Page 66 of Into the Fire

“Would you stop being so damn difficult?” He crinkled his dark brows. “I want to take you home. I wasn’t lying when I said I like spending time with you. You know it’s true.”

“Your actions as of late don’t suggest that.”

He let out a sigh. “I’m just going through some shit that I’m trying to sort through. That’s all.” He paused for a moment then reached for my hand. “Let me take you home. We can talk.”

I hesitated for a moment before giving in. I really did miss him, and I wanted to know what the hell was going on.

When I didn’t protest, he took my bag from me and wrapped his hand around mine before leading me out into the cool night air. We didn’t speak as we walked to his car. He’d used theautostart and it was already running and warmed up when we reached it.

He opened the door for me, and I slid onto the leather seats before he closed me in. I watched as he walked to his side, his head down. When he opened the door to the driver’s side, he tossed my bag into the back and settled on his seat.

He stared straight ahead for a moment then put the car into reverse and pulled out of the lot.

When he didn’t speak two blocks into our trip, I cleared my throat.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I pissed off a very bad man. He threatened me and those I care about. He was brave enough to come to my house, so I had to show him I wasn’t fucking around.”

I looked out at the passing scenery, my heart in my throat as I worried.

“Rosalie, Matteo De Santis is my father. Without a doubt, he is.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m going to protect you until my dying breath.”

I swallowed hard at his words. “Ani, if you need help—”

“I’m fine now. It’s sorted. I’ve spoken to my father. He’s going to help me. It’s actually really nice to know him.”

“He’s a bad man,” I said, wincing. I’d heard a lot about Matteo De Santis. He was a nightmare with a gun and an army to back him up.

“He is,” he agreed. “But he’s still my father, and the man everyone knows isn’t really the man I knew, so I’m hopeful that man is still somewhere inside.” He looked over at me. “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell the guys about this stuff. I’d like to keep it between us.”

“Doesn’t Enzo already know?”

He looked back to the road. “He does, but he wasn’t one hundred on it. Now that I know for sure, it would be nice to have someone I can trust around for me to talk to them about it. And in case you’re wondering who that someone is, it’s you.”

"You want me to keep this a secret?”

“Yes.” He glanced at me again. “You know how the guys are. I don’t want it to have a negative effect on you and me. I don’t want them to take you away.” His voice had lowered to nearly a whisper. “I couldn’t fucking handle that if they did.”

I studied him for a moment as he looked back to the road, my heart doing jumping jacks in my chest. I wanted nothing more than to just throw my arms around him and hold him and tell him everything would be OK because I knew how much stress he was under and how worried he was. Knowing that was hard. I’d do anything for him within my power.

“I won’t tell,” I said solemnly, hating that I had another secret. “You can trust me.”

“I know,” he whispered, pulling into our long driveway. The guards waved us on, the gate closing behind us.

When we reached the house, Anson cut the engine and wordlessly helped me out of the car, then led me into the house. He didn’t need to say anything for me to know his turmoil. His fear. His pain and worries.

The moment the front door was closed, I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around him. He tensed beneath me for only a moment before his body relaxed and his arms encircled me, his cheek against the top of my head.

“I’m here for you, Ani. Best friends. Always, OK?”

“Oh, LeeLee,” he murmured, hugging me fiercely. “I’m here for you too.”

I didn’t break away from him, and he didn’t try to break from me. Instead, we held one another in the foyer, neither of ussaying a word, but the hold on each other screaming everything loud and clear.

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