He kisses Fernanda. “Hello, my beautiful bride.”

She shakes her head playfully, and her cheeks turn all red.

And Devlin? He’s staring at me with unspoken emotion, and I wonder if he wants that to be us one day as much as I do. But that’s ridiculous because the man is made of stone. Nothing could make him love me.

I force a smile, throwing my arms around my father in a tight hug, one that he returns.

He kisses my forehead and places his hands around my face. “I’m so glad you’re here. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“We?” I gulp.

“Aye. You have to meet someone very special. It’s why you’re here today. Now, come. They’re in the study.”

“Who, Daddy?”

“What are you doing, Pat?” Fernanda tsks.

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