Page 45 of Untouchable

We hear some murmuring in the background before my father speaks again. “Gio just heard back from a private pilot who is willing to fly us tomorrow. We will be back in New York mid-morning Monday.”

That fact makes me feel a little better. I know as soon as my father steps foot on US soil, he will unleash hell itself if that is what it takes to end this. We just have to survive another 36 hours or so.

“Sounds good. We will check in soon,” Alessandro says.

“Good. I love you both.”

“Love you too, Papà,” I say before Alessandro hangs up.

We stare at each other for a moment as everything slowly starts to sink in. I know that we are safe here, I know that Alessandro won’t let anything happen to me. But I can’t stop the anxiety from rising in my chest as I think about how dangerous of a situation we are really in.

We are in the middle of an unofficial war with a supposedly ruthless MC that has a hand in sex trafficking. If they get their hands on us….I don’t even want to know.

Without saying a word, Alessandro closes the distance between us and wraps me up in a hug. His arms tighten over my shoulders, burying my face into his chest. I don’t even hesitate before I snake my arms around his torso and hold onto him like my life depends on it.

A calmness surrounds me as I stand there in Alessandro’s arms. It suddenly feels like we are kids again, like we are best friends again. There was no nightmare too scary or fears too great that couldn’t be fixed with a hug from Alessandro. I used to think that they had to be magic, because how else do you describe one touch taking away all the hurt, fear and worry inside of you?

My eyes close on instinct and I take a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent that is Alessandro. I have missed it. Realizing that I could stay in his arms for the rest of my life and never be happier, my eyes spring open. Quickly, I take a step back until Alessandro’s arms fall at his side.

Boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. Soon to be fiancé, I guess, if you want to be technical. It’s not like Alessandro comforting me is a big deal, it was just a hug. But the thoughts that I had following are what is concerning. I need space.

“Seraphina,” Alessandro says softly, a look of disappointment on his face.

I force a smile and shake my head. “I am good. It’s all just a lot. Are you hungry? I’ll cook.”

Alessandro opens his mouth for a second before closing it and nodding softly. I give him another tight-lipped smile as I nod.

“Okay. I will just, uh, be in the kitchen.”

Quickly, I turn on my heel and hightail it for the kitchen. I just need to focus on something else, anything else. The magazines clearly didn’t do much, maybe cooking will.

Chapter Twenty

Alessandro

I am doing a perimeter walk while I think over everything that the Boss just told me. The fact that the Vipers MC are the ones after us is not good, add in the fact that they are searching for incriminating evidence that could put them all away, and we are totally fucked.

The Vipers are one of the largest and most well-known MC’s on the East Coast, known for being extremely ruthless and having less than savory taste in their dealings. To think one of those sick fucks had their hands on Seraphina, even for just 30 seconds has my blood boiling inside of my veins.

I also don’t love that the Boss has been storing this very dangerous information inside Seraphina’s room. What the actual fuck? What would have happened if I wasn’t there, and they caught Seraphina? How about if they would have found whatever they were looking for in her room? She would have been dead in an instant.

I am sure he didn’t ever intend to put his daughter at risk. I am sure he never expected anyone to find out what he was doing before he was ready to expose it. But they did, and now we are fucking sitting ducks. Hopefully they get home faster than expected. We need direction and a plan, something we can’t get when they are across the damn country.

I don’t see anything once I finish my loop around the property, feeling a bit at ease as I head inside. When I open the door, a delicious smell fills the house. I make my way deeper inside until I come into the kitchen to see Seraphina prepping a salad before turning and peeking inside the oven.

Walking up to the counter, I lean my forearms against it as I watch Seraphina flit through the kitchen. She has always been a good cook. Her mom learned from Seraphina’s grandma growing up and Aunt Ashlynn made sure to pass that talent down to Seraphina. I spent countless days sitting in the kitchen with the two of them as they cooked on Luis’s days off or just because and I got to be the official taste tester.

My lips kick up in a small smile as I think about it. Those were simpler times for sure. Times where we could be in the same room for longer than 5 minutes without one of us getting either pissed or awkward. I’d do anything to have things back to the way they were. Even if I can never have her the way I actually want her, I will take what I can get.

“Hey,” I say as she grabs a pan out of the oven.

Seraphina damn near jumps out of her skin, dropping the pan on top of the oven before she turns to face me.

“Holy shit. What are you, a fucking assassin?”

I raise an eyebrow to her. I mean, she isn’t totally wrong if you want to get technical. Her startled expression fades and she seems to be thinking the same thing that I am before she starts laughing. I chuckle along and soon we are both nearly in tears.

When we finally catch our breath, she smiles softly as she plates our meals.

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