Page 16 of Savage Mafia King

The two of us might be cousins, but I know that he doesn't like Isabella, and it wouldn't surprise me if he pulled something to try and scare her off.

"Were you the one who trashed her penthouse?"

His eyes widen, and he shakes his head. "Jesus, Marcus, no. I wouldn't do something like that."

"You've had a lot to say about her," I remind him, a threatening tone to my voice. "Who's to say you wouldn't have done something to try and scare her off?"

"I trust you to handle your shit. And I don't need to get myself involved. No matter how stupid I think you're being."He eyes me for a long moment, not saying anything. "You know what you're doing here, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" I reply as I turn away and pour myself a coffee from the pot sitting on the counter. I gulp down half of it in one go.

"I mean, do you know how to keep your feelings out of this?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Why would you think I'd have any issue with that?"

"Look at you," he replies, gesturing to me. "You're ready to take off right here and now to check on her."

"Because someone broke into her penthouse. I'm not an asshole. I'm not going to leave her to deal with that all alone."

"Right, right," he replies, cocking an eyebrow. "Well, I won't keep you. You should get going."

I don't need his judgment right now. I make for the door and head to my car, driving fast across the city to get to her.

When I arrive at her apartment building, she's already standing outside, and she looks pale. Dark rings surround her eyes, and I can tell she's having a hard time keeping it together. I climb out of the car and pull her into my arms, pressing my face against her neck and holding her close. She leans into me, clearly grateful for my presence, and right now, I'll do anything it takes to make things better.

"Let me see what happened in there," I tell her softly, and she hesitates for a moment.

"I don't want to go back in..."

I hold my hand out. "Give me the keys. I'll do it myself."

She does as she's told, seemingly moving on some kind of autopilot, which is a good thing. Right now, I just need her to give me the keys. I need to see what happened up there, need to find out how bad things are and how much danger she might be in. I hate the thought of someone causing her trouble like this, even if I know that kind of danger comes with our line of work.

When I reach the penthouse, it's a mess. It looks like she's gone to some effort to try and put it right, but there's no ignoring the chaos in here. When I think about where she lives, I imagine somewhere utterly cultivated, laid out in slightly anal perfection. But this?

I make my way through the penthouse, taking it all in. Stuff has been pulled from the cabinets, chairs have been turned over, the fridge is empty, with bottles sitting next to the sink where they've been emptied. Whoever did this did it because they wanted to make a pointdamnclear, but who would have gone to these lengths to cause her this kind of trouble?

I find the note balled up in her trashcan in the bedroom, and sure enough, it's exactly what she said it would be—a warning telling her that this is only just starting. Butwhatis only just starting? Who has done this to her?

When I return to the outside of the apartment building, she's still standing there, staring into space, like she's on another planet. I put my arm around her and guide her toward my car.

"You're staying with me."

"What?" she gasps, and she shakes her head. "No, no, I can't do that."

"You're not staying here," I point out, jerking my head back toward the penthouse. "I have a place in the city. It's not far from here. You won't be too far from campus, and I can keep an eye on you. Come on."

She resists for another moment. I know she's not exactly a fan of what I'm proposing, but she can see I have a point here. She can't just go back into that place and wait for whoever did that to return and harm her. Finally, she sinks into the car next to me and allows me to start driving.

She doesn't speak as we go, her eyes pinned to the window. I want to reach over and give her thigh a squeeze so badly, but I get the feeling she wouldn't be down with that. She's jumpy, frightened after everything that's happened, and I need to do my best to show her that she has nothing at all to fear—as long as I'm there.

I'm not going to take her back to the Silva mansion, of course. Valentina and Blake would never allow it. I'm going to keep her safe in my own apartment, somewhere I have complete control over everyone who comes and goes. I don't want her to have to fear anything. And there's security on my door, security who won't let just anyone walk in.

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" I ask her softly after a few minutes of silence.

She shakes her head. "I have no idea," she confesses. "I-I got a note before, the night we first met, but I thought it was just someone messing with me. But now..." She trails off, shaking her head.

I tense. She had a note before this, and she didn't say anything?She's independent, too independent for her own good, really.

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