Page 49 of Scarred Hearts

Thanks.

Huffing, I scanned the empty room before my eyes lowered to my gun. Happy my kids were away for the night, I mumbled, “Fuck this,” then trekked down the hallway to the back stairs, pausing. I thought about going up to her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Closing my eyes, I fought off the feelings, forcing myself back to reality. I took the stairs to the right, leading down to the family room. When I entered, there was a silhouette standing against the ceiling-to-floor windows, hands in his pockets. I drew my gun, aiming it at the figure. I’d not heard the alarm or an alert.

“I wouldn’t kill me if I were you,” he rumbled.

“What the fuck, bro?” I lowered the weapon seconds before putting a bullet in the back of Ian’s head. “Were you the one who made all the noise outside?”

“What? No. I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to interrupt you and Gia fucking so I let myself in,” he muttered.

Ignoring the statement, I reached over, tapping the arm of the silver touch lamp on the end table by the couch. “Couldn’t turn on a fucking lamp?”

The room illuminated and he narrowed his gaze on mine. “Where’s Fenway? He didn’t bark.”

“What the hell?” Brow furrowed, I darted my eyes back and forth. “Fenway?” I called out but was quiet enough so my voice wouldn’t carry to the third floor. “I have no i?—”

A collar jingled, and Ian’s eyes brightened as he peered behind me. I twisted around to see Giovanna emerge with my dog at her side.

“Sorry, he was scratching at the door, and I let him in,” she smiled sheepishly, “but I couldn’t sleep. By the way, he’s a big baby.” She came to a stop next to me, folding her arms. “Hi, Mr. Knight.”

He rolled his eyes, bending over to rub Fenway as he approached him. “I need to speak to you both.”

We exchanged a confused, slightly worried glance. He dipped his head toward the sitting area. I extended my hand, and she sat on the blue sofa. Following, I sat next to her, our legs touching. Ian took the closest cream-colored accent chair. Tapping the chair’s arms with his fingers, he lowered his eyes to our laps, and that’s when I realized I had a palm resting on her thigh. I didn’t bother to remove it.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Ian pursed his lips, bobbing his head. “I have good news and bad news.”

“Oh no,” she exhaled.

“The good news is, you didn’t kill Ivan, so we’ve evaded that shit,” he continued with a grin, and I was confused at his amusement. “I know you were aiming to kill, but I couldn’t let him die at that moment.”

She nodded, and I looked at her with slightly wide eyes.

“He got the medical attention he needed, and I had to threaten the shit out of him to even get him to keep his mouth shut.” He flickered his gaze. “If he talks or makes one minor wrong move, it’s over for him, and he knows. I spent some time doing my own digging and found something that could bury that entire family. For now, I’m hanging on to that information until I need to use it one day.” He shrugged a shoulder. “We’re still not out of the woods yet, but I have a plan.”

“Is this something I need to know?” I asked, brow furrowed.

He shook his head. “For now, no.”

Though I trusted him, I also hated when he kept secrets. He’d done it so many times in the past and had he been open with me from the beginning, I could’ve prevented a couple of issues. Maybe I could’ve taken down a few more of the Mussolini’s faster.

But what was done was done. And now, I’d do what I could to keep everyone protected because I sure as hell wasn’t going to question him about severely private matters in front of Giovanna.

He cleared his throat. “Is there something I need to know?”

She and I glimpsed one another. “No,” I replied, “we’re just friends.”

“I feel like I’m in déjà vu land with Chance and Amber,” he mumbled.

“What?” she asked.

He stood, smoothing out his black button-up shirt. “Nothing.”

We stood simultaneously before she spoke. “Wait,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear then crossed her arms tightly over her midsection. “If that was the good news, what’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is you’ve pissed off a lot of girls at the club with your return and,” he darted his eyes between us, “whatever this is. Victoria’s spreading rumors.”

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